I logged onto AOL and there was one of those instant polls they are always putting up. Although I generally ignore these, I found this one intriguing. It was about the "face" on Mars. Out of curiosity, I filled it out and looked at the results.

30.5% of respondents indicated that they thought the "face" was evidence of a past civilization. And 40.1% indicated they thought NASA is convering up evidence of Martian civilization. There were 187966 responses. Of course the poll isn't exactly scientific, but it's still sad.

I guess this is another subtle reminder that nearly 50% of the populace has below average intelligence.

No, it's another subtle reminder that nearly 50% of AOL subscribers have below average intelligence. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]



[the statistical sampling was of "AOL subscribers who enjoy responding to polls", so right off the bat it was a statistically skewed sampling, so it doesn't really mean anything]

Can they not leave my home alone?

I think I could present evidence that the number is much higher than that. Just look at the trillion dollar business selling absolutely worthless products to cure your ills and improve your health. I bet some of you use them now.

After the Rover, when the next ship to Mars crashed before it could re-photograph the face, well, my suspicions certainly grew. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

I have an old Skeptical Inquirer mag that has an ultra sound picture of a cervix (sorry but that's what it is) that looks to be clearly the face of a woman.

We went to New Mexico for the Leonids in 2000. There was supposed to be the face of Jesus on a tortilla in some little town we were passing through. It said so in their Chamber of Commerce guide book. But, we couldn't find it and no one there knew anything about it.

I really don't get it though. I think the government is terribly incompetent as a whole. I don't see how so many people could believe there are these evil geniuses out there with all those secret plans to rule the world. There are penty of bad guys but they seem to get caught for the stupidest mistakes.

Well, what happened was, me and the boys was celebrating the miracle of our Lord Jesus appearing in a tortilla when Bob shows up with a case of bud, and well pretty soon we start getting the munchies and there ain't nothin' in the fridge but some beer and onion dip. So Randy says, "Say! ain't a tortilla kind of like a totilla chip?" And...well things just kind of went down hill from there...but we really don't like to talk about it. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]

So was the tortilla stale, or does it prove again yet my theory that bud covers all bad things?

God, don't remind me of that. I am quite content to be rid of that plague from my computer. I would wholeheartedly agree that AOL has a lot to do with the results of that poll.


Adam

To tell you the truth, I think that a lot of people put joke answers in.

I also find it hard to belive that 187966 people voted. Maybe it had been fixed by AOL to raise public suspicion. Maybe there is a conspiracy with AOL and the govenment...!

(I really should write stories!)

Try Jay Leno's Jaywalking. At the UC Davis grad ceremony, several graduating people he interviewed did not know how many planets there were, including one woman who said she had gotten a 'A' in her astronomy class.

The list goes on and on and on.....

Okay... so how many planets are there, then?

And I want the answer to 12 significant figures

Apparently, if you ask the man(or woman) on the street we have somewhere between 2 and 27. The astronomy(elective I presume) student said 27 if my memory is correct but it more than likely isn't.

And, the Sun is closer to the Earth than the Moon. The USA is bordered by China. You can drive to Cuba and it is 2,000 miles away. Those are real answers, they impressed themselves deeply in my memory in this case.

I just love Jaywalking. They also have the Jaywalking Allstars on occasion. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]

I think that the number of planets is in limbo right now. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has put Pluto in a dual category (1) as a Planet and (2) as a Transneptunian Object (TNO). If Pluto permanently becomes solely a TNO, then the number of major Solar planets will go down from nine to eight. So, right now, the number of major Solar planets is in limbo. Poor Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto's discoverer. He must be rotating violently in his grave.

ljbrs [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]

__________________
"There is in the universe neither center nor circumference." Giordano Bruno Born 1548. Torched 1600.

Oh... when i asked how many planets there are, I meant in the whole universe.

I didn't realise that we were talking solely about the solar system. Everyony knows that there 12 1/2 planets.

You notice I avoided giving a direct answer to the, "so how many planet's are there?", question. (The question was 'in our solar system' not in the Galaxy or Universe. I would think it doubtful these guys knew what a galaxy was.)

We were talking about that the other night on PalTalk. Is this the same woman who was asked how many moons the Earth has, and she answered "3"?
I'd love to have a little chat with her astronomy professor....Several other people on the board suggested introducing her diploma to a shredder
Lisa

So how does someone who has just graduated in astronomy not know how many planets in the solar system / moons around the earth, when I knew this from when I was about six?

From what I understood, the woman didn't have a degree in astronomy, she just claimed to have taken an astronomy course.
Still, doesn't it strike you as odd that someone clutching a diploma would miss a question like this?
Lisa

The population grows at a rate of an idiot per second.

That woman was obviously as fruity as a nutcake. Three moons!

Well, maybe not three. How about two? Luna and Cruithne. Seriously. Well, maybe not seriously - I don't know what to make of this Cruithne business. An asteroid that doesn't know whether it's coming or going, or our second moon?

Your thoughts?

http://iranscope.ghandchi.com/Anthol...e/Cruithne.htm

Cheers,

JB


(edit to fix grammar)
_________________
"Nowhere in all space or on a thousand worlds will there be men to share our loneliness..."

- Loren Eisely, "The Immense Journey" 1956

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jovianboy on 2002-06-12 23:16 ]</font>

In our Solar System, I would say Seven, because Pluto is too Small, and Jupiter is too Big.

As for Planets outside the Solar System; well, by the same Criteria, all but one or two, of the 30-odd Extra-Solar Objects, that have been discovered, actually Qualify as Planets, the Rest, are Probably Brown Dwarves, like Jupiter.

__________________
If you Ignore YOUR Rights, they Will go away.

Yes, I tried to be careful and say it was an elective. But she said she had gotten an A in the class!!

Someone did say we had two moons, it was a guy. I'm sure he wasn't talking about asteroids.

Worse yet, one person was an elementary school teacher (different night). I can't remember which question she got wrong but it was either that we fought the French in the civil war, or that the US's war of independence was fought in 1940, or something close to that bad.