Study: One in ten Romanians believe the Earth is flat

One in ten Romanians believes that the Earth is flat, which is visible to the naked eye, and two in ten think that the Sun revolves around the Earth, according to the Romanians’ opinions and attitudes towards science knowledge and education study. The study carried out by Ivox for the Romanian Secular-Humanist Association (ASUR) also shows that Romanians also miss some things when it comes to medical knowledge. While 90% know the correct way of HIV transmission (through blood and sexual contact), 58% believe that antibiotics kill viruses, reports local Digi24. Almost 60% of Romanians also think that the intuition and individual perceptions should matter as much as the scientific explanations. Also, 57% of respondents believe in horoscopes, especially in the astrology chart, considering that they have a scientific substrate. Moreover, three out of ten Romanians said that, although they don’t really believe in horoscopes, their predictions came true sometimes. A quarter of respondents believe in zodiac characteristics, and a similar percentage take into account superstitions, even though they don’t necessarily believe in them. Two out of ten Romanians have two or three superstitions that they believe in. The Romanians also think that there is too much theory in schools, and not enough practical exercises. When it comes to science, one-third of respondents noticed that young people are not really attracted to studying this subject, and don’t seem keen to attend such faculties as these jobs don’t bring them too much money. Over 90% of Romanians believe that researchers are more likely to succeed abroad than at home. The study was conducted on a sample of 2,477 respondents from urban areas, between September 18 and September 22. Bucharest Science Festival, an event that aims to bring people closer to science, kicked off in the Romanian capital on September 27. The event also takes place in Rasnov and Adjud. Superstitions in Romania: what happens if you spill salt or if you open an umbrella inside the house? Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: nasa.gov)