Six in ten young Brits consider Facebook more important than the discovery of gravity

2_gravity2.pngIs Facebook more important than gravity? That seems to be the opinion of the nation’s youth according to a survey by game-makers Electronic Arts (EA) who asked a thousand British under-25s whether they thought Mark Zuckerberg or Issac Newton were more important.

It’s kind of like the nation’s youth are saying that posting up a photo from last Saturday night is more important than understanding what makes us stick to the earth instead of floating above it… or exploding.

Of course, put like that, it does sound kind of crazy but of course, it’s not quite that simple. You can see where these kids are coming from: Mark Zuckerberg *made* Facebook, Newton just described gravity – it was there all along. And in their lifetimes, Zuckerberg has made more of an impact.

Though this is a call-out to those science and history teachers out there – maybe we need to get a bit more focussed on teaching kids some history lessons.

EA said:
“New research released today shows that the majority of young Brits think that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft mogul Bill Gates have contributed more to world history than a host of illustrious names including Martin Luther King Jr., Alexander Graham Bell and Isaac Newton, with almost two thirds (65 per cent) saying that Gates has influenced society more than Newton.”

EA commissioned the research to coincide with the launch of their new game Dragon Age 2, which revolves around famous moments in history.

Anna Leach

6 comments

  • This just cant be true.I think this is just a ‘publicity stunt’ by EA.Just to sell more copies of a video game,these guys go to such extents!Let me give an example.Without Newton,there would have been no laws of gravitation or motion.Both of them are required to place satelites in orbit.And ultimately,these satelites provide internet service,gps,tv,radio,etc.If Google or Facebook work today,it is because of laws of motion and gravitation.Facebook is really great,its not gonna go anywhere.But it cant be more influential than Laws of Motion.Even nowhere near.

  • Oh, and while I’m at it. 6 out 10 sounds significant but the study was only of 1,000 kids so all you can say is that 600 of them hold this view – its not a significant sample.

  • Don’t blame the kids, blame sloppy researchers and sloppy reporters. Anyone an skew the results of a survey by the way they word the questions. Was the question about Zucherbaby v Newton or Facebook v gravity? (If the latter its like comparing wealth to health).
    Then the jolly old reporters get at the data and screw it, sorry, skew it, to suit their sensationalist “lets sell more papers/ads” nature by making everyone think that kids are dumb and the world is screwed.
    It’s all meaningless crap taking up more column inches because somebody wants their name in lights.

  • What happens when Facebook goes the way of Myspace and the next big thing comes along?

    Kids….*sigh*

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