© Georgi Kozhukharov
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Every third Bulgarian is not at all interested in scientific discoveries or events and processes in the world of technology. In total, every sixth person says that he does not need this in everyday life. Four out of ten never watch science / technology documentaries and do not read articles, magazines or books on scientists or science. Almost half never discuss such topics in conversation with family or friends. When it comes to a focused effort in free time to understand more on science and technology issues, 78% say they never do.
When the words “Almost never” are added, these answers seem even more definite:
- 55% practically do not watch or read about science and technology
- 65% do not discuss science and technology issues in the family and in company
- 92% almost never delve into any scientific problem.
But 52% of Bulgarians believe that viruses were created in government laboratories to control our freedom. Another 29% do not know if this is true or false. For 48%, healthcare and medical care will be most strongly influenced by research and innovation in the coming years, but 26% say they are not interested in medical news at all, and another 58% show “moderate interest”.
These and many other data are available in the Eurobarometer survey on what knowledge citizens have, how they maintain it and what their attitude is towards science and technology.
It shows that in no other of the 37 countries covered do people say as much as Bulgarians (57% in total) that they do not need to know in everyday life what is happening in science. Compared to the same survey from 2005, this group has increased by 12 points, and Bulgarians, for whom science and technology are important, have decreased by 7 points to 18%.
“Knowledge and attitudes of European citizens towards science and technology” was published in late September and took place between 14 April and 9 May this year in European Union countries and neighboring countries such as Turkey, the Western Balkans, as well as the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Nordic countries. In Bulgaria, 1049 people were interviewed face to face by TNS BBSS interviewers.
A month ago, Bulgarian media spread mainly the official – and with optimistic conclusions – announcement of the European Commission on the EU average indicators and the statement on this occasion by the relevant EU Commissioner Maria Gabriel. However, practically no attention was paid to the details about Bulgaria, contained in the separate reports for the country, in the 322-page report or in the special presentation about it.
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And in them it can be seen with statistical indicators that many Bulgarians are not only not interested in current information, but also have a wrong knowledge of basic scientific facts studied at school, answer “I do not know” or are mired in conspiracy theories.
All almost 27 thousand citizens who participated in the survey were asked 8 questions, which measure the level of their general scientific knowledge.
In the comparison of the answers, only Romania is placed after Bulgaria, if we look at the share of the correct answers – 4% in Bulgaria and 2% in Romania answered the 8 questions correctly. Actually in general, Bulgarians look the worst of all, because 56% (the lowest score in the EU) gave less than 5 correct answers, and 40% (the lowest result in the EU) – between 5 and 8 correct answers. For Romanians, the first indicator is 47%, and the second (51%) is the same as in countries such as Germany, Denmark or Ireland.
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Here are two examples of how the Bulgarians responded:
- Asked if antibiotics kill not only bacteria but also viruses, two thirds (65%) say that this is true, and 13% – that they do not know. The correct answer that this statement is untrue was stated by only 22%. Respondents in Greece and Cyprus responded slightly worse, but nowhere in all 11 non-EU countries have so many wrong answers been given. (The increase in the share of Bulgarians who indicated a wrong answer is by 10 points in 16 years.)
- Lasers work with directional sound waves is another statement for the scientific accuracy of which respondents are invited to answer. From Bulgaria comes the smallest group in the entire survey (16%), who answered correctly that this is a wrong statement. For 29% this is true. In another 10 countries, there are even more wrong answers. But 55% (the largest share among all countries) of the surveyed Bulgarians said they did not know the answer and so a total of 84% did not indicate the correct answer. Compared to the previous survey from 2005, the number of confused Bulgarians has increased by 6 points, while those giving a correct answer to this question have decreased by 4 points.
“I don’t know” is an answer that distinguishes Bulgarians – at times clearly – among all others:
– 39% have chosen him for the question is it true that the population of the planet exceeds 10 billion people (not true, choice of 27% of Bulgarians)
– 37% do not know true or false is the statement that there is a cure for cancer, but they hide it from people because of corporate interests. In no other country surveyed is this group so large. Another 41% of Bulgarians believe that this is true, ie. “Not true” remains for 22% of respondents
– 36% they do not know whether humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time (29% believe this to be the case, even though dinosaurs became extinct tens of millions of years ago)
– 27% cannot appreciate the claim that humans are descended from earlier animal species. Another 22% say that this is not true or a total of 49% of Bulgarians do not know or do not accept this fundamental theory of modern science. It is a consolation for Bulgaria that 48% in Slovakia have said that the statement is wrong. But it is not comforting that compared to the previous similar study from the beginning of 2005 there is almost no change in the knowledge of Bulgarians on this issue.
Bulgarians also give more than the EU average “I don’t know” answers when asked to compare the quality of scientists (in their country and those in the EU in general) with those in the other 26 countries, the United States or leading economies in Asia:
The demographic profile for Bulgaria behind the listed answers deserves special attention. But even the basic elements of it show that in your everyday life Only 11% of Bulgarians are actively interested in innovations in science and technology and mainly in the groups 15-24 years (13%) and 25-39 years (17%). In the following age groups, interest drops to 11% for those aged 40-56 and 6% for those over 55.
33% of Bulgarians are not interested in science and technology news at all, compared to the EU average of 18%.
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Logically, curiosity is higher among those who study or have at least graduated from high school or university. But Bulgaria lags behind the EU average many times, sometimes many times. 33% of EU citizens (three times more than Bulgaria), 40% of men (12% in Bulgaria), 18% of schools under 15 (2% in Bulgaria) are “very interested” in science / technology news. 25% of high school students (8% in Bulgaria) and 44% of students after their 20th birthday (19% in Bulgaria).
According to almost two thirds (63%) of Bulgarians (compared to 55% on average in the EU), decisions about science / technology should be guided not by the potential for new discoveries, but by moral and ethical positions. This can probably be explained by the indication by 48% of Bulgarians of “Health and Medical Care” as the sector in which they expect the strongest effect from the discoveries and inventions in the coming years.
Another possible explanation is the assessment that Bulgarians give to scientists. They consider them intelligent, but almost one in three doubts whether they are moral. According to the answers in Bulgaria, scientists know what is good for people, but less than a quarter of respondents believe that people of science and technology are altruistic, ie. they do their work for the common good without expecting anything in return, driven by responsibility and moral duty. On average in the EU, twice as many Europeans describe their scientists as altruistic (40%) and three times less (19%) have no answer for this assessment.
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