Most Americans think that Arabic numerals should not be taught and used in schools.
- This survey was conducted to “tease out prejudice among those who didn’t understand the question”.
- The experiment acted as proof of American bigotry, prejudice, and ignorance.
- John Dick, chief executive of Civic Science claims the results are “the saddest and funniest testament to American bigotry.”
56% of Americans do not think Arabic numerals should be taught.
Arabic numerals are the widely-used digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9. Shockingly, the majority of Americans believe that these should not be included in the curriculum for US students. This was found in a survey conducted by poll company Civic Science that aimed to explore bias and prejudice. 3,624 people were asked: “Should schools in America teach Arabic Numerals as part of their curriculum?” To this question, 2,020 people or 56 percent of respondents voted ‘No’. In addition to this, 29% voted that they should be taught whereas 15% had no opinion. Furthermore, according to the Independent, “Seventy-two per cent of Republican-supporting respondents said Arabic numerals should not be on the curriculum, compared with 40 per cent of Democrats.”
Ladies and Gentlemen: The saddest and funniest testament to American bigotry we've ever seen in our data. pic.twitter.com/Bh3FBsl8sR
— John Dick (@jdcivicscience) May 11, 2019
Our goal in this experiment was to tease out prejudice among those who didn't understand the question. Most people don't know the origins of our numerical system and yet picked a tribal answer anyway. You can argue that one is worse than the other but both prove a similar point.
— John Dick (@jdcivicscience) May 15, 2019
The results of this survey clearly highlight the ignorance and prejudice of Americans.
Another poll question asked, “Should schools in America teach the creation theory of Catholic priest Georges Lemaître as part of their science curriculum?” George Lemaître was a Belgian priest and physicist who discovered the universe was expanding; it was he who proposed that its origins lay in the explosion of a single particle and thus, his idea became what is known as the Big Bang theory. As with the previous question, the majority of Americans believed that this should not be taught. More specifically, 53 percent of respondents voted against including Georges Lemaître’s creation theory in the curriculum.
Sorry to break this to everyone but it appears neither side has a monopoly on blind prejudice. Either that or 73% of Democrats believe schools shouldn't be teaching students about the Big Bang Theory. pic.twitter.com/zoPHq4Nffs
— John Dick (@jdcivicscience) May 15, 2019
The findings of these surveys are reminiscent of a survey conducted in 2015 which found that 30% of Republicans supported the bombing of Agrabah – the fictional city where Disney’s Aladdin is set.
