Parents Baffled By Science Questions 656
Pickens writes "The BBC reports that four out of five parents living in the UK have been stumped by a science question posed by their children with the top three most-asked questions: 'Where do babies come from?', 'What makes a rainbow?' and 'Why is the sky blue?'. The survey was carried out to mark the launch of a new website by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills called Science: So what? So everything."
obvious answers (Score:5, Funny)
In the UK?!
Why, I'll bet we Americans could get stumped even easier!! take that, britian!
1982 (Score:1, Funny)
She blinded me with SCIENCE!
Where do babies come from? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pardon? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes. Geography to be specific. Croydon to be precise.
Re:Where do babies come from !? (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, intercourse is considered uncouth by Britons. Hence, they all adopt, but rarely stop to question where the babies come from in the first place. Curious, isn't it?
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:5, Funny)
FTSummary:
Where do babies come from?
From the sixties:
Some parents asked their son, "What do you want for Christmas?"
He said, "I want a watch."
So they let him.
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:3, Funny)
How did we learn about things before google?
I don't believe it (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You're excused (Score:5, Funny)
Her dad is not a turkey baster. Her dad is a wanker.
Re:Pardon? (Score:5, Funny)
Geography to be specific. Croydon to be precise.
Alternatively:
Genealogy. The milkman to be precise.
I have a feeling that (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pardon? (Score:5, Funny)
how girl get pragnent?
Re:More science questions (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Calvin's Dad (Score:3, Funny)
You left out the absolute best one [freewebs.com].
This [nocookie.net] isn't bad either.
Re:Disagree (Score:3, Funny)
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:5, Funny)
Soylent Green?
Re:I don't believe it (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pardon? (Score:5, Funny)
However, surely parents should have a certain amount of... familiarity with the answer to, "where do babies come from?"
Huh? Why would they? Its not like they get to chat with the stork when the baby is dropped off.
Re:And my recent trip to the zoo... (Score:4, Funny)
I swear, if I hear ANYONE say, "LOOK, A MONKEY!" again and point to an orangutan or gorilla I'm going to kill someone.
I've also heard penguins being called fish, Bats called birds and just about anything small and furry, mice.
Some people don't need any animal classification beyond "fish - meat - not food".
Re:Keep in mind (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Pardon? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:5, Funny)
The parents need internet! (Score:5, Funny)
That's it!
Re:hurr (Score:4, Funny)
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:1, Funny)
No, the biggest problem is that, especially in the US, people have moved beyond simply being ignorant about science and OK with it. We now have a sizable cohort that are PROUD that they are stupid. They point towards an extension of Heinlein's famous quote:
Given what I've seen of my fellow Americans lately, I'm not sure about any of the three positive points at the end. Many of the "proud to be ignorant" crowd fail on all three categories...
Re:I don't believe it (Score:5, Funny)
There is no way that children in Britain think blue is the colour of the sky.
You missed the point of the question. It's usually asked when the kid gets to about 5 or 6 years old, looks up at the sky one day and finds that it's a different colour to what it usually is. It's normally asked with a hint of fear (similarly, perhaps, to "why is the plane's wing on fire?"), and quite frequently during a foreign holiday.
Re:Scientists baffled by parents' questions (Score:3, Funny)
Not to mention, display a good amount of passion in passing on that knowledge and hope some of it rubs off.
(Dangerous mentioning rubbing and passion on /.)
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:1, Funny)
so there's more space left over for American Idol [...] I can't think of any reason it would be any different in the UK.
Maybe they prefer Pop Idol ?
Re:Pardon? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Keep in mind (Score:3, Funny)
My great-grandparents and grandparents were educated in the 1800-1950. How do you feel now?
-dZ.
Re:I don't believe it (Score:4, Funny)
"It's the Sun, my dear"
"But the Sun is the newspaper you don't let me read!"
"Yes, and you're not supposed to look at either, because you might go blind".
Re:Pardon? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pardon? (Score:3, Funny)
how is babby formed?
how girl get pragnent?
How come I don't learn English in school even though it's my country's official language ?
No wonder parents are baffled. They can't understand WTF their children are talking about.
"Honey ? Timmy asked me about those "babby" things again this morning"
"You too ? I tried looking it up but I couldn't find anything."
"It's probably part of this advanced science curriculum they have nowadays, we'll never be able to help our kids with such exotic topics being taught in schools, what were they thinking of !"
"Couldn't they do simple things like human reproduction, particle spin, muons, halting states and how to meet girls ?"
"We're so out of our league... we have to face it, we're old."
Re:Pardon? (Score:4, Funny)
Is the question "Where do babies come from?" really a science question?
Ever heard of biology? You fuck!
Fixed that for ya!
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:5, Funny)
How did we learn about things before google?
My folks had an Encyclopedia set. The World Book Encyclopedia. When we learned about sperm and eggs and embryos and fetuses in school, I became curious as to how the man's sperm got into the woman. Not only was I curious, I was concerned. I certainly didn't want something like that happening: fathering a child simply by kissing a girl or holding her hand, so I figured I better find out before I got in trouble. So I pulled out the first "S" volume.
The article on "Sex" (human) starts out quite dry enough, describing relationships between the sexes and how they develop and change as children mature. It discusses dating and marriage and religious and social influences on intersexual relationships. Then finally the mechanics. As I recall, the description read like this: "A man and woman lie close together. The man places his penis inside the woman's vagina." This made a real impression on me: I figured I'd have to do quite a bit of growing before I could lie down next to a woman, take hold of my penis, and pull it over to the her vagina and plug it in like an extension cord! I was a little disappointed by how dull this sounded, but at the same time relieved that I wouldn't be accidentally spreading my genes around by casual contact.
Re:More science questions (Score:4, Funny)
Silly! The sky is blue because it is daytime. If it were night time, the sky would be black.
Babies come from the hospital and rainbows from the ground (they arch up into the sky, and then come back down to the ground - rainbows, that is, not babies).
Re:People definitely neglect science... (Score:4, Funny)
n = 1, way to be scientifically minded (and n = "your mom" is hilarious)
Re:obvious answers (Score:2, Funny)
No, that's all wrong. Rainbows are made by the Government [youtube.com]!
Re:Pardon? (Score:5, Funny)