I think it all started when Han Solo said he could make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. A whole panoply of morons let that one get on the screen.
The really scary thing is: these people vote.
The last presidential election convinced me the country is full of idiots. I hated to admit I was part of a minority in this country. I didn’t admit that I was wrong, just that I was in the minority. It is hard to overcome stupidity.
First day in my college Astronomy class, a girl asked “Are there any stars between the earth and the moon?”
Only the ones circling your head, my dear.
I knew at that point that no matter what, I was not going to get the lowest grade in the class.
Maybe 2...can’t forget about good old Nemesis.
In the interest of furthering education, please, spell led correctly. Please!
Now, what's the name of that app? I used to just call my brother, an astro-photographer, and he'd tell me what I was looking at. I miss him every day, but mostly at night, when the stars put on their show.
Pretty horrifying example, but very believable. Years ago I gave a small star party for the neighbors because of an unusual plantetary lineup at dusk where you could see five planets lined up from the horizon, including Mercury. One woman looked through the scope at Saturn and remarked that it was pretty, and asked what it was. I told her that that was Saturn, the planet with the rings. She looked me straight in the eye and said, “It really has actual rings? I thought that was a marketing thing.”
Well dah!Should only be one. That one is known as the Sun..
My flip, off-the-cuff reply was "millions". Then I re-read what you were asking. "One", of course.
But the guy who didn't know that the sun was a star.....shudder. He votes. And drives.
I always ask when was the Civil War, WWI, WWII.
The answers will BLOW YOUR MIND...
BTW, I am a “junior astronomer,” and really know quite a bit about the subject, and when I saw your question, the number “billions” popped in my head. Don’t know why I was thinking galaxy instead of solar system.
Cynthia McKinney ping?
But do they know who’s on ‘Dancing with the stars?’
Or who K.K. boinking?
That’s what matters, right?
In OUR solar system? One. That big bright ball that rarely illuminates the Minnesota sky in daytime.
A lot of FReepers tell me that "just because that’s what science says doesn’t mean it’s true." (Sometimes they're even right.)
I wouldn’t be too scared. It’s a trick question. Designed to exploit the nature of the human brain.
Just read some of the science threads on FR! :-)
OMG....