Paging Charles Darwin…
The February, 2007, issue of my favorite free-mind food, reason magazine, contains an interview with Sarah Igo about her new book The Averaged American (Harvard University Press). The mission of the book is to examine the shifting amalgam that constitutes the American collective psyche. There is enough in the brief reason report by Kerry Howley to motivate further exploration of our evolving zeitgeist as seen through the focus of a statistician. However, the most intriguing, and yes, disturbing, tidbit is this opening sentence:
As this interview went to press, 63 percent of Americans disapproved of their president, 14 percent of adults believed in evolution, and 100 percent of politicians claimed to speak for something called “The American People.” (Emphasis added)
The gutter ratings of Bush — no problem. Profiling of politicians based on their propensity to spread whatever brand of bullshit they think will sell on a given day — of course. But it is mind-boggling and most disappointing to learn that, at least according to some collection of survey statistics, only14% of adult Americans believe in evolution! Is this a failure of the American educational system or an overwhelming victory for fundamentalist bible thumpers across this one nation, under god? Or perhaps both? Far more than 14% of us bought into the scientific theories of evolution we learned in 6th grade science. Without dinosaurs, our pre-history would be rather lame — and there would be no Jurassic Park.
In the many years since that childhood intro to trilobites and cryptic drawings on cave walls by hominids of long ago, science has discovered — not theorized, mind you, but discovered — indisputable evidence of life on earth, including our ancient grunting ancestors with bad hair, that predates biblical times by many hundreds of millennia. Have there been any discoveries to support the creationist or the compromise cop-out intelligent design theories. No.
A rational person can hope that the survey methodology was flawed, or that the survey population was ill-chosen to have such a skewed bias. To believe otherwise is unacceptable to anyone having retained even a modicum of ability to think, to read, and to understand for themselves. The readership of this blog has demonstrated better than average levels of intelligence and sophistication over the last couple of years, and appears to represent a broad spectrum of religious beliefs or lack thereof. From such a group we should soon see here a rich and colorful display of comments.
21 Comments so far
Winston, understanding evolution and belief in God (creationism if you prefer) need not be mutually exclusive. Faith is not always blind.
Elsie, I fully understand that. I am not pounding the table for any particular theory here, but reacting to the fact that a scant 14% in one survey do not believe in evolution at all. Scary…
btw, I hope your comment was made from your computer at home and that problem is resolved. Or are you still having to comment from the library or elsewhere?
Wow. 14%. That is really sad - but I can remember first learning about this whole “evolution” thing back in about grade six and my daddy sitting at the supper table being “not very happy” that they were teaching us that in school and telling us it was crap. (I now have a Darwin fish on the back of my car - the parents & I have agreed to disagree on religion and maintain some semblance of a relationship)…
But you have to remember that something like 60% of Americans believe they have been abducted by aliens at some time!
I believe in God; I believe in evolution; I believe that the world was created by God in a logical progressive way - as story-told in Genesis (if not in 7 days). I have no problem with believing both.
statistically poor analysis. You don’t believe in Evolution, you believe in Creationism. You believe in thing you don’t have facts for.
We Need Another Renaissance…
Winston was blown away by a statistic he recently read in reason magazine: The gutter ratings of Bush — no problem. Profiling of politicians based on their propensity to spread whatever brand of bullshit they think will sell on a……
I don’t think I would trust that statistic, either. I just finished reading the latest issue of Enlightenment Magazine (hey, I’m from California), devoted entirely to the subject of evolution and faith, and learned, among other things, that there are no fewer than 12 distinct schools of evolutionary thought, ranging from Neo-Darwinists to Intelligent Designers and everything you would ever have been unable to imagine in between.
It’s an enlightening read, and proves once again that nothing is as simple as it first seems. It can be absorbed in its entirety at:
http://wie.org
After private conversation with jr regarding interpretation of his comment, I realized he had a very valid and important point. We “accept” evolution because we see the facts. On the other side of the coin, people “believe” in creationism even though there are no supporting facts. I don’t know where that leaves the ID crowd except still on the outside looking in, wishing they could go one way or the other.
Thanks jr for clarifying that point of distinction…
And mucho thanks to Mick for sharing his left coast enlightment and the website link. That site looks to be a wealth of goodies and I will be adding it to my list of places to go for recharge… By the way, Mick, if you think you Californians have exclusive right to enlightenment, well, you’re probably right…
Enlightened we may be, but that doesn’t mean we always have our feet on the ground. After taking a second look at the recommended website, I realized that not all of the articles are online. There are a few, which makes for a pretty good teaser, but I would highly recommend getting the paper version, and reading it cover to cover. It presents a thorough and very balanced approach to this most sensitive subject. Sorry about that.
According to Science (the magazine, not the personification of the discipline), that’s nonsense. See Mazur A (2007) Disbelievers in evolution. Science 315(5809):187.
Even among fundamentalists with a high school education or less who identify as political conservatives (the group most likely to reject evolutionary theory), you still have 18% of them accepting evolution. There’s a nice graph from the article reproduced at . Take a look; it’s interesting.
Sorry, that link didn’t work.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2007/01/belief_in_evo_lg.php
nm - Thanks. Interesting graphic display. Those numbers are much closer to what I might have guessed before reading the article in reason (the magazine, not the personification of logical thinking). Sorry, I just had to have some fun with that…
Winston,
Doug Alder has a link to a YouTube video of the sample base for this survey.
Go watch http://www.thealders.net/blogs/2007/01/16/no-wonder-bush-got-elected/
Stu
I used to teach Montessori preschool. We started the kids in evolution at the age of three. They had no problem with it. Kids that age all love dinosaurs and they want to know why there aren’t any around any longer.
And, as per the discussion above, I agree that we don’t believe in science; we accept it. As a matter of fact, I think that when we say we believe in science we leave ourselves open to the fundamentalist accusation that evolution is “just” a theory (by which they mean guess) and our belief in it is religious.
I usually keep silent in regards to the evolotionary debate. Not that it truly needs a debate since the evidence is so clear.
But I do speak up when I come across those who recognize the evidence of evolution and wonder at the opposition from those of faith.
I am not happy with creationism nor intelligent design, but I do believe in a creator.
Recognizing the truth in the world around me does not disuade me from the truth I find within.
That is all I wanted to share…
That was kind of amazing for statistics but a lot of people don’t really think and somehow have decided it’s unspiritual to say they believe in evolution– like it eliminates belief in a creator god. The thing is believing in a hand behind it and evolution are not incompatible. And those who believe in the literal Bible story have a problem anyway given there are two stories of creation in Genesis, their order does not agree… Not that logic has anything to do with this.
Good topic
Hah! I agree with jr, I don’t “believe” in the weak force, either (as in I don’t “believe” in evolution), but I have no doubt the scientists who worked it out got it right. “Belief” is like comfort food, it is, well, comforting, but there may be consequences (not the least of which is that you might believe the wrong thing–Christians say everyone else is going somewhere really bad).
I do not fault anyone for “believing” something which gives them comfort, a reason to live, etc. I, personally, do not “believe” in “belief.” I guess, and this is strictly personal and probably unfair: I don’t “believe” that “believers” really “believe” either, I just think they are people hedging their bets, as it were.
So.
Ditto (for me) what Liz said. Still - only 14%? That has to be wrong. Even factoring in the creationist-screamers, I’m skeptical about that number.
Winston mentioned:
“…including our ancient grunting ancestors with bad hair…”
Uhhhhh, that could still describe me some days, no evolving here.
I’m surprised by that number too Winston….but, I’m with Liz and Mary. Interesting, and apparently a topic that a lot of people have something to say about judging by all your commenters.
Suggest reading “The God Delusion,” by Richard Dawkins. For me, leading an evidenced-based life free of “beliefs” in imaginary or invisible entities is much more interesting. The facinating mysteries that can be investigated through scientific exploration are ultimately more satisfying and valuable than flimsy religious myths. I “pray” the human race evolves from its present state of infancy. We shouldn’t be afraid to understand that it’s “just us” here on Earth, and we alone are responsible for our actions.