49% of Americans think that ordinary tomatoes do not have genes, but genetically modified tomatoes do…
Okay that was back in 2008. Here’s some more [Infographic source: Less Wrong].
Do you think that scientific literacy has improved since then? I only managed to dig up some statistics as recent as 2010. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone with more recent figures, but it shows that things don’t get any better – only a 2% improvement for the question about tomatoe genes. [Table source: Discover, The Loom]
I have probably unfairly singled out the USA, but the above table reveals that the levels of scientific literacy are not that much better in other parts of the world. I sincerely hope that more recent statistics show a drastic improvement, but somehow I doubt it. And that’s worrying for the future of this planet.
Lenny Says 
I am not surprised at all. A large amount of the American people believes that the world is fixed in 6 days. So you could expect that there is a sort of widespread ignorance.
Um…what? Are folks really that dense?
Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?