::cries:: Why, deit(y|ies) or lack thereof, why?

[ninjakitten]

Nearly half (48 percent) of the public rejects the scientific theory of evolution; one-third (34 percent) of college graduates say they accept the Biblical account of creation as fact. Seventy-three percent of Evangelical Protestants say they believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years; 39 percent of non-

Comments

[youngwilliam]

Re: Nearly half (48 percent) of the public rejects the scientific theory of evolution

What strikes me as the oddest about this is, well.. wiener dogs.

Look at miniature dachshunds, chihuahuas, and all sorts of odd housepets; it seems pretty clear that we made those. There weren't herds of chihuahuas thundering across the plains that we domesticated back in the days of yore, but instead normal dogs were given the "pet bonsai" treatment and made into that form. Is it so hard to imagine that perhaps all dogs used to be more wolf-like and, over time, things "just happened to work out" such that some ended up more doggy and others more wolfy? And that the proto-wolf/dog and proto-cat used to be the same thing but that was a split-off as well?

It's not the most accurate metaphor for evolution, but it's close enough to get the gist across (or so I'd imagine..)

[annwyd]

That just breaks my brain. I just...can't believe that that many Americans could be that ignorant. Or that that many college graduates could be that ignorant. What the hell?

[biomekanic]

Be A: an American, and B: a college graduate, I'm not surprised.

Willful ignorance ( as opposed to just plain ignorance ) seems to be the order of the day. America has always had an anti-intellectual streak, IMO/E it's picked up steam in about the last 40 years. The current administrations efforts on removing scientific curriculum from schools hasn't helped any either.

It's my theory that this is encouraged - the ignorant are easier to control, and the goal of the reigning elite is a peasantry that's technologically sophisticated enough to use it's items, but not savvy enough to understand them, or basic scientific principals. I'm sure the number of Americans who believe the Sun revolves around the Earth, and/or the Earth is flat is just as appalling.

[autumnfalling]

Willful ignorance is one aspect of a malaise that blights the intellectual landscape of America. That would be Pride. Too many Americans willfully adopt callous and ethnocentric viewpoints and positions knowingly, and relish in their ability to get away with it because we're Americans. What's even more frightening is how these very same people adopt the victim role in the face of criticism from the international community. "They resent us for being successful. They don't know what's best - they aren't Americans." etc... Which kills me because it's exactly the outlook some good friends of mine who are super conservative and Catholic are. Despite the fact their world view is embodied in US Law more than anyone else's, they consider themselves misunderstood, and persecuted by the mass media

[feinan]

*sighs* It bothers me, too. Especially since I went to school in biology and genetics. And then there are the truly STUPID idiots out there, that just make me want to reach for an industrial-size clue-by-four. Like this one:

http://www.glumbert.com/media/peanutbutter

Did you know that peanut butter disproves evolution? Neither did I, but this guy says it, so it MUST be true, right? *bleah* Take a look, and prepare to be disgusted.

[jennyrhill]

Either way, evolution or no, these are commonly taught theories, common beliefs, not scientifically proven fact. None of us were there, we don't know how it went down. While the theory of evolution is a good way to explain things, and appeals to great numbers of the population, others have their own theories of why we are here and how we came about. People rejecting one belief for another that appeals more strongly to them is no reason to be embarrassed. These people simply have had a different experience, and believe in something else that they have their own reasons for believing

[autumnfalling]

but from my experience, people who believe in creation do so because they have a reason, just as you surely have reason to believe in evolution. It doesn't mean that these people are inferior, less educated, or somehow an embarassment, they just believe a different theory, maybe value different things.I'm going to politely disagree with you on that

[ninjakitten]

There's a difference between a scientific theory -- the technical definition of "theory" -- and the vernacular meaning of 'theory'. To steal definitions from m-w, in general speech, it usually means merely "speculation", while in science it's "the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another," "a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject" -- a theorem in turn being "an idea accepted or proposed as a demonstrable truth often as a part of a general theory". Wikipedia describes the requirements for =scientific= theory pretty well

[jennyrhill]

It seems I've somehow set you off. I was simply trying to say that the original post struck me as discounting what may be personally valid to some people, just as evolution deniers might be discounting what is valid to a lot of other people. To me, these are all different explanations for how we understand that things have come about. Just because I find tested scientific theories to be more valid than the religious perspective doesn't make the people who see things that way an embarassment, to me. To me, if some people don't adhere to one way of thinking, it doesn't mean they haven't been educated in, or don't have an understanding of another way of looking at things. They have just chosen a different way, and I don't think that one way is automatically better than another

[lumi21]

I can't respond to this. Partially because I just don't know where to begin, and partially because I'm not sure I have the willpower not to pollute your LJ with inappropriate language >_<

Yay for graduating from RPI...