Hi Briterican
I think the reason why laymen get confused, as you say, is because not only do they not have any idea of how big the universe is, the sad truth is they really don't care. (Though I'd count myself as a laymen, as I'm obviously not a scientist of any kind.)
Most people are more interested in how some tiny stain appeared on their kitchen floor than they are about how the universe or life first appeared. I call it the "four-wall" mentality. They are obsessed with their homes and tiny lives, and have no interest at all in what is "out there". There may be good evolutionary justification for that, but that's another topic.
If I try and engage anyone in a conversation on these matters it usually results in an immediate and very visible fear spreading across their face. It's not just that they don't care - for some reason they really don't want to know. They are happy to get by with a cartoon vision of the universe: a few planets bobbing about within a short rocket flight of each other. Most people don't even have a clue where most countries are - many don't even know what a country is! (So many times I've heard people refer to "Africa" or "South America" as a country, or "South Africa" as a continent.) Ask people to point to, say, Spain or Egypt on a globe and I guarantee most won't have a clue where they are - even if they've been there many times. You've got no chance of getting them to understand where other solar systems and galaxies are, and how difficult it would be for aliens to visit us.
Sorry to sound so gloomy!
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