Poland ranked fifth from last among European Union member states in a study probing scientific knowledge among the general public. The research found, for example, that only half of Poles believe in the idea of evolution, while 28% think that humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs.
The study by Eurobarometer, the EU’s polling agency, surveyed 37,103 respondents in 38 European countries (including 11 outside the EU). It was conducted in April and May this year, primarily through face-to-face interviews.
Among the questions asked were 11 testing scientific knowledge. Only 10% of Poles got eight or more correct, which was the lowest figure among all EU countries apart from Greece (8%), Cyprus (5%), Bulgaria (4%) and Romania (2%).
At the top of the class were Luxembourg (46%), Belgium and Sweden (both 44%), and Ireland and Finland (both 41%), while the figure across all EU member states was 27%.
Among the individual questions asked was whether humans developed from earlier species of animals. Only 52% of Poles believe that they did, while 36% reject the idea of evolution (with the remainder not sure). That was the fifth worst result in the EU.
When asked if lasers work by focusing sound waves, 43% of Poles wrongly answered that they do, which was the highest proportion among member states. Meanwhile, 28% of Poles falsely believe that humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, the seventh highest proportion in the EU.
The study also found that 37% of people in Poland say they are not at all interested in new scientific discoveries and technological developments, which was the highest figure in the EU.
Exactly one tenth of Poles said that they “regularly” engage with science and technology issues through documentaries, publications in these fields, magazines and books. Only Romania (7%) and Bulgaria (9%) had lower figures, while the total across the EU was 21%.
Poland also had one of the lowest proportions of the population who believe that scientists are intelligent (79%), with just Romania rating them lower (77%). A high proportion of Poles would, however, describe scientists as arrogant (46%), which was second only to Greece (50%).
Main image credit: Artturi Jalli/Unsplash
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
