The overwhelming majority of Brazilians (75 per cent) support democracy, according to a recent survey by Datafolha, our most reputable polling firm. Seven per cent prefer a dictatorship. Coincidentally, in another survey from the same pollster, that was the exact percentage of people who believed the Earth is flat.
I’m not saying all Brazilians who favour dictatorship are flat-Earthers, but both groups surely demonstrate the importance of good education in preventing opportunists from manipulating ignorance.
An education covering the basics of science reduces the number of people who believe the world is shaped like a pizza. Datafolha’s poll showed that while 10 per cent of those who had only completed elementary school believed the Earth is flat, the rate among those finishing high school was 6 per cent, and 3 for those with a university degree.
History classes have a similar effect: they can reduce – but not eliminate – the number of people who deify authoritarian governments without… Full article
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