According to a new survey, over a fifth of U.K. citizens have trouble separating science fiction from reality.
We all have one or two science fiction devices that we wish were real, like phasers or holodecks, but it’s been assumed that most people know they aren’t real. However, Birmingham Science City recently ran a survey “to see how blurred the lines between science fact and fiction have become.” Over three thousand Britons took part. Now, the results are up for folks to read about on the Web. From the sound of things, the lines are pretty dang blurry.
The survey found that “over a fifth” of British citizen believe that lightsabers are real. Twenty four percent said they believe people can be teleported. Forty percent claim that hoverboards exist, while nearly half of respondents believe “memory-erasing technology exists.” Perhaps the weirdest result, though, is that “nearly one-fifth (18%) of adults have the incorrect view that they can see gravity”. Seriously, WTF does that mean?
Meanwhile, the survey revealed that people don’t know much about recent scientific advances, including how scientists are working on growing organs in labs, that brain waves can be read and used to control various devices, and how sound vibrations can be detected and used in astronomical studies.
I can understand some of these responses; after all, a fair amount of stuff mentioned in the survey isn’t exactly common knowledge. But, really, lightsabers? Hoverboards? Being able to see gravity? Sounds like some people need to be force-pushed back into the classroom.
See how your scientific knowledge holds up and take the survey here.
Source: Birmingham Science City via io9
