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Author Topic: Take the 'ignorance test'  (Read 4734 times)

Isaac

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Take the 'ignorance test'
« on: November 07, 2013, 12:32:26 pm »

How much do you know about the world?

I got one wrong but then cheated by assuming my first thought was wrong and picking one of the two remaining alternatives.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2013, 03:14:07 pm by Isaac »
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2013, 11:51:29 pm »

Oops... got 6 wrong...

Cheers,
Bernard

Ray

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2013, 12:13:48 am »

I think the problem here, Isaac, is that bad news is generally given far greater coverage in the media than good news, and such bad news is often exaggerated to create a greater emotional impact on the reader or viewer, particularly when there's a political agenda involved.

Also many of the questions in your linked poll relate to the future state of the world, and predictions of the future can be notoriously unreliable.
I think it's understandable that many folks will confuse 'proportion' with actual quantities, and not be clear on the distinction between 'extreme' poverty and plain, common poverty. Whilst both the proportion and actual quantity of the world population living in extreme poverty may have decreased over the past 30 years, according to the standards used to describe such extreme poverty, the actual number of individuals living in just plain poverty may not have decreased, depending on the definition used.

A classic case of confusion and misrepresentation of an issue which is very much in the public consciousness at present, especially in Australia where a new government has recently dismantled a carbon tax, is the issue of anthropogenic climate change.
It amazes me how politicised and unscientific the media reports have become, and/or always were, in relation to this subject.
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Christoph C. Feldhaim

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2013, 12:54:58 am »

Okay - we are all ignorant.
What now?

ErikKaffehr

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2013, 01:01:44 am »

Hi,

7/9, but I cheated. I have seen the original presentation by Hans Rosing a few years ago. I missed out renewable energy and average education for women.

Best regards
Erik
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Petrus

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2013, 02:34:49 am »

7/9, no cheating.
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Sareesh Sudhakaran

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2013, 06:47:34 am »

"Chimp" level. I've got to stop reading about cameras. Not a single question about sensors or pixels.
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Ray

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2013, 09:06:10 am »

Okay - we are all ignorant.
What now?

Of course we are all ignorant, but not on every aspect of every subject.

There are certain things we know that we know, and other things that we know we don't know. There are also things that we think we don't know but in fact we do know, and other things that we don't know that we don't know.  ;D
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Jim Pascoe

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2013, 01:50:37 pm »

The programme went out on BBC2 last night, and although I had seen some of the presentation on TED a while back, the whole hour was very interesting.  Looking at projected population growth and realising that it will probably peak at around 11 billion means that there are only 4 billion to go!  The point was that a lot of commonly held beliefs are actually quite dated.  And Hans Rosen is quite a presenter too!

Jim
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Christoph C. Feldhaim

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2013, 01:56:34 pm »

The programme went out on BBC2 last night, and although I had seen some of the presentation on TED a while back, the whole hour was very interesting.  Looking at projected population growth and realising that it will probably peak at around 11 billion means that there are only 4 billion to go!  The point was that a lot of commonly held beliefs are actually quite dated.  And Hans Rosen is quite a presenter too!

Jim

Does peaking at 11*10E6 mean birth rate and death by hunger and war will even out then?

Isaac

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2013, 02:02:16 pm »

death by hunger and war

"In 2011, an estimated 55 million people died worldwide" and "[a]bout 5.8 million people die each year as a result of injuries" and war accounts for about 3% of injury deaths; so, very roughly, war accounts for 0.3% of deaths worldwide.

(Incidentally, I haven't a clue about this stuff until I look it up -- so thanks for prompting me to find out.)
« Last Edit: November 08, 2013, 02:55:40 pm by Isaac »
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Jim Pascoe

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2013, 05:41:30 pm »

Does peaking at 11*10E6 mean birth rate and death by hunger and war will even out then?


Apparently we have already reached peak birthrate and we will remain at around 2bn children for the rest of the century.  But as life expectancy across the world improves the population will continue to grow until the end of the century and then peak.  About 1bn people are now classified as in absolute poverty and needing to worry about feeding themselves, a rate that is rapidly falling. Global warming is seen as the biggest danger rather than population growth itself.  Interestingly across the globe, two children per family is now the norm.

Jim
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Rob C

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #12 on: November 09, 2013, 04:43:51 am »

All I can deduce from this is that there's a helluve lot of sex around. Strange; I had sort of imagined it had gone out of fashion...

;-(

Rob C

Jim Pascoe

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #13 on: November 09, 2013, 11:35:12 am »

All I can deduce from this is that there's a helluve lot of sex around. Strange; I had sort of imagined it had gone out of fashion...

;-(

Rob C

Just more people practising these days but less babies......
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Rob C

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #14 on: November 09, 2013, 11:56:44 am »

Just more people practising these days but less babies......


I told you we did it better in the Golden Age!

Rob C

jajajojo

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #15 on: July 22, 2014, 12:58:51 pm »

i took this clinic and done this test. ended up being quite ignorant hahah
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Justinr

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #16 on: July 22, 2014, 01:36:11 pm »

All I can deduce from this is that there's a helluve lot of sex around. Strange; I had sort of imagined it had gone out of fashion...

;-(

Rob C

No, not at all. The latest generation are merely waiting to get around to discovering it all over again just as soon as they've finished fiddling with their shiny new 'apps'.

 :D
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Justinr

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #17 on: July 22, 2014, 01:45:36 pm »

I notice there was no mention of how warm the planet is going to get or how high the tide will be in 2100!

Some questions just aren't welcome in polite circles especially when so much has been staked on one particular answer.
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ThomasR99

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2014, 05:34:32 pm »

4/9 here. Gimme my banana (but don't take away my camera) !  I'll admit I was surprised about the income distribution, literacy and life expectancy answers.  The answers were significantly better than my guesses.
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Isaac

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Re: Take the 'ignorance test'
« Reply #19 on: July 28, 2014, 01:00:44 am »

I notice there was no mention of how warm the planet is going to get or how high the tide will be in 2100!

Some questions just aren't welcome in polite circles especially when so much has been staked on one particular answer.

Notice that we won't actually know how warm or how high the tide in 2100 until after 2100.

Some questions will have factual answers, but do not have factual answers yet.
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