I'll be honest: At first I thought that this posting on Heavy Boots was total nonsense, one of those urban legends.
But for a lark I tried the quiz on a very smart person I happen to know, one who didn't have much of a science background. And — spookily — it was right on script, down to the heavy boots.
So there is something to it.
The mind boggles. (How long before all the boggle is used up, I start to wonder.)
Did you ask anything about why they thought that?
I suspect it’s a mixture of thinking gravity is restricted to Earth, and confusion about magnetic attachments used in space work.
I did ask. Apparently, that’s what the adults told my then-very-young informant when they watched the moon walk in 1969.
Wait, you’re saying that human beings have “walked on the moon”???
Maybe people are misapplying their intuitions from being in bodies of water. In that case:
1) If you get separated from something, it may float away
2) You weigh down things you don’t want to float away.
First, that question should be on the law school entrance interview. If the answer is heavy boots, show the applicant the door.
Secondly, all talking head tv shows (and radio shows) should require hosts and guests to respond to the question. If the answer is heavy boots, show the hosts and the guests the door, and make the hosts and guests refund all appearence money that they have EVER received from a tv or radio talk show.