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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 07/09/2009 : 23:32:33
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Interesting poll: The results are in for the Pew science survey mentioned earlier this week. The headline: Just 32% of Americans believe “that humans and other living things have evolved over time and that evolution is the result of natural processes such as natural selection.” The number among scientists, meanwhile, is 87% (why so low, actually?). There's a similar gap on climate change, where 84% of scientists say the earth is getting warmer due to human activity, while only 49% of the public believes that.
Though, I guess the climate change folks can feel some pride that more people believe in global warming than in evolution — which seems pretty backward to me.
Some other highlights from the report:
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This shouldn't come as much of a suprise, what with percentage of idiots formerly and currently in leadership roles, and the various sacred superstitions floating around like noxious gasses at a dysfuctional sewage treatement plant. The rest of it is a little better but only just, also as might be expected.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 01:30:09 [Permalink]
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Yeah, that is weird. The theory of evolution has virtually universal acceptance as both natural fact and as scientific theory by scientists in the relevant fields, while man-made global warming is "merely" the overwhelming conclusion of most climate scientists. There actually are a few odd bits of contrary data on MMGW, while there isn't any on evolution.
I suspect that the polls are strange because they might count people in fairly evolution-unrelated fields as "scientists." Also, I think that MMGW acceptance is not so "tainted" as being anti-religion, despite the efforts of preachers and oilmen. Most people can probably see the contradiction between the Bible and evolution, but the same people probably just nod and ignore the preachers when they say that people can't harm the earth.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/10/2009 01:31:59 |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 08:38:20 [Permalink]
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| There is something very backwards (or is that backwoods) about this planet. Maybe it is just a bad dream.....somebody wake me please. |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 15:11:50 [Permalink]
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| A lot of the objections are based on a complete misunderstanding of one of the basic tenets of science: It doesn't matter whether you like it or not, you have to go with the evidence. They fall for all the standard bullshit trotted out by everyone from government leaders to big-hair televangelists, things like "Evolution turns us from god and causes crime, social disorder, disrespect, hatred, racism, blahblah blahblah blahblah..." Even if those things were true (and they're not) it wouldn't matter one bit, the evidence stands. |
Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 15:28:34 [Permalink]
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It would be interesting to see who they consider "scientists" in that poll. I'm pretty sure that in bio/life science, geology, and anthropology the number of scientists who recognize the fact of evolution is more like 99.9%.
Maybe they include any topic that you can earn a PhD in? Philosophy, psychology, theology?
Could explain the watered down %.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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knightmare
New Member
USA
42 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 15:43:53 [Permalink]
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| I have a question: With such a high percentage of people believing in creation over evolution, is it likely that they will eventually push evolution out of schools and society in favor of their fairy tales? It has so far been prevented, but if enough of them elect enough like-minded officials to high government positions, could theories such as evolution be in trouble? I don't think such theories could ever be suppressed but I'm wondering what everyone else thinks. |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 15:44:03 [Permalink]
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| Or they include anybody whose job is a bit 'sciency' or 'technical', including pharmacist or computer technicians, even if they don't have a formal education in research. |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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Of evolution and idiots,
