With today being the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, Gallup did a poll in which they asked people if they believe in the theory of evolution.
A more valid question would ask if they understood the concept, but the study types at Gallup went with belief.
Anyway, in the results 39% of the respondents said they “believed”, 25% did not, and 36% had no opinion.
While I would have expected more than 25% to say no, I think the more than one-third of the pool that made no choice is more significant.
That response probably means most of them had no clue what the interviewer was talking about.
We really need to do a better job of science education in this country.
Yes we do. Our state media newsletter had a big thing on Lincolns 200th and I emailed and asked, what about Darwin? They said that Darwin was “too much” for elementary students. I discuss Natural Selection every time I teach about adaptations and my third graders seem to pick up on it quite easily. I think teachers are just self-censoring out of fear, but I’ve never had a complaint.
It really hasn’t occurred to you that many of us simply find it hard to support? As a person with a mathematics background, the probabilities (universe-wide issues, biological issues, take your pick) are simply too implausible for a thinking man. I know, that’s not PC in parts of the world. Nonetheless, don’t assume that everyone’s stupid just because they don’t agree with you. Unless you want me to do the same with you, of course.