I was having a discussion with some coworkers at lunch today and an interesting topic came up about how people who aren't in a certain field may perceive the way things work. So I have two question for you guys. They may seem trivial and easy, but bear with me. Please don't post your reasoning behind your answer until after a few people have already answered, and for those of you who are in a science related field and already know the answer, please don't post it. I would like to get an unbiased look.

If you are on the Moon holding a rock, and you let it go, it will:
(a) float away
(b) float where it is
(c) move sideways
(d) fall to the ground
(e) none of the above

When the Apollo astronauts were on the Moon, they did not fall off because:
(a) the Earth's gravity extends to the Moon
(b) the Moon has gravity
(c) they wore heavy boots
(d) they had safety ropes
(e) they had spiked shoes

4/29/2009 2:54:51 PM

Are you trying to determine what percentage of non-science/technical people are retarded?

4/29/2009 2:55:54 PM

lolol this'll be good

let's go with:
(f) the rock will splode!

(f) they didn't fall off cause they didn't go to the moon!

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 2:57 PM. Reason : lolol]

4/29/2009 2:56:39 PM

Seriously? I would say it's sad that you really have to ask this, but sadly most people probably actually are too dumb to know the answers.

4/29/2009 2:56:48 PM

how you are defining non-science? anyone who has never moved past biology in high school?

4/29/2009 2:57:01 PM

d
b

4/29/2009 2:57:13 PM

so you were having a discussion at lunch?

because I saw this on digg about a week ago.

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 2:58 PM. Reason : http://digg.com/space/Why_didn_t_astronauts_float_off_the_moon_Heavy_boots_Sigh]

4/29/2009 2:57:43 PM

I don't care what your field or major is, if you grow up in the West and can't answer those 2 questions, that's very very very very very sad.

4/29/2009 2:57:50 PM

http://www.bspcn.com/2009/04/27/why-didnt-astronauts-float-off-the-moon/

4/29/2009 2:58:31 PM

(f) they were on a sound stage the first time

4/29/2009 2:58:41 PM

A QUESTION FOR SCIENCE/TECHNICAL PEOPLE

CAN YOU READ?

BECAUSE ONLY HUMANITIES MAJORS CAN READ

MY MAJOR IS BETTER THAN YOURS

I WORK AT NASA

KING DOUCHEBAG OUT

4/29/2009 2:59:21 PM

please tell me i'm correct, because i don't want to seem stoopid. and why isn't anyone else answering, but instead ridiculing. y'all are making me paranoid.

4/29/2009 3:00:24 PM

the rock will not take off

4/29/2009 3:01:04 PM

i mean did you just completely rip off the link i posted?

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:02 PM. Reason : original http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~det/phy2060/heavyboots.html]

4/29/2009 3:01:10 PM

Haha I don't think people are THAT stupid to not know the answers to those questions.

4/29/2009 3:03:27 PM

^ Have you ever been to the DMV?

4/29/2009 3:04:14 PM

^^you'd be surprised

4/29/2009 3:04:32 PM

What if the rock is on a treadmill?

4/29/2009 3:06:16 PM

i think all of you are just pretending to know the answers, but really have no clue. rather than taking the risk, like i did, you'd rather be sitting back in your "harharhar! how could anyone NOT know the answer (pssh, what are the answers)" chairs.

4/29/2009 3:06:26 PM

i am in a technical fielD, so I can't answer this question Based on the aforementioned rules.

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:08 PM. Reason : this reminds me of the kid asking joe####'s if his arm would grow back]

4/29/2009 3:08:28 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_of_the_Moon

from above

Quote :

"The gravitational acceleration of the moon is 1.63 m/s2,[1] about 16.7% that of earth's."

not only do we know the gravitational acceleration on the moon but we have neat maps of the gravitational deviation on the surface (1 Gal = 1cm/s2)



[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:09 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2009 3:09:03 PM

well if the rock is on a treadmill, first you have to consider if the treadmill will take off...

so, you have to put the rock on a treadmill on a bigger treadmill bolted to the ground.

4/29/2009 3:09:10 PM

I didn't wanna post the link because it gives away the answers. And I was talking about it at lunch after someone told me that they saw it online. I wasn't claiming that I came up with it myself.

Quote :

"A QUESTION FOR SCIENCE/TECHNICAL PEOPLE CAN YOU READ? BECAUSE ONLY HUMANITIES MAJORS CAN READ MY MAJOR IS BETTER THAN YOURS I WORK AT NASA KING DOUCHEBAG OUT"

Don't be such a troll. Of the people I have already talked to about this, the ones who were incorrect were not science/technical folks, and I attribute that mainly to the fact that they simply aren't interested in this kind of stuff. If you look at the back story behind it, it actually spawned from a philosophy TA who answered incorrectly.

4/29/2009 3:09:18 PM

i just asked these questions to a guy i work w/ who has an associates degree and little-no knowledge of scientific stuff. his answers were: (a) float away, and (c) they wore heavy boots

4/29/2009 3:09:23 PM

Quote :

"i just asked these questions to a guy i work w/ who has an associates degree and little-no knowledge of scientific stuff. his answers were: (a) float away, and (c) they wore heavy boots"

Breaking news: stupid people are stupid.

4/29/2009 3:12:00 PM

Fucking dumb

anybody in any field could post something similar

If you drop a hamburger patty from a height of 8 feet into a pool of hot grease, it will:
(a) float like a lily pad
(b) sink like a rock
(c) splash my face and leave me scalded for life
(d) skip across the surface
(e) none of the above

The Special Sauce in the Big Mac is
(a) My nut
(b) Steve's nut
(c) Miguel's nut
(d) Mayonaisse and ketchup
(e) Rick's nut


Please don't post your reasoning behind your answer until after a few people have already answered, and for those of you who are in a related field and already know the answer, please don't post it. I would like to get an unbiased look.

4/29/2009 3:12:39 PM

yeah, just proving a point


hahahahaha, from him, after my explanation of gravity

Quote :

"i think i was picturing them in the space shuttle floating around"

in case i need to point out why this is funny, the space shuttle doesn't go to the moon

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:14 PM. Reason : ]

4/29/2009 3:12:47 PM

^^^ the thing is that the person is probably not "stupid" but just has a shocking (from our standpoint) lack of knowledge

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:13 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2009 3:13:02 PM

If you are on the Moon holding a rock, and you let it go, some moon crackhead will swoop in and grab it before it hits the ground.

4/29/2009 3:13:35 PM

Quote :

"The Special Sauce in the Big Mac is (a) My nut (b) Steve's nut (c) Miguel's nut (d) Mayonaisse and ketchup (e) Rick's nut"

(f) Thousand Islands salad dressing (or similar)

4/29/2009 3:14:12 PM

mayo and ketchup = thousand island



[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:15 PM. Reason : x]

4/29/2009 3:15:35 PM

4/29/2009 3:16:12 PM

For everyone claiming that it is such a common sense answer that everyone should know, you'd be surprised at how many people get it wrong. I've already talked to three people since lunch who were incorrect.

4/29/2009 3:16:36 PM

^^^^mayo and ketchup = thousand island

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:16 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2009 3:16:40 PM

I blame southern education.

HAH

*begin flame war*

4/29/2009 3:16:55 PM

ummm this isn't field specific, they are very basic 6th grade level science questions. your analogy is terrible.

they are not common sense questions either.

Quote :

"I blame southern education. HAH *begin flame war*"

what are you a product of again?

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:19 PM. Reason : ?]

4/29/2009 3:16:55 PM

thousand island has pickles
wait... thousand island = russian, right?

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:18 PM. Reason : ]

4/29/2009 3:16:55 PM

^^

and exactly how well do you think the average person would do an a "very basic 6th grade level science" test

we have a fucking game show called "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?"

and before you get all high and mighty about feeling smarter than the "average person" remember who you're comparing yourself against

4/29/2009 3:19:14 PM

education in america = the fail, what do you expect

4/29/2009 3:20:14 PM

Quote :

"Don't be such a troll. Of the people I have already talked to about this, the ones who were incorrect were not science/technical folks, and I attribute that mainly to the fact that they simply aren't interested in this kind of stuff. If you look at the back story behind it, it actually spawned from a philosophy TA who answered incorrectly."

So what are you going for here? That of the people who don't understand how gravity works, the majority of them have degrees in non-technical fields?

REALLY

There are plenty of engineers that don't know which World War came first, I or II; or who penned Romeo and Juliet; or what the capital of Illinois is.

People know what they study, what a shock. Let's make a circle jerk thread about it.

4/29/2009 3:20:14 PM

^^ you really think the average person in Europe or Japan would fair better with this question?

I don't think so.

4/29/2009 3:21:54 PM

i like how a lot of people discussed the stupidity of the questions asked and how incredibly easy they were instead of actually providing their answers.

i guess some times good offense is the best defense.

4/29/2009 3:23:37 PM

Quote :

"For everyone claiming that it is such a common sense answer that everyone should know, you'd be surprised at how many people get it wrong. I've already talked to three people since lunch who were incorrect."

yes, i believe that is the point of this thread

4/29/2009 3:23:56 PM

the average person is a idiot. very very few 'average' people are on this message board, not saying cream of the crop but definitely most are above average. there are always exceptions. for example a very large % of people do not believe in evolution.

i don't feel high and mighty as a result, i was merely responding to someone claiming that these questions were field related :

Quote :

"Fucking dumb anybody in any field could post something similar If you drop a hamburger patty from a height of 8 feet into a pool of hot grease, it will: (a) float like a lily pad (b) sink like a rock (c) splash my face and leave me scalded for life (d) skip across the surface (e) none of the above The Special Sauce in the Big Mac is (a) My nut (b) Steve's nut (c) Miguel's nut (d) Mayonaisse and ketchup (e) Rick's nut Please don't post your reasoning behind your answer until after a few people have already answered, and for those of you who are in a related field and already know the answer, please don't post it. I would like to get an unbiased look."

this is not an equivalent set to the OP's. as it asks for knowledge that everyone in the US that has passed 6th grade has NOT been at least exposed to unlike the OP.

christ on a stick is that so hard to comprehend?

4/29/2009 3:24:08 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry_sauce

4/29/2009 3:25:20 PM

Quote :

"the average person is an idiot."

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:25 PM. Reason : []

4/29/2009 3:25:22 PM

Quote :

"you really think the average person in Europe or Japan would fair better with this question?"

4/29/2009 3:25:25 PM

Quote :

"you really think the average person in Europe or Japan would fair better with this question? I don't think so."

irrelevant

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:26 PM. Reason : http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=120061&page=1]

4/29/2009 3:25:30 PM

^^^^^

the average person is not an "idiot"

the average person is... average

please shift your frame of reference accordingly

[Edited on April 29, 2009 at 3:26 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2009 3:25:55 PM

It's threads like these that make me regret socializing with college students.

4/29/2009 3:27:07 PM