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Science a Mystery to U.S. Citizens

Posted by michael on from the quelle-surprise dept.

maddugan writes "CNN and probably others are posting their synopses of the National Science Foundation's biennial report on the state of science understanding in the US. Sixty percent of those surveyed believe in ESP, psychic power, and alien abduction."

4 of 1,173 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well... by Dr.+Carl+Jung · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Interested in crazy shit that people believe in? Just visit About: Abnormal and Irregular Beliefs.

    --
    -Linux was for the masses, who spoke, and everything was crystal clear.
  2. Re:Widening a mystery to slashdot editors! by Spruce+Moose · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Sir, may I offer you a teaching position at our learned institution?

    Please see our website: http://www.widener.edu

    Regards,

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  3. Re:What does alien abduction have to do with scien by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Agreed that #1 is weak. Not totally groundless, but weak.

    #2 is strong though. The exotic phsyics phenomena you speak of, if we can harness it, might be good for FTL communication (not something to be scoffed at itself). But travel for anything larger than a few particles? I don't buy it. #2 is much stronger than #1. Not that I think FTL travel is completely ruled out, I just don't see it happening anytime soon. What if it takes a few million years of development to even discover it? Or a few billion? Aliens, if there are any out there, are gonna call on the phone, before they drop by for a visit.

  4. Re:What does alien abduction have to do with scien by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Yeh, but my limited understanding of this is that it's only useful within a solar system. You could describe radio that way also, but radio still leaves alot of leftovers that we could detect. With lasers, if none happen to be pointed almost straight at us, we'll never see them. It's still a plausible explanation, I suppose, but one that is largely untestable.

    Besides, if they want to communicate, radio is still the best way, and I'd hope that common sense is objective enough that both them and us would realize that. If they are out there, I want to talk to them, you know? Hopefully applying for citizenship is a simple affair in their government....