Get a D in science
September 11, 2015 9:41 AM Subscribe
Test your knowledge of science facts and applications of scientific principles by taking our short 12-question quiz. Then see how you did in comparison with a nationally representative group of 3,278 randomly selected U.S. adults surveyed online and by mail between Aug. 11 and Sept. 3, 2014 as members of the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel.
did the test, got an error message when it tried to show the results.... :-\ (edit...took it again, 12 out of 12..)
posted by HuronBob at 9:47 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by HuronBob at 9:47 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
12/12 also, though I started wondering around the cell phone one if this was a trick. After all, sound waves are also involved in the process.
posted by dinty_moore at 9:48 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 9:48 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
They apparently didn't pass the quiz on handling web traffic under load...
posted by kmz at 9:48 AM on September 11, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by kmz at 9:48 AM on September 11, 2015 [12 favorites]
I got a "503 Service Unavailable", that's a good score right?
posted by selenized at 9:49 AM on September 11, 2015 [26 favorites]
posted by selenized at 9:49 AM on September 11, 2015 [26 favorites]
The tide question was poorly constructed. The Moon's contribution is larger than the Sun's but not by a whole lot, and as miyabo says you can make a case that the Earth's rotation is as important as either. I also got the error on results but I know it was 12/12 just because duh.
posted by Bringer Tom at 9:49 AM on September 11, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by Bringer Tom at 9:49 AM on September 11, 2015 [8 favorites]
If the earth didn't rotate, but the moon still orbited once a month, I think the tides would just happen semimonthly instead of semidaily.
posted by xris at 9:50 AM on September 11, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by xris at 9:50 AM on September 11, 2015 [16 favorites]
is the scientist allowed to blame his tools? My shitty touchpad mis-selected the lightspeed one.
posted by philip-random at 9:50 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 9:50 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
The sugar question was bunk. Correlation does not imply causation.
posted by leapfrog at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [40 favorites]
posted by leapfrog at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [40 favorites]
Your cell phone call almost certainly involves sound, light, and radio waves at one point or another.
posted by schmod at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by schmod at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [9 favorites]
lollll Test Your Internet Knowledge
Question 1 How Do You Keep A Website from Crashing?
A:
Error 503 Service Unavailable
We're very sorry, but the page could not be loaded properly.
This should be fixed very soon, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
(take that science!)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Question 1 How Do You Keep A Website from Crashing?
A:
Error 503 Service Unavailable
We're very sorry, but the page could not be loaded properly.
This should be fixed very soon, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
(take that science!)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Another 12/12. I liked the non-science question. No spoiler here.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
New study shows readers of Metafilter have more basic science education than lots of other people.
posted by aniola at 9:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [20 favorites]
posted by aniola at 9:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [20 favorites]
leapfrog: "The sugar question was bunk. Correlation does not imply causation."
Yes, but it was clearly a better interpretation than the other answers. IMO, the low average score on that particular question is the most concerning outcome of this quiz. I do not know how a modern society can function if the general population cannot interpret a very simple graph.
posted by schmod at 9:53 AM on September 11, 2015 [18 favorites]
Yes, but it was clearly a better interpretation than the other answers. IMO, the low average score on that particular question is the most concerning outcome of this quiz. I do not know how a modern society can function if the general population cannot interpret a very simple graph.
posted by schmod at 9:53 AM on September 11, 2015 [18 favorites]
I felt like it was a weird thing for them to ask a question whose answer was “astrology,” since I know that isn’t a science, and I think most other people don’t believe in astrology either. That question felt like a gotcha — I could see people picking “astronomy” instead of “astrology” because this is a science quiz and they assume that the answer will be a scientific field.
posted by savetheclocktower at 9:53 AM on September 11, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by savetheclocktower at 9:53 AM on September 11, 2015 [9 favorites]
I was really hoping for a challenge, but that seemed so easy as to be meaningless. But, that said, the data chart at the end scares the heck out of me....
posted by HuronBob at 9:54 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by HuronBob at 9:54 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Honestly if you had walked up to me on the street today and asked who invented the polio vaccine I doubt I would have pulled Salk's name out of the air. But put it in a multiple choice question with 3 other choices of famous scientists who I know didn't invent it and suddenly I appear to know something.
posted by selenized at 9:54 AM on September 11, 2015 [21 favorites]
posted by selenized at 9:54 AM on September 11, 2015 [21 favorites]
I doubt I would have pulled Salk's name out of the air
Watch Blazing Saddles more
posted by griphus at 9:56 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Watch Blazing Saddles more
posted by griphus at 9:56 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
I felt like it was a weird thing for them to ask a question whose answer was “astrology,” since I know that isn’t a science, and I think most other people don’t believe in astrology either. That question felt like a gotcha — I could see people picking “astronomy” instead of “astrology” because this is a science quiz and they assume that the answer will be a scientific field.
That's the exact point of that question.
11/12 here, because I couldn't remember if an increase in altitude increased or decreased boiling temperature. (Hey, at least I knew it would alter the boiling point!)
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:59 AM on September 11, 2015 [17 favorites]
That's the exact point of that question.
11/12 here, because I couldn't remember if an increase in altitude increased or decreased boiling temperature. (Hey, at least I knew it would alter the boiling point!)
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:59 AM on September 11, 2015 [17 favorites]
I scored 504 - Gateway Timeout!
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:59 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:59 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
Question 8 was fascinating for what the correct answer reveals about the people creating the quiz: "The loudness of a sound is determined by what property of a sound wave?".
The correct answer is "Amplitude or height". 'Amplitude' is clearly correct, but 'height'? I've taken the same classes that they have, so I know that if you plot the departure from average pressure over time at a point that the sound is passing, the height of the graph will be more for a louder noise, but there's no inherent height to measure when examining a sound wave.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2015 [13 favorites]
The correct answer is "Amplitude or height". 'Amplitude' is clearly correct, but 'height'? I've taken the same classes that they have, so I know that if you plot the departure from average pressure over time at a point that the sound is passing, the height of the graph will be more for a louder noise, but there's no inherent height to measure when examining a sound wave.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2015 [13 favorites]
11/12 here, because I couldn't remember if an increase in altitude increased or decreased boiling temperature. (Hey, at least I knew it would alter the boiling point!)
That one took me a while too! The only reason I got it right was that I remembered pressure cookers make water boil hotter.
posted by griphus at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
That one took me a while too! The only reason I got it right was that I remembered pressure cookers make water boil hotter.
posted by griphus at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
That was fun!
posted by OmieWise at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by OmieWise at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I actually got 10/12 (I always get mixed up about altitude in relation to boiling point and I was reading too fast and clicked "astronomy" instead of "astrology") but I'm actually kinda glad that put me above only 67% of people in my demographic. I would actually have guessed that 10/12 on a science quiz would put me above around 80% of people (which probably says something bad about my math abilities, but anyway).
posted by holborne at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by holborne at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, the astrology one was wierd - I see what they were trying to get at, but the wording of the text made it sound like they were legitimizing astrology as a discipline.
(12/12, reloaded the results page after a 503).
posted by janell at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2015
(12/12, reloaded the results page after a 503).
posted by janell at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2015
um i'd describe radio waves as a particular type of light waves, so i sat there staring at that question for a minute before i realized what they meant
*flashes mirrors from a distance*
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2015 [7 favorites]
*flashes mirrors from a distance*
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2015 [7 favorites]
I still found it cringeworthy on the sugar/teeth question to click the best of four answers I deemed incorrect to varying degrees... So I closed my eyes, clicked my mouse, and tried to move onto get my very own 503 error as well.
posted by Conway at 10:03 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by Conway at 10:03 AM on September 11, 2015
11/12 because I ignored the voice inside my head re: magnifying glasses.
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:04 AM on September 11, 2015 [29 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:04 AM on September 11, 2015 [29 favorites]
Well, I'm not as dumb as I am. Missed on the water boiling temperature thing for the same reason as NoxAeternum.
posted by lmfsilva at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by lmfsilva at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2015
11/12 because I ignored the voice inside my head re: magnifying glasses.
Ditto
posted by TwoWordReview at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2015
Ditto
posted by TwoWordReview at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2015
thirded
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2015
I could see people picking “astronomy” instead of “astrology” because this is a science quiz and they assume that the answer will be a scientific field.
The test also primed you for very easy basic science questions. I almost picked astronomy because I only read/scanned the first half of the question. Barely stopped myself from clicking "next question" when my brain finished reading/processing the question.
I got 503/12. That's a good score, right?
posted by mayonnaises at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The test also primed you for very easy basic science questions. I almost picked astronomy because I only read/scanned the first half of the question. Barely stopped myself from clicking "next question" when my brain finished reading/processing the question.
I got 503/12. That's a good score, right?
posted by mayonnaises at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, I'm not as dumb as I am.
How are you not yourself?
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
How are you not yourself?
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
11/12 because I ignored the voice inside my head re: magnifying glasses.
Same.
The only reason I got it right was that I remembered pressure cookers make water boil hotter.
I remember it as higher altitude is less air (harder to breathe), which means less resistance (pressure) from the air, so water needs less energy to break apart.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2015 [8 favorites]
Same.
The only reason I got it right was that I remembered pressure cookers make water boil hotter.
I remember it as higher altitude is less air (harder to breathe), which means less resistance (pressure) from the air, so water needs less energy to break apart.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2015 [8 favorites]
I kinda wish there was a better biology/medicine-related question than "Who developed the polio vaccine?" I would've liked to see them ask what the basic function of mitochondria is, or even a question about genetics or DNA, or about a particular human disease.
12/12 after two Code 503's
posted by extramundane at 10:09 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
12/12 after two Code 503's
posted by extramundane at 10:09 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
11/12 because I honestly did not know the fact about boiling water but I think it has more to do with always living at sea level than not paying attention in science class. I get to smugly feel superior to 82% of the country while also learning something new today!
posted by photoslob at 10:11 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by photoslob at 10:11 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
12/12, but the questions were pretty easy. The breakdown showed that 80% of people got half of them right or better. I'd like to see a test where you get a normal distribution of results.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:11 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:11 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
This is fun and all (I timed out on the results too but am pretty sure I got 12/12) but a little bit frustrating because I'm a firm believer that people as a whole aren't stupid, just focused on what they need and want in daily life. A collection of random trivia isn't tremendously useful except to people who work in relevant fields or like trivia. If I wanted to teach or measure scientific literacy but still wanted a relatively simple multiple choice test I think I'd try for questions more like: What is a vaccine? What does fire need to burn? What is a carbohydrate? What does voltage mean? Stuff like that, with actual application to people's lives. Some of the Pew questions still work (for instance while the sugar one has issues reading graphs is a critical skill), but several seem remote to lived experience. Not to say they shouldn't be taught, but they shouldn't be fetishized or over-prioritized.
posted by Wretch729 at 10:11 AM on September 11, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Wretch729 at 10:11 AM on September 11, 2015 [11 favorites]
For the magnifying glass one, if you can use one to burn ants, it must give you more focussed light, rather than more spread out. I had a advantage as I live at altitude and know things take longer to cook here. Good thing the polio vaccine one was multiple choice or I wouldn't have known.
posted by carolr at 10:12 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by carolr at 10:12 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well I'll admit I only got a 9/12. Still better than 52% of the public.
Now I'm going to spend the day looking up how cellphones work, how cooking is different in Denver, and why I was so convinced the Earth's mantle is hotter than the core.
posted by galvanized unicorn at 10:13 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Now I'm going to spend the day looking up how cellphones work, how cooking is different in Denver, and why I was so convinced the Earth's mantle is hotter than the core.
posted by galvanized unicorn at 10:13 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
11/12, not bad for an English major. Tripped up on loudness. I knew pitch was to do with frequency, and after that it was all vague memories of elephant foot tapping, the Doppler effect and trying to remember what the nobs on my grandparents fancy hi fi did.
Did think some of the age breakdowns in the demographics were interesting --- vast majority got the Salk and uranium Qs, but older you were more likely to get. Makes a difference, the Cold War being just words in a textbook.
posted by Diablevert at 10:13 AM on September 11, 2015
Did think some of the age breakdowns in the demographics were interesting --- vast majority got the Salk and uranium Qs, but older you were more likely to get. Makes a difference, the Cold War being just words in a textbook.
posted by Diablevert at 10:13 AM on September 11, 2015
New study shows readers of Metafilter have more basic science education than lots of other people.
MeFites that are likely to click on a quiz of their scientific knowledge and self-report their scores did better than a random sampling of adults.
I mean, you're probably right, but still...
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:14 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
MeFites that are likely to click on a quiz of their scientific knowledge and self-report their scores did better than a random sampling of adults.
I mean, you're probably right, but still...
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:14 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Re: light-years... I got thrown a little because a light-year works to measure both distance AND time. The distance that light travels in one year is a light-year, but light that travels one light-year does so in one year.
posted by mikurski at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mikurski at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
The sugar question made more sense to me when I imagined that the graph was in context, i.e. in an article or textbook that probably wouldn't include it unless it was to support the hypothesis that sugar contributes to cavities.
I didn't interpret "the more sugar people eat, the more likely they are to get cavities" as necessarily being a statement about causation, though. I think it's ambiguous as to whether it's a statement of causation or correlation.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I didn't interpret "the more sugar people eat, the more likely they are to get cavities" as necessarily being a statement about causation, though. I think it's ambiguous as to whether it's a statement of causation or correlation.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
How are you not yourself?
Long story.
(also, source)
posted by lmfsilva at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2015
Long story.
(also, source)
posted by lmfsilva at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2015
I got 10/12 and got to re-experience my school career.
Always go with your first answer Jalli!
Doing that it would have been 12/12 but I have this thing about having to second guess something on tests. Nothing much changes I guess.
posted by Jalliah at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Always go with your first answer Jalli!
Doing that it would have been 12/12 but I have this thing about having to second guess something on tests. Nothing much changes I guess.
posted by Jalliah at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sound waves do not have a height! Argh.
Oh, and light waves are radio waves.
Apart from those two howlers, everything is fine!
posted by pharm at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, and light waves are radio waves.
Apart from those two howlers, everything is fine!
posted by pharm at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Does the answer to the sugar question imply causation though?
The exact wording is "The more sugar people eat, the more likely they are to get cavities"; I guess it depends on if you read "more likely they are to..." as a future tense (which would imply causality, e.g., 'if you eat more sugar, you will get more cavities') or present tense descriptor of the graph (i.e., "this graph shows that if you take person who consumes X amount of sugar, they are Y times more likely to have cavities").
posted by damayanti at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
The exact wording is "The more sugar people eat, the more likely they are to get cavities"; I guess it depends on if you read "more likely they are to..." as a future tense (which would imply causality, e.g., 'if you eat more sugar, you will get more cavities') or present tense descriptor of the graph (i.e., "this graph shows that if you take person who consumes X amount of sugar, they are Y times more likely to have cavities").
posted by damayanti at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
What will pew research do with the results of this study? What can we learn from this?
posted by aniola at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by aniola at 10:16 AM on September 11, 2015
11/12 - I missed the question about the core being hotter than the mantle. Embarrassing because Earth Sciences was my minor in college!
posted by oceanjesse at 10:18 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oceanjesse at 10:18 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
> light waves are radio waves.
No, both light waves and radio waves are electromagnetic waves, but radio waves are EM waves with wavelengths longer than (or equivalently, frequencies less than) light waves.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [9 favorites]
No, both light waves and radio waves are electromagnetic waves, but radio waves are EM waves with wavelengths longer than (or equivalently, frequencies less than) light waves.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [9 favorites]
I knew the water boiling one from reading the back of Betty Crocker/Duncan Hines packages (which included instructions on high altitude baking) as a child.
posted by mogget at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by mogget at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [7 favorites]
Oh, and uranium is not required to make nuclear energy either, although it was the only answer out of the four that made any sense for that question.
So out of 12 questions, 4 of them demonstrated the author’s confusion over the scientific principles involved. You’re not exactly covering yourselves in glory here PewResearchCentre.
posted by pharm at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
So out of 12 questions, 4 of them demonstrated the author’s confusion over the scientific principles involved. You’re not exactly covering yourselves in glory here PewResearchCentre.
posted by pharm at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
I love the age breakdown for each question. It makes me think about what kind of knowledge was useful when, and the progression of technologies that successive generations got excited about — vaccines! uranium! outer space! cell phones! — and now I've got this educational film strip about The Generations Of Mankind and The March Of Progress running through my head.
It has a warm fuzzy analog synth soundtrack and all the titles are in some nice educational sans-serif, maybe Futura.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:21 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
It has a warm fuzzy analog synth soundtrack and all the titles are in some nice educational sans-serif, maybe Futura.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:21 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
11/12. I got the magnifying glass one wrong. In my defence, I only have an English degree.
Oh, and uranium is not required to make nuclear energy either
I know for a fact that you can use thorium, among other elements.
So maybe that makes up for the one I got wrong?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:21 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh, and uranium is not required to make nuclear energy either
I know for a fact that you can use thorium, among other elements.
So maybe that makes up for the one I got wrong?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:21 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm a firm believer that people as a whole aren't stupid, just focused on what they need and want in daily life.
The demographic breakdown on the results page bears this out, actually. Most of the first nine questions show a steady decline in correct answers as the respondents age--80 percent of the 18- to 29-year-olds got the cell phone question right, while only 57 percent of the 65+ respondents did. There's also a steady decline on the sound wave question from 40 percent to 28%. So that reflects, possibly, younger kids being more cognizant of cell phones, or possibly just their school lessons being fresher in their minds.
Meanwhile, the trend is reversed on the nuclear energy/weapons question--rising from 74 percent to 87 percent--since the older generation grew up with nuclear weapons as a major threat. The 65+ also did better remembering who invented the Polio vaccine, because it was, you know, a major accomplishment that happened within their lifetimes.
posted by thecaddy at 10:22 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
The demographic breakdown on the results page bears this out, actually. Most of the first nine questions show a steady decline in correct answers as the respondents age--80 percent of the 18- to 29-year-olds got the cell phone question right, while only 57 percent of the 65+ respondents did. There's also a steady decline on the sound wave question from 40 percent to 28%. So that reflects, possibly, younger kids being more cognizant of cell phones, or possibly just their school lessons being fresher in their minds.
Meanwhile, the trend is reversed on the nuclear energy/weapons question--rising from 74 percent to 87 percent--since the older generation grew up with nuclear weapons as a major threat. The 65+ also did better remembering who invented the Polio vaccine, because it was, you know, a major accomplishment that happened within their lifetimes.
posted by thecaddy at 10:22 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Simple way to remember water boiling temperature.
Water boils when the vapor pressure of the water is greater than the atmospheric pressure - which makes sense if you think about it, the water "pushes up" "harder" than the atmosphere "pushes down".
As you go up, atmospheric pressure goes down, because there is less air above you. This means there's less air pressing downs on the water so it boils faster.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:22 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
Water boils when the vapor pressure of the water is greater than the atmospheric pressure - which makes sense if you think about it, the water "pushes up" "harder" than the atmosphere "pushes down".
As you go up, atmospheric pressure goes down, because there is less air above you. This means there's less air pressing downs on the water so it boils faster.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:22 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
aniola - The Pew Research Center doesn't advocate policy. A lot of its research is intended to simply measure the state of a given thing in the population being studied (in this case obviously basic science literacy). You can quibble about methods, but the goal is straightforward. How much does the population being studied know about topic X. Knowing this is useful and could potentially inform policymaking/policymakers. Also worth noting that their actual research is usually done more scientifically; the online quizzes are more a PR/engagement thing not their primary data source.
posted by Wretch729 at 10:24 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Wretch729 at 10:24 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
> Oh, and uranium is not required to make nuclear energy either
Nuclear energy *and* bombs, the question said - you're basically down to uranium or perhaps plutonium. And also, it's multiple choice - it didn't say, "And no other elements."
I agree with the four quibble count. But that's fine, you're always going to be able to quibble if you know more.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:24 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nuclear energy *and* bombs, the question said - you're basically down to uranium or perhaps plutonium. And also, it's multiple choice - it didn't say, "And no other elements."
I agree with the four quibble count. But that's fine, you're always going to be able to quibble if you know more.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:24 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
The boiling water question is the one that fewest people (34%) get correct. I was about to answer "higher altitude boils at a higher temperature," but remembered that in space (the highest altitude possible, with zero air pressure) water boils immediately.
Also, there's a trainer in Pokémon Red/Blue who says something like "Light-years aren't time! They measure distance!" (Not that I need to rely on video games for that, but hey, it helps.)
Pity the commenters here aren't a random sample, or we could test MeFites as a demographic.
posted by Rangi at 10:25 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also, there's a trainer in Pokémon Red/Blue who says something like "Light-years aren't time! They measure distance!" (Not that I need to rely on video games for that, but hey, it helps.)
Pity the commenters here aren't a random sample, or we could test MeFites as a demographic.
posted by Rangi at 10:25 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
12/12 I knew waters boiling point lowered as pressure lowered, and I knew as you go up in altitude there was less pressure. Combining those two facts was pretty simple.
And sound waves, as graphed on 2d plot absolutely have "height", yes it was a bit of an oversimplification for people who didn't know what amplitude was, but it wasn't wrong or confusing.
posted by MrBobaFett at 10:25 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
And sound waves, as graphed on 2d plot absolutely have "height", yes it was a bit of an oversimplification for people who didn't know what amplitude was, but it wasn't wrong or confusing.
posted by MrBobaFett at 10:25 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
After the 12th question, when it asked if I were male or female, it reminded me of an old Robert Silverberg story. (Fortunately, I got that one right)
posted by kurumi at 10:28 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by kurumi at 10:28 AM on September 11, 2015
Was anybody else as shocked and dismayed as I was at the magnitude of the gap between the performance of people who identified themselves as male for the quiz and those who identified as female?
These are the successful answer rates:
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:33 AM on September 11, 2015 [16 favorites]
These are the successful answer rates:
M. vs F.The only one that's even close is more of a vocabulary question (i.e. astrology vs. astronomy.) I suspected there'd be some gap because it's long been claimed that we don't do as good a job educating girls about math and science. But I wasn't expecting 20% higher error rates on extremely basic questions. What the hell are we doing about this?
84 / 73
79 / 66
89 / 84
83 / 71
78 / 66
39 / 30
55 / 37
42 / 30
69 / 58
90 / 75
79 / 70
73 / 72
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:33 AM on September 11, 2015 [16 favorites]
NoxAeternum: "11/12 here, because I couldn't remember if an increase in altitude increased or decreased boiling temperature. (Hey, at least I knew it would alter the boiling point!)"
Yep, same. I never read that part of the cookbook because I live 500 whole feet above sea level. I know it changes, I know I'd have to look it up, but I don't really know how it changes.
With the magnifying glass one, the key is to remember delinquents setting ants on fire using the power of the sun and careful aiming of the magnifying glass. "AHA! It concentrates the rays!"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:33 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yep, same. I never read that part of the cookbook because I live 500 whole feet above sea level. I know it changes, I know I'd have to look it up, but I don't really know how it changes.
With the magnifying glass one, the key is to remember delinquents setting ants on fire using the power of the sun and careful aiming of the magnifying glass. "AHA! It concentrates the rays!"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:33 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
i had a great combo response to the boiling question: i had the right first instinct based on 'how long to cook' labels on, like, mac and cheese boxes, but then also sat at my desk writing PV=NRT.
Yes, visible light and radio waves are both electromagnetic radiation and the general public often says "light" when they mean visible light, but both are kinds of light in a strict sense (photons!) and I'd sometimes use light to mean the whole spectrum.
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:34 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes, visible light and radio waves are both electromagnetic radiation and the general public often says "light" when they mean visible light, but both are kinds of light in a strict sense (photons!) and I'd sometimes use light to mean the whole spectrum.
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:34 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Was anybody else as shocked and dismayed as I was at the magnitude of the gap between the performance of people who identified themselves as male for the quiz and those who identified as female?
Yes — and equally dismayed knowing that some people will read it, consciously or subconsciously, as evidence that "women are bad at science" or "women don't care about science" rather than recognizing that we are failing to support women in important ways.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:36 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yes — and equally dismayed knowing that some people will read it, consciously or subconsciously, as evidence that "women are bad at science" or "women don't care about science" rather than recognizing that we are failing to support women in important ways.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:36 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
There is only one way to truly know the answer to the boiling point question, and that is to be sourly disappointed with a Cup o' Noodles you make on a camp stove in Rocky Mountain National Park.
posted by one_bean at 10:40 AM on September 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by one_bean at 10:40 AM on September 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
Yes — and equally dismayed knowing that some people will read it, consciously or subconsciously, as evidence that "women are bad at science" or "women don't care about science" rather than recognizing that we are failing to support women in important ways.
Relevant.
posted by Sequence at 10:41 AM on September 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
Relevant.
posted by Sequence at 10:41 AM on September 11, 2015 [10 favorites]
New study shows readers of Metafilter have more basic science education than lots of other people.
@aniola, or we just remember more.
11/12 because I ignored the voice inside my head re: magnifying glasses.
Same.
One more for the same reason. Afterwards, I saw the image of the light making an "ant-killing laserbeam" and smacked my head.
posted by Laura in Canada at 10:41 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
@aniola, or we just remember more.
11/12 because I ignored the voice inside my head re: magnifying glasses.
Same.
One more for the same reason. Afterwards, I saw the image of the light making an "ant-killing laserbeam" and smacked my head.
posted by Laura in Canada at 10:41 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
I couldn't remember if an increase in altitude increased or decreased boiling temperature.
I couldn't remember it either, so I had to figure it out.
That's the science part of the quiz, as opposed to the memory part.
posted by MtDewd at 10:42 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
I couldn't remember it either, so I had to figure it out.
That's the science part of the quiz, as opposed to the memory part.
posted by MtDewd at 10:42 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
I'm a firm believer that people as a whole aren't stupid, just focused on what they need and want in daily life.
There's a difference between stupid ("Huh? I'm not getting this") and ignorant ("Meh. Don't care. Why should I bother learning about that?")
A small minority of people are stupid to some degree. Too many people are ignorant these days.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:42 AM on September 11, 2015
There's a difference between stupid ("Huh? I'm not getting this") and ignorant ("Meh. Don't care. Why should I bother learning about that?")
A small minority of people are stupid to some degree. Too many people are ignorant these days.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:42 AM on September 11, 2015
I did the same as Eyebrows McGee, forgot which way water boiled at a lower temp, even thought when I lived in Utah years ago as opposed to the East Coast, I knew it was different from the East Coast. Hey, I'm female, the only question I got wrong related to cooking:-) But I have learned a lot being married to Mr. Genius Science Guy.
posted by mermayd at 10:43 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by mermayd at 10:43 AM on September 11, 2015
I'm honestly disappointed that the quiz focused so heavily on physical science topics; except for "who developed the polio vaccine", none of these were remotely related to the life sciences, let alone social sciences. I used to be a physicist, but am still annoyed when the "science == physics" equivalence is made.
And as an (ex-)physicist, I was incredibly annoyed by the "Which kind of waves are used to make and receive cellphone calls?" question. Radio waves are light waves!
posted by fencerjimmy at 10:44 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
And as an (ex-)physicist, I was incredibly annoyed by the "Which kind of waves are used to make and receive cellphone calls?" question. Radio waves are light waves!
posted by fencerjimmy at 10:44 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
For the magnifying glass one, if you can use one to burn ants, it must give you more focussed light, rather than more spread out.
Oh good, I'm not the only one whose childhood formicidal tendencies finally paid off on this quiz!
11/12, because I outthought myself on the tides question and decided that the tides was a fake-easy gotcha choice and that rotation of the earth had a bigger effect than tides.
posted by Hold your seahorses at 10:46 AM on September 11, 2015
Oh good, I'm not the only one whose childhood formicidal tendencies finally paid off on this quiz!
11/12, because I outthought myself on the tides question and decided that the tides was a fake-easy gotcha choice and that rotation of the earth had a bigger effect than tides.
posted by Hold your seahorses at 10:46 AM on September 11, 2015
Seeing how the oldest age category had the best percentage on the polio vaccine question makes me feel so glad for scientific progress.
posted by halifix at 10:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by halifix at 10:51 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
> There is only one way to truly know the answer to the boiling point question, and that is to be sourly disappointed with a Cup o' Noodles you make on a camp stove in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I propose another, more fun way. Take a syringe, like the kind that come with childrens ibuprofen (i.e., no needle, holds 10 or so ml) and put a few milliliters of cold water in it. Turn it upside down and try to get all the air bubbles out. Now put your thumb over the syringe opening, pull back on the plunger and watch the water boil. You've now brought cold water to boil at a very low pressure.
posted by noneuclidean at 10:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [17 favorites]
I propose another, more fun way. Take a syringe, like the kind that come with childrens ibuprofen (i.e., no needle, holds 10 or so ml) and put a few milliliters of cold water in it. Turn it upside down and try to get all the air bubbles out. Now put your thumb over the syringe opening, pull back on the plunger and watch the water boil. You've now brought cold water to boil at a very low pressure.
posted by noneuclidean at 10:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [17 favorites]
I'm fascinated by the low numbers on the boiling water/altitude question, because for me that was one of the "everybody knows that" general knowledge answers. In all the stories of heroic explorers I read as a child, one of the big deprivations of mountaineering was that it was impossible to get a Proper Cup of Tea.
posted by Azara at 10:55 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Azara at 10:55 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, there's a trainer in Pokémon Red/Blue who says something like "Light-years aren't time! They measure distance!"
Did you ask him how many parsecs in a Kessel Run?
posted by The Bellman at 10:57 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
Did you ask him how many parsecs in a Kessel Run?
posted by The Bellman at 10:57 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
12/12 here, though I think the fact that I taught middle school science might count as cheating.
I was also frustrated by several of the questions. The radio/light one, for example, and defining amplitude as height, and overall by the fact that many involved basically trivia instead of science.
Don't get me wrong, Salk deserves accolades and statues erected in his honor and we should remember his contribution to humanity.
But knowing that he invented the polio vaccine has very little to do with science knowledge. It's more a matter of history.
I'm also disturbed that not one of the questions dealt with scientific methodology, they were all about scientific discoveries, not about the more important question of how those discoveries were made, and how they contribute to the ongoing quest for a deeper understanding of reality.
posted by sotonohito at 11:00 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
I was also frustrated by several of the questions. The radio/light one, for example, and defining amplitude as height, and overall by the fact that many involved basically trivia instead of science.
Don't get me wrong, Salk deserves accolades and statues erected in his honor and we should remember his contribution to humanity.
But knowing that he invented the polio vaccine has very little to do with science knowledge. It's more a matter of history.
I'm also disturbed that not one of the questions dealt with scientific methodology, they were all about scientific discoveries, not about the more important question of how those discoveries were made, and how they contribute to the ongoing quest for a deeper understanding of reality.
posted by sotonohito at 11:00 AM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
Amplitude. Amp. Oh, that's where that word comes from.
posted by alms at 11:02 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by alms at 11:02 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The Moon's contribution is larger than the Sun's but not by a whole lot
The moon has just over twice the influence of the sun on tides.
posted by biffa at 11:05 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The moon has just over twice the influence of the sun on tides.
posted by biffa at 11:05 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
But I wasn't expecting 20% higher error rates on extremely basic questions. What the hell are we doing about this?
My question is when this difference manifests itself, because as far as I recall, there is no huge gap in performance for children still in school--and in fact girls do better. Also, the gap persists when they control for years of education, but not subject. The physical sciences still skew heavily male at upper levels.
I suspect that this has less to do with what people learn than what they retain. We still conceive of the physical sciences as a "male" interest, and a lot of popular media about the physical sciences is marketed toward men.
As for people who will take this as evidence that "lol women are bad at science," we all know they're being stupid, but this is especially stupid. These questions are very basic, putative differences between male and female brains should have no significant effect on our abilities to answer them.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 11:09 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
My question is when this difference manifests itself, because as far as I recall, there is no huge gap in performance for children still in school--and in fact girls do better. Also, the gap persists when they control for years of education, but not subject. The physical sciences still skew heavily male at upper levels.
I suspect that this has less to do with what people learn than what they retain. We still conceive of the physical sciences as a "male" interest, and a lot of popular media about the physical sciences is marketed toward men.
As for people who will take this as evidence that "lol women are bad at science," we all know they're being stupid, but this is especially stupid. These questions are very basic, putative differences between male and female brains should have no significant effect on our abilities to answer them.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 11:09 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
fencerjimmy: "And as an (ex-)physicist, I was incredibly annoyed by the "Which kind of waves are used to make and receive cellphone calls?" question. Radio waves are light waves!"
Haha, me too, I was like, "Is this a trick question? Shouldn't it be 'electromagnetic waves'?"
noneuclidean: "Take a syringe, like the kind that come with childrens ibuprofen (i.e., no needle, holds 10 or so ml) and put a few milliliters of cold water in it. Turn it upside down and try to get all the air bubbles out. Now put your thumb over the syringe opening, pull back on the plunger and watch the water boil. "
WHAAAAAAAAT
brb
OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS AWESOME and also now I have a blood blister on my finger from repeatedly sucking it into the vacuum of the syringe.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:13 AM on September 11, 2015 [21 favorites]
Haha, me too, I was like, "Is this a trick question? Shouldn't it be 'electromagnetic waves'?"
noneuclidean: "Take a syringe, like the kind that come with childrens ibuprofen (i.e., no needle, holds 10 or so ml) and put a few milliliters of cold water in it. Turn it upside down and try to get all the air bubbles out. Now put your thumb over the syringe opening, pull back on the plunger and watch the water boil. "
WHAAAAAAAAT
brb
OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS AWESOME and also now I have a blood blister on my finger from repeatedly sucking it into the vacuum of the syringe.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:13 AM on September 11, 2015 [21 favorites]
I was very annoyed by the y-axis labelling on the scatterplot question. It was something like, "average number of tooth decays per person in different countries." In different countries? Is that another variable? Then there should be a separate scatterplot per country, or a different colour per country, or maybe just a bar chart of r across different countries. Bad quiz.
posted by tickingclock at 11:14 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by tickingclock at 11:14 AM on September 11, 2015
The puzzling thing is that girls do do better than boys in all school subjects, including math and sciences. I don't know how long this has been true, but I get the feeling that it's been the case for at least a decade.
Is this quiz much higher level than secondary school science? I wouldn't have thought so, but it's been years since I've been in contact with it directly.
posted by bonehead at 11:19 AM on September 11, 2015
Is this quiz much higher level than secondary school science? I wouldn't have thought so, but it's been years since I've been in contact with it directly.
posted by bonehead at 11:19 AM on September 11, 2015
Be careful assuming that water bubbling at artificially low pressure is boiling! You might simply be degassing it.
posted by Mitrovarr at 11:27 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitrovarr at 11:27 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
That graph was infuriating. They had a linear line of best fit with zero origin. So their hypothesis is that if you eat no sugar, your teeth will not decay? I'm also pretty darn sure they'd get a better fit with an exponential curve.
Ditto on most of the other objections raised.
12/12, Wouldn't have gotten the polio vaccine one if they hadn't selected three of the most famous scientists in western history as the other options. Good grief, none of the others even worked in the life sciences (unless you count alchemy).
posted by YAMWAK at 11:29 AM on September 11, 2015
Ditto on most of the other objections raised.
12/12, Wouldn't have gotten the polio vaccine one if they hadn't selected three of the most famous scientists in western history as the other options. Good grief, none of the others even worked in the life sciences (unless you count alchemy).
posted by YAMWAK at 11:29 AM on September 11, 2015
Multiple choice tests in school left me with a hatred for them and a burning desire to prove them wrong wrong wrong. And since it's Friday, I'm going to indulge myself a bit
I get 10/12 and I guarantee that my answers are more defensible than theirs.
For question 2, the answer of radio waves is incorrect, as GSM cellphones use L-band microwaves in communication. Thus 'light waves' is the most appropriate answer. While it usually means visible light, 'light waves' can also refer to the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
For question 8, they ask about the loudness of the sound. While the intensity of the sound is a function of amplitude alone, the loudness, how the sound is perceived, is also a function of the ear's response function, which is a function of frequency. As the amplitude answer specifies "height" which is incorrect as sound waves are compression wave, the remaining correct answer is frequency.
Now I'm actually curious on why we have such wide agreement on what constitutes the 'correct' answer to the question - or at least the answer they're looking for. I mean I'm not the only person who's pointed out the problems with these two questions... but we've been taught to know what answer they're looking for.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:37 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
I get 10/12 and I guarantee that my answers are more defensible than theirs.
For question 2, the answer of radio waves is incorrect, as GSM cellphones use L-band microwaves in communication. Thus 'light waves' is the most appropriate answer. While it usually means visible light, 'light waves' can also refer to the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
For question 8, they ask about the loudness of the sound. While the intensity of the sound is a function of amplitude alone, the loudness, how the sound is perceived, is also a function of the ear's response function, which is a function of frequency. As the amplitude answer specifies "height" which is incorrect as sound waves are compression wave, the remaining correct answer is frequency.
Now I'm actually curious on why we have such wide agreement on what constitutes the 'correct' answer to the question - or at least the answer they're looking for. I mean I'm not the only person who's pointed out the problems with these two questions... but we've been taught to know what answer they're looking for.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:37 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
12/12 but there was something pinging around in my brain about the relative temperatures of the core and the mantle maybe being weird...or maybe I'm thinking about the Sun. Got lucky on that one.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:38 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:38 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
10/12 not bad for an opera singer who didn't go past grade 10 science
posted by operalass at 11:39 AM on September 11, 2015
posted by operalass at 11:39 AM on September 11, 2015
People old enough to remember polio all know exactly who Jonas Salk is. I am among the oldest people young enough not to remember polio, but our parents all made sure we knew exactly who Jonas Salk was.
posted by Bringer Tom at 11:39 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Bringer Tom at 11:39 AM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]
And yes, it's the sun that has the weird heating thing where the surface is a few thousand degrees kelvin but the lower density corona above it is in the millions.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:40 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:40 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
And yes, it's the sun that has the weird heating thing where the surface is a few thousand degrees kelvin but the lower density corona above it is in the millions.
Yeah, but it's a dry heat, you don't feel it as much.
posted by Herodios at 11:50 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Yeah, but it's a dry heat, you don't feel it as much.
posted by Herodios at 11:50 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Salk was an easy one for me because I do infectious disease, but the boiling point one always gets me confused so 11/12.
But now, thanks to griphus, I'll remember how boiling points work in relation to altitude.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
But now, thanks to griphus, I'll remember how boiling points work in relation to altitude.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pretty much my only big regret in life is my lack of any real meaningful math/science education when I was growing up because I had so deeply internalized the idea that girls are bad at math/science that I just assumed I would be terrible at it and never even really tried. It wasn't until college (and a very good female math professor I had who was patient and explained things in a way that made sense to me) that I realized that I kind of like the precision of math, the fact there there could be only one right answer, that you could keep working on something until you found it and then test it from multiple angles and still get the same answer. As an English major, everything was subjective and open to interpretation which always drove me a little crazy because I like things to be more black and white, and I never realized this about myself until well into my adult years, when I started working in finance and had to learn a lot of math on an ad hoc basis for very specific work things. So yeah, I didn't get the education I would have liked in my formative years in this area, and I'll continue to try and make up for it the rest of my life, probably.
Despite this, I got 9/12, which I'm changing to 10/12 (due to one answer that I actually knew being a careless wrong selection). The ones I got wrong were soundwaves and magnifying glass.
The graph one wasn't hard but I look at insane, ridiculous and unnecessarily complex charts a lot for work, and know that charts can get very confusing or misleading, quick. I can see where that particular graph would mislead people into thinking it was showing a rate of change over time, and cause them to pick the wrong answer. I came across examples of ridiculous charts used in the media a while back, which shows some more egregious examples of terrible data visualization; including one chart where the y-axis is upside down, seeming to show that gun deaths in Florida went down after Stand Your Ground laws were enacted, when the opposite was true.
posted by triggerfinger at 11:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Despite this, I got 9/12, which I'm changing to 10/12 (due to one answer that I actually knew being a careless wrong selection). The ones I got wrong were soundwaves and magnifying glass.
The graph one wasn't hard but I look at insane, ridiculous and unnecessarily complex charts a lot for work, and know that charts can get very confusing or misleading, quick. I can see where that particular graph would mislead people into thinking it was showing a rate of change over time, and cause them to pick the wrong answer. I came across examples of ridiculous charts used in the media a while back, which shows some more egregious examples of terrible data visualization; including one chart where the y-axis is upside down, seeming to show that gun deaths in Florida went down after Stand Your Ground laws were enacted, when the opposite was true.
posted by triggerfinger at 11:52 AM on September 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
That quiz just barely skims the outer atmosphere of planet Science. Most of those questions do not test one's ability to do science. The sugar chart is just data analysis, the data could be anything. It's not even testing science literacy, more like testing one's readiness to acquire science literacy.
By the way, you don't actually have to answer any of the demographics questions to get your score.
posted by Herodios at 11:55 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
By the way, you don't actually have to answer any of the demographics questions to get your score.
posted by Herodios at 11:55 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Leave it to Metafilter to challenge the methodology of an Internet quiz.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:56 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:56 AM on September 11, 2015 [6 favorites]
Did pretty well for someone who didn't graduate high school. 12/12. Take that education-industrial complex! Who needs you anyway?! (My writing could probably have stood a few more years in school)
I disagree on the incorrectness of the cell phone wave question, but do agree that the nuclear fuel and sound wave loudness questions were somewhat poorly worded. Look at basically any chart of the EM spectrum and you will see it divided up into radio waves, light waves, X-rays, and maybe gamma rays. Like 'long wave' and 'medium wave,' 'microwave' is a term for a subset of the radio wave spectrum, which is itself a subset of the full EM spectrum.
posted by wierdo at 12:03 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
I disagree on the incorrectness of the cell phone wave question, but do agree that the nuclear fuel and sound wave loudness questions were somewhat poorly worded. Look at basically any chart of the EM spectrum and you will see it divided up into radio waves, light waves, X-rays, and maybe gamma rays. Like 'long wave' and 'medium wave,' 'microwave' is a term for a subset of the radio wave spectrum, which is itself a subset of the full EM spectrum.
posted by wierdo at 12:03 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
For question 8, they ask about the loudness of the sound. While the intensity of the sound is a function of amplitude alone, the loudness, how the sound is perceived, is also a function of the ear's response function, which is a function of frequency. As the amplitude answer specifies "height" which is incorrect as sound waves are compression wave, the remaining correct answer is frequency.
Adding to this. Perception of loudness is also affected by other factors such as
- Duration - sounds that last longer appear louder up to about 200ms or so,
- Amplitude envelope - sounds with gently ramping attacks will be perceived to be quieter
- Frequency bandwidth (as opposed to frequency sensitivity as profiled by equal loudness contours) - sounds with more frequencies covering several critical bands will appear louder.
posted by TwoWordReview at 12:04 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Adding to this. Perception of loudness is also affected by other factors such as
- Duration - sounds that last longer appear louder up to about 200ms or so,
- Amplitude envelope - sounds with gently ramping attacks will be perceived to be quieter
- Frequency bandwidth (as opposed to frequency sensitivity as profiled by equal loudness contours) - sounds with more frequencies covering several critical bands will appear louder.
posted by TwoWordReview at 12:04 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ah, you're probably right, wierdo. That's why I'm a theoretical scientist and not an engineer. XD
posted by Zalzidrax at 12:06 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Zalzidrax at 12:06 PM on September 11, 2015
I think the Salk thing hints that the point in this isn't exactly to show how smart people are, but if common basics of science are being ignored. Even if you don't know Salk by name (like me), people with that basic knowledge of science would quickly associate Curie with Radiation, Einstein with Relativity, Newton with Gravity, and by exclusion...
If it was supposed to be a test to measure the higher end of common scientific knowledge (ie: where nitpickery would apply), it would be asking who discovered radioactivity, between Curie, Rontgen, Becquerel and Hütter.
posted by lmfsilva at 12:15 PM on September 11, 2015
If it was supposed to be a test to measure the higher end of common scientific knowledge (ie: where nitpickery would apply), it would be asking who discovered radioactivity, between Curie, Rontgen, Becquerel and Hütter.
posted by lmfsilva at 12:15 PM on September 11, 2015
2/2 on the demographics questions.
That's pretty good; at least half the people taking this thing got my gender wrong.
posted by griphus at 12:15 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
That's pretty good; at least half the people taking this thing got my gender wrong.
posted by griphus at 12:15 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
> Be careful assuming that water bubbling at artificially low pressure is boiling! You might simply be degassing it.
Interesting...can you explain further? I have fun doing this whenever I'm cleaning syringes after giving my kid medicine, so I'd love to know more about what's actually happening.
posted by noneuclidean at 12:15 PM on September 11, 2015
Interesting...can you explain further? I have fun doing this whenever I'm cleaning syringes after giving my kid medicine, so I'd love to know more about what's actually happening.
posted by noneuclidean at 12:15 PM on September 11, 2015
...it would be asking who discovered radioactivity, between Curie, Rontgen, Becquerel and Hütter.
It took me well into my 20s to figure out the Russian word for "X-Ray" was just "roentgen" pronounced in a Russian accent.
posted by griphus at 12:16 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
It took me well into my 20s to figure out the Russian word for "X-Ray" was just "roentgen" pronounced in a Russian accent.
posted by griphus at 12:16 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
11/12, I got the magnifying glass wrong. The questions mostly seemed either ridiculously simple, or gotcha type questions that could be sussed out if you're good at tests.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:18 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:18 PM on September 11, 2015
9/12
I missed the cellphone question because I thought it was asking how you can hear a cellphone for some reason. I missed the magnifying glass question because I am really bad with how light works. I had no idea who Jonas Salk was until this quiz.
I did know the boiling water question because my dad one time took a beaker with water and decreased the pressure with some kind of rubber thing that he could twist and I held boiling water in my bare hands! He loves science and showing kids all the cool things it can do.
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:20 PM on September 11, 2015
I missed the cellphone question because I thought it was asking how you can hear a cellphone for some reason. I missed the magnifying glass question because I am really bad with how light works. I had no idea who Jonas Salk was until this quiz.
I did know the boiling water question because my dad one time took a beaker with water and decreased the pressure with some kind of rubber thing that he could twist and I held boiling water in my bare hands! He loves science and showing kids all the cool things it can do.
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:20 PM on September 11, 2015
The key to the magnifying glass question is that a magnifying glass, whether you're using it to magnify or to burn ants, is a converging lens and only one diagram shows parallel light rays on one side and converging rays on the other. That is the basic difference between convex and concave diverging lenses, and is fundamental for understanding other things like eyeglasses (which can be either type depending on whether you're near or far sighted).
posted by Bringer Tom at 12:24 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Bringer Tom at 12:24 PM on September 11, 2015
We still conceive of the physical sciences as a "male" interest, and a lot of popular media about the physical sciences is marketed toward men.
I think this is obviously true with the uranium question-- every dude I know makes like 1,000 jokes about uranium a day, see like every superhero/action movie thing book toy blahh whatever.
12/12 here, baby. Yeah, I did my junior high science homework. *blows on knuckles*
posted by easter queen at 12:24 PM on September 11, 2015
I think this is obviously true with the uranium question-- every dude I know makes like 1,000 jokes about uranium a day, see like every superhero/action movie thing book toy blahh whatever.
12/12 here, baby. Yeah, I did my junior high science homework. *blows on knuckles*
posted by easter queen at 12:24 PM on September 11, 2015
I never read that part of the cookbook because I live 500 whole feet above sea level.
Doctor, I am that clown.
I live in Colorado, and I got the question right, but it was a lucky guess. I couldn't remember which direction the difference was, and it never even occurred to me to try to figure it out with science rather than just trying to remember what I heard.
I win stupidest 12/12!
posted by ernielundquist at 12:25 PM on September 11, 2015
Doctor, I am that clown.
I live in Colorado, and I got the question right, but it was a lucky guess. I couldn't remember which direction the difference was, and it never even occurred to me to try to figure it out with science rather than just trying to remember what I heard.
I win stupidest 12/12!
posted by ernielundquist at 12:25 PM on September 11, 2015
The way you remember the altitude and boiling water one is: "Up in the mountains there's less air to hold the water in."
posted by notyou at 12:36 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 12:36 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd like to see a science quiz that mentioned signals and systems and required at least a basic understanding of the Fourier transform. Then we'll separate the engineers from the astrology majors!
posted by Nanukthedog at 12:40 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 12:40 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
12/12 yayyyy!
The last question is in no way a science question. I object, sir.
posted by Justinian at 12:58 PM on September 11, 2015
The last question is in no way a science question. I object, sir.
posted by Justinian at 12:58 PM on September 11, 2015
Amplitude envelope - sounds with gently ramping attacks will be perceived to be quieter
Actually I have that backwards. A sound that increases in intensity over time sounds louder than a sound that decreases in intensity over time, even if they have the same total power or average intensity.
Put it another way, if you create a sound like a tone that fades out and then reverse it, the reversed signal sounds louder than the original signal.
posted by TwoWordReview at 1:02 PM on September 11, 2015
Actually I have that backwards. A sound that increases in intensity over time sounds louder than a sound that decreases in intensity over time, even if they have the same total power or average intensity.
Put it another way, if you create a sound like a tone that fades out and then reverse it, the reversed signal sounds louder than the original signal.
posted by TwoWordReview at 1:02 PM on September 11, 2015
Now I'm actually curious on why we have such wide agreement on what constitutes the 'correct' answer to the question - or at least the answer they're looking for.
It's the same reason you'll immediately know what a rightside-up triangle is and also what an upside-down triangle is. Even though no textbook anywhere has ever defined the rightside-up-ness or upside-down-ness of a triangle. And if I ask you to draw a triangle you'll almost certainly draw a rightside-up one.
There are tons of conventions like that, which are passed along culturally and often form the most basic, fundamental core of our thinking about things, but are most often not part of formal definitions or explanations. This test (and all tests, to some degree) is depending on your larger cultural knowledge of the systems and issues to help you sort out what they are really asking about.
posted by flug at 1:02 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's the same reason you'll immediately know what a rightside-up triangle is and also what an upside-down triangle is. Even though no textbook anywhere has ever defined the rightside-up-ness or upside-down-ness of a triangle. And if I ask you to draw a triangle you'll almost certainly draw a rightside-up one.
There are tons of conventions like that, which are passed along culturally and often form the most basic, fundamental core of our thinking about things, but are most often not part of formal definitions or explanations. This test (and all tests, to some degree) is depending on your larger cultural knowledge of the systems and issues to help you sort out what they are really asking about.
posted by flug at 1:02 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
You'd think I'd know how magnifying glasses work, seeing as I seem to need one for nearly everything nowadays.
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 1:06 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 1:06 PM on September 11, 2015
Salk was an easy one for me because I do infectious disease
Preventing it, I hope!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:11 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Preventing it, I hope!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:11 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Water boils in outer space, outer space is very cold, Denver is closer to outer space than Los Angeles, therefore water must boil at a lower temperature in Denver than in LA.
posted by clorox at 1:16 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by clorox at 1:16 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd like to see a science quiz that mentioned signals and systems and required at least a basic understanding of the Fourier transform. Then we'll separate the engineers from the astrology majors!Now wondering how Nanukthedog answered the astronomy/astrology question if he or she thinks that colleges offer astrology majors..
Further wondering, now that I think about it, whether the average person who practices astrology as a career earns more at it than the average person who practices astronomy as a career. I'm not sure I can guess the answer to that and I'm disgusted by the possibility that the former might actually be more lucrative for those who make a living at it.
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:28 PM on September 11, 2015
Feeling so good about my 12/12. Only a couple answers I was unsure about but clearly it all turned out okay. PHEW.
posted by Zephyrial at 1:29 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Zephyrial at 1:29 PM on September 11, 2015
DH and i got 11/12 and 12/12 respectively; the water boiling point at higher altitude got him. I only got that because I make candy - is that common knowledge? I don't remember it being a part of high school science class.
posted by Sallysings at 1:33 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Sallysings at 1:33 PM on September 11, 2015
For question 8, they ask about the loudness of the sound. While the intensity of the sound is a function of amplitude alone, the loudness, how the sound is perceived, is also a function of the ear's response function, which is a function of frequency. As the amplitude answer specifies "height" which is incorrect as sound waves are compression wave, the remaining correct answer is frequency.
Adding to this. Perception of loudness is also affected by other factors such as
- Duration - sounds that last longer appear louder up to about 200ms or so,
- Amplitude envelope - sounds with gently ramping attacks will be perceived to be quieter
- Frequency bandwidth (as opposed to frequency sensitivity as profiled by equal loudness contours) - sounds with more frequencies covering several critical bands will appear louder.
Further adding to this is the masking effect of other sounds heard simultaneously or in close proximity to the sound being observed. Psychoacoustics is pretty complex stuff and very little of what we perceive in a sound has a simple 1 to 1 relationship with a measurable aspect of the physical sound wave.
posted by Television Name at 1:34 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Adding to this. Perception of loudness is also affected by other factors such as
- Duration - sounds that last longer appear louder up to about 200ms or so,
- Amplitude envelope - sounds with gently ramping attacks will be perceived to be quieter
- Frequency bandwidth (as opposed to frequency sensitivity as profiled by equal loudness contours) - sounds with more frequencies covering several critical bands will appear louder.
Further adding to this is the masking effect of other sounds heard simultaneously or in close proximity to the sound being observed. Psychoacoustics is pretty complex stuff and very little of what we perceive in a sound has a simple 1 to 1 relationship with a measurable aspect of the physical sound wave.
posted by Television Name at 1:34 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
11/12, also missed the magnifying glass one (never took high school physics OR middle school physical science due to some quirks of my education - using that as my excuse), social sciences major, female. I am curious about how they picked these questions; they seem a bit random.
posted by naoko at 1:55 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by naoko at 1:55 PM on September 11, 2015
I've not heard of Salk and nor had anyone I asked. (All from the UK)
I've heard of Edward Jenner though.
It seems weird to me to specifically ask about the inventor of one vaccine, as opposed to the inventor of vaccines generally.
Is this a nationality thing? Are Americans more likely to know about Salk?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:03 PM on September 11, 2015
I've heard of Edward Jenner though.
It seems weird to me to specifically ask about the inventor of one vaccine, as opposed to the inventor of vaccines generally.
Is this a nationality thing? Are Americans more likely to know about Salk?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:03 PM on September 11, 2015
I guessed Salk because every other name was so notable, I figured, "Well I would know about it if it had been [Curie, etc]." Not that that's true... but it was a guess that paid off!
posted by Zephyrial at 2:13 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Zephyrial at 2:13 PM on September 11, 2015
12/12, female, English major. I had an abysmal science education in high school and would have been lucky to answer even half of these correctly if I'd stopped there, but I had the good fortune to make up for it over the years. That said, I totally agree with folks above that several of these questions are ambiguously worded and just plain weird in cases, and I really, really hate that it seems like they're including astrology as a science.
posted by Diagonalize at 2:15 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Diagonalize at 2:15 PM on September 11, 2015
Question: How did they know how the scores broke down by race? The questionnaire never asked me for mine.
I did get 12/12, for what it's worth :^)
posted by surazal at 2:34 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I did get 12/12, for what it's worth :^)
posted by surazal at 2:34 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I got 11/12 due to missing the one about altitude, boiling water, and Denver. I even lived in Denver for a little while recently, and knew it was higher or lower due to the mile-high elevation.
I blame my mistake on the fact that I was living in an apartment with an electric stove, and it was the first time I've ever had to use one. I got confused because I had to cook with inferior appliances. Yeah, that's totally why I missed that one! :/
posted by subliminable at 2:35 PM on September 11, 2015
I blame my mistake on the fact that I was living in an apartment with an electric stove, and it was the first time I've ever had to use one. I got confused because I had to cook with inferior appliances. Yeah, that's totally why I missed that one! :/
posted by subliminable at 2:35 PM on September 11, 2015
11/12, and I only missed the astrology/astronomy question - I always mix those two up.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 2:45 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 2:45 PM on September 11, 2015
Question: How did they know how the scores broke down by race? The questionnaire never asked me for mine.
I would assume they're using the survey data from 2014, the results discussed in the second link.
posted by bonehead at 2:52 PM on September 11, 2015
I would assume they're using the survey data from 2014, the results discussed in the second link.
posted by bonehead at 2:52 PM on September 11, 2015
Yeah - I fucked up the boiling water and the magnifying glass.
My intuition on the glass was correct, but when I looked at the image, my brain said - well, the image goes in, and then expands outward (not focusing into a smaller point). So... Boo.
The boiling one, my logic was that higher pressure = more density (and thus more heat) = less energy required to cook. Therefore, at a higher altitude, less dense air = more space for the molecules to move = more energy required to make the molecules move.
Clearly I need to re-read The Four Laws that Drive the Universe... How could I fail such an utterly basic question? :\
posted by symbioid at 2:59 PM on September 11, 2015
My intuition on the glass was correct, but when I looked at the image, my brain said - well, the image goes in, and then expands outward (not focusing into a smaller point). So... Boo.
The boiling one, my logic was that higher pressure = more density (and thus more heat) = less energy required to cook. Therefore, at a higher altitude, less dense air = more space for the molecules to move = more energy required to make the molecules move.
Clearly I need to re-read The Four Laws that Drive the Universe... How could I fail such an utterly basic question? :\
posted by symbioid at 2:59 PM on September 11, 2015
Hm. So they clearly recognise that there exists science that is not physics, because hey, look the superficial cover story to the statistics question isn't about physics, and there's a history of science question that implies some dude cured polio, probably using a telescope or something. Cool, cool. Hey, do those other sciences have any substantive content that we could ask questions about? Does social science even exist? Alas, I am trapped inside a particle accelerator and I cannot reach my google.
posted by langtonsant at 3:18 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by langtonsant at 3:18 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I can't believe I missed the magnifying glass one.
posted by Splunge at 3:35 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Splunge at 3:35 PM on September 11, 2015
11/12, because they failed to distinguish between high/low tide and spring/neap tides.
And yes, light waves are distinguished from radio waves as 'visible light.' After all, the common engineering term for the chip in your cellphone isn't light chipset, it's your radio chipset.
posted by pwnguin at 4:18 PM on September 11, 2015
And yes, light waves are distinguished from radio waves as 'visible light.' After all, the common engineering term for the chip in your cellphone isn't light chipset, it's your radio chipset.
posted by pwnguin at 4:18 PM on September 11, 2015
11/12. I totally had a brain fart and started second guessing if the earth's core is the hottest or not. More embarrasing since it's the one most people managed to answer correctly.
Can someone explain why hispanics, which are generally in the middle of white and black for all the other questions, really flubbed the boiling water question? I can't see any logical explanation for that oddity.
posted by ymgve at 4:20 PM on September 11, 2015
Can someone explain why hispanics, which are generally in the middle of white and black for all the other questions, really flubbed the boiling water question? I can't see any logical explanation for that oddity.
posted by ymgve at 4:20 PM on September 11, 2015
10/12, which I can live with. Altitude boiling point was a 50/50 punt for me and I had no idea about magnifying lenses. Now let's get these guys to take it.
posted by Paul Slade at 4:24 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by Paul Slade at 4:24 PM on September 11, 2015
Can someone explain why hispanics, which are generally in the middle of white and black for all the other questions, really flubbed the boiling water question?
My guess was demographics of high elevation locations, but Denver is 31 percent Hispanic. What's the imputed error bars based on sample size anyways?
posted by pwnguin at 4:42 PM on September 11, 2015
My guess was demographics of high elevation locations, but Denver is 31 percent Hispanic. What's the imputed error bars based on sample size anyways?
posted by pwnguin at 4:42 PM on September 11, 2015
11/12, which was vastly better than I expected to do. I think of myself as being totally ignorant about science. I haven't taken a science class since I was 16. I consider it one of my shameful educational deficiencies. I got the water boiling one wrong, which seems to have been common.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:50 PM on September 11, 2015
Is this a nationality thing? Are Americans more likely to know about Salk?Yeah, I think probably. People in the US were really terrified by the polio epidemic in the early 50s, and Salk was seen as something of a savior figure for basically eradicating polio in the US. He was a celebrity and a heroic figure in a way that not many scientists are. I'm not sure he had exactly that status in the rest of the world.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:50 PM on September 11, 2015
12/12
Although interestingly, while I knew the other three faces on sight, I'm not sure I could pick Jonas Salk out of a lineup. I knew his name because he is justifiably very famous.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:13 PM on September 11, 2015
Although interestingly, while I knew the other three faces on sight, I'm not sure I could pick Jonas Salk out of a lineup. I knew his name because he is justifiably very famous.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:13 PM on September 11, 2015
Aw, boo. I missed the magnifying glass. Oh, well. There were some questions that seemed like they weren't taking the whole answer into account, as the full answers are complex. But it's a quiz on the internet so they simplified. I guess...
...Which is what I did for a lot of this quiz as it was.
Except for Salk. Totally knew Salk.
posted by droplet at 5:41 PM on September 11, 2015
...Which is what I did for a lot of this quiz as it was.
Except for Salk. Totally knew Salk.
posted by droplet at 5:41 PM on September 11, 2015
I knew the water boiling question because I remember the Top Chef season finale in Aspen where they had to use special water boiling appliances because otherwise the water would boil at an unacceptably cool temp.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:07 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:07 PM on September 11, 2015
9/11
posted by clavdivs at 6:26 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 6:26 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
9/11
It took me like 5 seconds to figure out that you were not referring to today's date/tragedy memorial
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:40 PM on September 11, 2015
It took me like 5 seconds to figure out that you were not referring to today's date/tragedy memorial
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:40 PM on September 11, 2015
11/12 for confusing sound waves, radio waves, and light waves. Still, much better than I expected.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 7:24 PM on September 11, 2015
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 7:24 PM on September 11, 2015
Actually, the scores reported here (if they are representative of mefites) really emphasize that this community is not your average American community. (Well, duh, plenty of non-Americans here. And hey, even an opera singer.) But kind of pops my "look ma, I'm connecting with people outside the ivory tower!" delusion.
posted by brambleboy at 10:48 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by brambleboy at 10:48 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Greg Nog, please promise me you will make a similar comment in the next thread we have about IQ.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:50 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:50 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
...a little bit frustrating because I'm a firm believer that people as a whole aren't stupid, just focused on what they need and want in daily life.
Well, as a survey it does say something about people as a whole. It probably doesn't matter if they're stupid or not, but how much do they know about the world they live in? Would better-educated citizens have a different focus on needs and their experience of daily life? I feel like knowing how tides work, the history of the tempered scale, and the story of information science (thanks Jeremy Campbell!) have made life more interesting.
But I still haven't figured out how they knew I'm not Hispanic?!?!
posted by sneebler at 12:43 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, as a survey it does say something about people as a whole. It probably doesn't matter if they're stupid or not, but how much do they know about the world they live in? Would better-educated citizens have a different focus on needs and their experience of daily life? I feel like knowing how tides work, the history of the tempered scale, and the story of information science (thanks Jeremy Campbell!) have made life more interesting.
But I still haven't figured out how they knew I'm not Hispanic?!?!
posted by sneebler at 12:43 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
The implication in the last question annoyed me somewhat. Anyway, here's a recent one from The Graun with slightly more challenging questions.
posted by lawrencium at 1:25 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lawrencium at 1:25 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm actually encouraged that most respondents did well. Of course, someone who didn't expect to do well probably wouldn't choose to take it.
posted by panglos at 5:30 AM on September 12, 2015
posted by panglos at 5:30 AM on September 12, 2015
I was asked about gender and age, but not race.
The astrology question was meant to catch people who just read the first part of the question -- I almost clicked the wrong answer and then caught the end of the sentence. I knew the boiling at altitude question from the difficulty in cooking while camping, rather than by knowing the science involved.
Overall, it was possible to get all the answers correct without knowing much, if any, actual science; this seemed more a test of cultural literacy rather than scientific knowledge. A reader of National Geographic or the science section of the New York Times would know most of these just from context, without knowing the underlying science at all.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:33 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
The astrology question was meant to catch people who just read the first part of the question -- I almost clicked the wrong answer and then caught the end of the sentence. I knew the boiling at altitude question from the difficulty in cooking while camping, rather than by knowing the science involved.
Overall, it was possible to get all the answers correct without knowing much, if any, actual science; this seemed more a test of cultural literacy rather than scientific knowledge. A reader of National Geographic or the science section of the New York Times would know most of these just from context, without knowing the underlying science at all.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:33 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
12/12 here, female, and thank you Precalculus Class last year for covering frequencies! Otherwise I would have missed the loudness question.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:36 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by spinifex23 at 11:36 AM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wrote the MCAT recently and the style of questions was very similar to this quiz. You always have to choose the best answer, and you can't overthink the questions or you'll just get frustrated and choose wrong.
Yes, other elements can be used in nuclear reactions, and maybe radio waves aren't used in all cell phones, but they're still the best answers here.
12/12, but I just spent 3 months reviewing first year science so I would have been disappointed with anything less!
posted by piper4 at 4:09 PM on September 12, 2015
Yes, other elements can be used in nuclear reactions, and maybe radio waves aren't used in all cell phones, but they're still the best answers here.
12/12, but I just spent 3 months reviewing first year science so I would have been disappointed with anything less!
posted by piper4 at 4:09 PM on September 12, 2015
I, as some other commenters above, am unimpressed with the pedagogy of this quiz. It was an odd mix of useful brief conceptual questions, trivial facts, facts that are potentially important in our role as citizens participating in democratic debates on science-related policy issues, and mathematical knowledge. Also, as noted, some of the questions were quite poorly written.
posted by eviemath at 6:24 AM on September 13, 2015
posted by eviemath at 6:24 AM on September 13, 2015
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