40%. 4 out of 10. 2 out of 5. About 125 million. That’s how many Americans believe, quite literally, that God created man in one day at some point within the last 10,000 years. That’s the number who say “evolution is only a theory” and they don’t believe in it.
Of course, it was a poll, so you have to give a little bit of leeway for how the question was asked, but I know people like this exist. I am American. I have met them. If you talk about scientific evidence, they talk about the bible. If you mention that the DNA of chimpanzees is something like 98% identical to that of humans, they say maybe you’re related to a monkey, but I’m not, harharhar. (Yes, I know chimps are apes and not monkeys. They don’t.)
Still, I’m surprised that it’s 40%. That is an awfully great percentage. I think it is easy for us to get out of touch. Those of us who read
It's Art. Symbolism. It's not historical record.
books, those of us who try to keep up with the latest scientific theories about the origin of mankind and our place in the universe, those of us who actually believe in science and the steady increase of knowledge tend to talk to each other, because that lower 40% doesn’t really bring anything to the conversation. But they are out there. And they vote.
It’s not just America. I doubt that there is any other developed country in the world where it is as high as 40%, but people with these primitive, literal beliefs are everywhere.
I remember the time one of my students asked me if I believed in God. I said “If there is a God, he must be an evil, vindictive, horrible character.” She was really offended.
Maybe I went too far. I felt bad about that. But she did ask.
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SO few on the planet who thirst for knowledge and even fewer who can absorb knowledge through a relatively unbiased filter. Continent of domicile makes no difference. Evolutionary phenom? Unfortunately those who thirst & absorb aren’t the primary breeders on the planet.
Yeah, that breeding rate thing is a whole nother problem. Some day I will write a blog about how to solve the population problem by a global K-20 education program.