Poll: Creationism Trumps Evolution

[Petra]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml

Overall, about two-thirds of Americans want creationism taught along with evolution. Only 37 percent want evolutionism replaced outright.

More than half of Kerry voters want creationism taught alongside evolution. Bush voters are much more willing to want creationism to replace evolution altogether in a curriculum (just under half favor that), and 71 percent want it at least included.

[...]

60 percent of Americans who call themselves Evangelical Christians, however, favor replacing evolution with creationism in schools altogether, as do 50 percent of those who attend religious services every week.



I guess ignorance is the new black this season. Afterall, good science is so last century! :giggle:

[viscousmemories]

I really don't understand polling. It seems ludicrous to suggest that any meaningful characterization of 300 million people could result from interviewing 885 of them. :scratch:

That said, what is wrong with science education in this country that so many people can't seem to understand that evolution is a fact as well as a theory, and that creationism is all unsupported theory. :qsigh:

[JoeP]

:qsigh: back at ya. You still don't get it do you? Evolution "is a theory" and that means that scientists secretly know that it's false. Furthermore, as a scientific theory, evolution is falsifiable, whereas creationism isn't (since Gott could have created all those fossils, strata, red shifts etc for his own mysterious reasons). I certainly don't want my children being taught something falsifiable.

[SharonDee]

...so many people can't seem to understand that evolution is a fact as well as a theory...
Tell me about it! Hubster--so apparently smart in so many ways--thinks he's saying something when he points out that evolution is just a theory and wishes people would stop making such a big deal out of it. And he's an atheist, he prefers his science fiction to have real science in it... yet he still throws that "theory sneer" around as if it's relevant.

I, on the other hand, am science stupid and that's why I am having trouble getting him to understand that his "point" isn't very sharp.
:rollpin:

[viscousmemories]

Just have him read Evolution is a Fact and a Theory (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolution-fact.html). :)

[Dingfod]

I really don't understand polling. It seems ludicrous to suggest that any meaningful characterization of 300 million people could result from interviewing 885 of them. :scratch:It's called extrapolation. You take a representative sample, determine their preferences, then extrapolate to the general population. However, if, by random chance, 60% of your poll subjects are complete morons where in the general population, there are only 30% complete morons, you should adjust the poll to reflect the true complete moron percentage. It's like the Fox News political polls that showed Dumbshit... er, I mean Dumbya... er, I mean Dubya eight to ten percentage points higher than most any other national polling numbers. Bad sampling, that's what that is, not representative.

That said, what is wrong with science education in this country that so many people can't seem to understand that evolution is a fact as well as a theory, and that creationism is all unsupported theory. :qsigh:There isn't anything wrong with science education that isn't going to get more fucked up by four more years of Dumbya.