retroperistalsis

On Friday, we interviewed 80 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., right near the Smithsonian Institution. They were asked one question: What's the current population of the United States?

The 80 people surveyed come from all over the country and range in age from 4 to 78. Six people were from England, Australia, and Venezuela.

The answers we received for the U.S. population size ranged from 17,000 to 20 billion. Though roughly 1 out of 4 surveyed knew the population was about to hit 300 million, 1 in 8 said that they had absolutely no idea how many people were living here. NPR, Morning Edition

Ok, but where are the logical follow-ups? E.g.,

1. To adults whose answers were off by, say, 299 million: "How many hours of television do you watch each day?"
2. To those who answered "six (6) hours" or more to question 1: "Who did you vote for in the last five presidential elections?"
3. To those who answered "Bush, Bush, Dole, Bush, Bush" to question 2: "Would you consider voiding your citizenship in return for a nice bush?"
4. To the rest of the world (after administering massive dose of antiemetics): "How does it make you feel that there are now 300 million of them and counting?"

Also of interest: (link)

Price of a new home

• 2006: $290,600
• 1967: $24,600 ($149,147 in 2006 dollars)
• 1915: $3,200 ($64,158 in 2006 dollars)

Cost for a gallon of regular gas

• 2006: $3.04 (as of Aug. 7)
• 1967: 33 cents ($2 in 2006 dollars)
• 1915: 25 cents ($5.01 in 2006 dollars)

Price of milk

• 2006: $3 gallon
• 1967: $1.03 gallon ($6.24 in 2006 dollars)
• 1915: $ .36 gallon ($7.22 in 2006 dollars)

Cost of a first-class stamp

• 2006: 39 cents
• 1967: 5 cents
• 1915: 2 cents

Number of foreign-born people

• 2006: 34.3 million
• 1967: 9.7 million
• 1915: 13.5 million

Average Household Size

• 2006: 2.6 people
• 1967: 3.3 people
• 1915: 4.5 people

World Population

• 2006: 6.5 billion
• 1967: 3.5 billion
• 1915: 1.8 billion

Tuberculosis Death (per 100,000 population)

• 2006: 0.2
• 1967: 3.5
• 1915: 140.1

Number of people age 65 and older

• 2006: 36.8 million
• 1967: 19.1 million
• 1915: 4.5 million

Median age of the population

• 2006: 36.2
• 1967: 29.5
• 1915: 24.1

Most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively

• 2006: Jacob and Emily
• 1967: Michael and Lisa
• 1915: John and Mary
  
• Some large mammals, including horses, cannot or rarely vomit.

Courtesy: U.S. Census Bureau