Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Shadowy Man · 10-17-2002, 11:00 AM

Along the lines of the OP though, a friend of mine TA'd an astronomy lab course and at the end when the students filled out an evaluation, one student put something to the effect of:

"Now I know that the phases of the moon aren't due to actual pieces of the moon being gone, but to the Earth's shadow."

Wyz_sub10 · 10-17-2002, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadowy Man:
<strong>One thing that bothers me, and maybe this is subtler than your stories, is when people think there is no gravity in space and that's why things are "weightless" on the Space Shuttle.

</strong>

This isn't *too* bad, really. I don't think it's that dumb for a person not to know exactly how far the space shuttle goes from earth. It's not exactly common knowledge (and it's not like we teach this in schools in the the younger grades).

Ab_Normal · 10-17-2002, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadowy Man:
<strong>Along the lines of the OP though, a friend of mine TA'd an astronomy lab course and at the end when the students filled out an evaluation, one student put something to the effect of:

"Now I know that the phases of the moon aren't due to actual pieces of the moon being gone, but to the Earth's shadow."

</strong>

Hey, at least they learned something! Of course, I'm thinking of the 100-level Astronomy for Mouth-Breathers class I took my first year in college. If this was a higher-level class, more than eye rolling is called for... <img src="graemlins/banghead.gif" border="0" alt="[Bang Head]" />

Shadowy Man · 10-17-2002, 11:25 AM

How about this for stupid things people have said:

I took a comparative religions course in my senior year of high school. The biblical flood was mentioned and one girl asked:

"What happened to the fish?"

so I said:

"They drowned."

DarkDruid · 10-17-2002, 12:06 PM

When I was 5, I thought that the earth was hollow and we lived *inside* of it. Otherwise, we'd all go flying off the surface, or the oxygen would float away into space and we'd suffocate! The stars were just city lights on the other side of the hollowed-out sphere that we could see.

tronvillain · 10-17-2002, 12:22 PM

Wow. That is a pretty sophisticated model of the world for a five year old. Personally, I can't remember ever thinking of the world as anything other than round, but that's probably because I didn't think about it until I learned that it was. *chuckle*

Ab_Normal:

Quote:

Hey, at least they learned something!

Well, they learned something, but they didn't learn something true, which I think was Shadowy Man's point. The phases of the moon aren't due to the Earth's shadow, they are due to us seeing varying amounts of the half of the moon that is illuminated by the sun. When we don't see the moon (the new moon) it isn't because the Earth is blocking the light from the sun, it is because we're looking at the side of the moon on which the sun is not shining.

Ab_Normal · 10-17-2002, 12:30 PM

D'oh! I didn't read Shadowy Man's post closely enough... suppose that's what I get for posting from work.

Shadowy Man · 10-17-2002, 12:31 PM

Dark Druid: But the stars move!

And what about the sun?

tronvillain · 10-17-2002, 12:43 PM

Yes, but what five year old notices that the stars move? I would be willing to bet that it doesn't even occur to a lot of adults.

MadMordigan · 10-17-2002, 01:18 PM

"Now I know that the phases of the moon aren't due to actual pieces of the moon being gone, but to the Earth's shadow."

No doubt he teaches science in high school now.

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10-17-2002, 11:00 AM	#11
Shadowy Man Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: A Shadowy Planet Posts: 7,585	Along the lines of the OP though, a friend of mine TA'd an astronomy lab course and at the end when the students filled out an evaluation, one student put something to the effect of: "Now I know that the phases of the moon aren't due to actual pieces of the moon being gone, but to the Earth's shadow."

10-17-2002, 11:25 AM	#14
Shadowy Man Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: A Shadowy Planet Posts: 7,585	How about this for stupid things people have said: I took a comparative religions course in my senior year of high school. The biblical flood was mentioned and one girl asked: "What happened to the fish?" so I said: "They drowned."

10-17-2002, 12:06 PM	#15
DarkDruid Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 131	When I was 5, I thought that the earth was hollow and we lived inside of it. Otherwise, we'd all go flying off the surface, or the oxygen would float away into space and we'd suffocate! The stars were just city lights on the other side of the hollowed-out sphere that we could see.

10-17-2002, 12:30 PM	#17
Ab_Normal Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,842	D'oh! I didn't read Shadowy Man's post closely enough... suppose that's what I get for posting from work.

10-17-2002, 12:31 PM	#18
Shadowy Man Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: A Shadowy Planet Posts: 7,585	Dark Druid: But the stars move! And what about the sun?

10-17-2002, 12:43 PM	#19
tronvillain Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,658	Yes, but what five year old notices that the stars move? I would be willing to bet that it doesn't even occur to a lot of adults.

10-17-2002, 01:18 PM	#20
MadMordigan Beloved Deceased Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 2,704	"Now I know that the phases of the moon aren't due to actual pieces of the moon being gone, but to the Earth's shadow." No doubt he teaches science in high school now.

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