ISS astronaut asked if he took home a piece of the moon

[Deborah_Caruso]

@vonbobo

Does belief inhibit knowledge? Or does a lack of knowledge promote belief?

I’m starting to think that certainty, fear, laziness inhibit curiosity.
If I think I know the answer, there is no need to explore further.
And it’s a lot of work to change my world view.

[hecep]

@vonbobo

Does belief inhibit knowledge? Or does a lack of knowledge promote belief? Are some people predisposed to rely more on beliefs than observation?

Or, is this all simply the difference between people that love space travel and people who don’t give a crap?

“Dumb” should be considered yet another “or”.

[vonbobo]

Good ol’ This American Life, this week’s episode deals with knowledge vs faith, or faith based knowledge.

Things I Mean to Know - This American Life

[McGreens]

@AnthonyC

Can they accurately describe the difference between a million and a billion?

@Enkita

It would be a good test as to whether or not people should have the vote.

So which definition of billion are we going for?

@https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion

A billion is a number with two distinct definitions:

• 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or 109 (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now generally the meaning in both British and American English.[1][2]
• 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or 1012 (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the long scale. This is one thousand times larger than the short scale billion, and equivalent to the short scale trillion.

American English always uses the short scale definition but British English has employed both versions. Historically, the United Kingdom used the long scale billion but since 1974 official UK statistics have used the short scale. Since the 1950s the short scale has been increasingly used in technical writing and journalism, although the long scale definition still enjoys common usage.[3]

Other countries use the word billion (or words cognate to it) to denote either the long scale or short scale billion.

[AnthonyC]

If you’re Briyish, either os acceptable, bonus points for knowing both.

If you’re American, 1 billion = 1e9

[cleveremi]

I find that to be infinitely less interesting than “there are real people up there, right now, orbiting the planet!”

Obviously I’m not Auntie Fun-and-Games, I’m Auntie Gives-a-Proper-Answer. I’m sure the kids will like me eventually.

[JonS]

Depends on the age of the kids.

[Wanderfound]

@Enkita

It would be a good test as to whether or not people should have the vote.

Testing if they were privileged enough to have decent schooling?

[Mongrove]

A question is meant to gather information that the person doesn’t have, but wants to know. When a fussy kid is in tears, on the verge of a tantrum, and asks why they can’t have candy for dinner, they’re not really asking a question. They’re delaying, arguing, and trying to wear you down so they can have their way.

@Bobo

A truly stupid question would be something like “Ok, I get that Obama already showed his supposed birth certificate, but that doesn’t convince me one bit that he’s not a Kenyan Muslim put in place by the reptilians to take away our guns. Huh! Can you prove to me that he’s not?”

That’s not a question. It’s a type of rhetorical device in which the “asker” is making a statement (“Obama is a Kenyan Muslim put in place by the reptilians to take take away our guns”) in the appearance of a question, so they can initiate an argument with any listener who dares to disagree. It’s similar to a rhetorical question, in that an answer is not actually expected; in this case, however, it’s meant to cause an argument or lead to a sermon.

It’s a more trollish version of, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” The person asking isn’t asking because they lack information, they’re asking for some kind of tactical advantage.

Tl;DR – it’s not a question, it’s a rhetorical device.

[Bobo]

TL/DR - Maybe stupid questions are mainly rhetorical devices in the guise of questions.

Perhaps I got a bit too complicated with that one…

How about when someone asks “How much is this?” (when they’ve just pulled it out of a bin with an obnoxiously large sign that states precisely how much it is)[and yeah, not because they do not read the language in which it is printed, are otherwise illiterate, or have a learning disability that would otherwise prevent them from reading the sign right in front of their noses].

Is that better?

[Enkita]

@Wanderfound

Testing if they were privileged enough to have decent schooling?

I forgot - are you Australian? Because you have a point, based on the treatment of Native Australians and (over here) Irish Travellers. Yes, the remark was flippant but you are correct in pointing out the downside.

[Wanderfound]

@Enkita

I forgot - are you Australian? Because you have a point, based on the treatment of Native Australians and (over here) Irish Travellers. Yes, the remark was flippant but you are correct in pointing out the downside.

There’s a touch of Irish Traveller in my own ancestry, BTW. According to Grandma’s stories, anyway.

The treatment of Indigenous Australia is a crime against humanity, to be sure. Half of my immediate family have spent their lives trying to do something about that.

But the immediate thought that motivated my post was the memory of US “literacy” tests for voters, plus an awareness of the shocking state of the USA’s defacto segregated public school system.

Take the impossible "literacy" test Louisiana gave black voters in 1964

"Schools are segregated because white people want them that way"