Posted on 08/11/2006 11:54:04 AM PDT by presidio9
A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower.
Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say.
“American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,” said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.
The researchers combined data from public surveys on evolution collected from 32 European countries, the United States and Japan between 1985 and 2005. Adults in each country were asked whether they thought the statement “Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals,” was true, false, or if they were unsure.
The study found that over the past 20 years:
The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent. The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 percent, however. And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent.
Of the other countries surveyed, only Turkey ranked lower, with about 25 percent of the population accepting evolution and 75 percent rejecting it. In Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and France, 80 percent or more of adults accepted evolution; in Japan, 78 percent of adults did.
The findings are detailed in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science.
Religion belief and evolution
The researchers also compared 10 independent variables—including religious belief, political ideology and understanding of concepts from genetics, or “genetic literacy”—between adults in America and nine European countries to determine whether these factors could predict attitudes toward evolution.
The analysis found that Americans with fundamentalist religious beliefs—defined as belief in substantial divine control and frequent prayer—were more likely to reject evolution than Europeans with similar beliefs. The researchers attribute the discrepancy to differences in how American Christian fundamentalist and other forms of Christianity interpret the Bible.
While American fundamentalists tend to interpret the Bible literally and to view Genesis as a true and accurate account of creation, mainstream Protestants in both the United States and Europe instead treat Genesis as metaphorical, the researchers say.
“Whether it’s the Bible or the Koran, there are some people who think it’s everything you need to know,” Miller said. “Other people say these are very interesting metaphorical stories in that they give us guidance, but they’re not science books.”
This latter view is also shared by the Catholic Church.
Politics and the Flat Earth
Politics is also contributing to America's widespread confusion about evolution, the researchers say. Major political parties in the United States are more willing to make opposition to evolution a prominent part of their campaigns to garner conservative votes—something that does not happen in Europe or Japan.
Miller says that it makes about as much sense for politicians to oppose evolution in their campaigns as it is for them to advocate that the Earth is flat and promise to pass legislation saying so if elected to office.
"You can pass any law you want but it won't change the shape of the Earth," Miller told LiveScience.
Paul Meyers, a biologist at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the study, says that what politicians should be doing is saying, 'We ought to defer these questions to qualified authorities and we should have committees of scientists and engineers who we will approach for the right answers."
The researchers also single out the poor grasp of biological concepts, especially genetics, by American adults as an important contributor to the country's low confidence in evolution.
“The more you understand about genetics, the more you understand about the unity of life and the relationship humans have to other forms of life,” Miller said.
The current study also analyzed the results from a 10-country survey in which adults were tested with 10 true or false statements about basic concepts from genetics. One of the statements was "All plants and animals have DNA." Americans had a median score of 4. (The correct answer is "yes.")
Science alone is not enough
But the problem is more than one of education—it goes deeper, and is a function of our country's culture and history, said study co-author Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education in California.
“The rejection of evolution is not something that will be solved by throwing science at it,” Scott said in a telephone interview.
Myers expressed a similar sentiment. About the recent trial in Dover, Pennsylvania which ruled against intelligent design, Myers said "it was a great victory for our side and it’s done a lot to help ensure that we keep religion out of the classroom for a while longer, but it doesn’t address the root causes. The creationists are still creationists—they're not going to change because of a court decision."
Scott says one thing that will help is to have Catholics and mainstream Protestants speak up about their theologies' acceptance of evolution.
"There needs to be more addressing of creationism from these more moderate theological perspectives," Scott said. “The professional clergy and theologians whom I know tend to be very reluctant to engage in that type of ‘my theology versus your theology’ discussion, but it matters because it’s having a negative effect on American scientific literacy."
The latest packaging of creationism is intelligent design, or ID, a conjecture which claims that certain features of the natural world are so complex that they could only be the work of a Supreme Being. ID proponents say they do not deny that evolution is true, only that scientists should not rule out the possibility of supernatural intervention.
But scientists do not share doubts over evolution. They argue it is one of the most well tested theories around, supported by countless tests done in many different scientific fields. Scott says promoting uncertainty about evolution is just as bad as denying it outright and that ID and traditional creationism both spread the same message.
“Both are saying that evolution is bad science, that evolution is weak and inadequate science, and that it can’t do the job so therefore God did it,” she said.
Another view
Bruce Chapman, the president of the Discovery Institute, the primary backer of ID, has a different view of the study.
"A better explanation for the high percentage of doubters of Darwinism in America may be that this country's citizens are famously independent and are not given to being rolled by an ideological elite in any field," Chapman said. "In particular, the growing doubts about Darwinism undoubtedly reflect growing doubts among scientists about Darwinian theory. Over 640 have now signed a public dissent and the number keeps growing."
Nick Matzke of the National Center for Science Education in California points out, however, that most of the scientists Chapman refers to do not do research in the field of evolution.
"If you look at the list, you can't find anybody who's really a significant contributor to the field or anyone who's done recognizable work on evolution," Matzke said.
Scott says the news is not all bad. The number of American adults unsure about the validity of evolution has increased in recent years, from 7 to 21 percent, but growth in this demographic comes at the expense of the other two groups. The percentage of Americans accepting evolution has declined, but so has the percentage of those who overtly reject it.
"I was very surprised to see that. To me that means the glass is half full,” Scott said. “That 21 percent we can educate."
Where do genus and species come in? What else but common ancestor? Relation is the core of evolution. What else is there to classify by? Weight? Good for salad?
It's not a matter of what you or I think they are its a matter of whether we take the scientific road, and allow all evidence to presented both favorable and unfavorable and a reason minded student to make a conclusion, or if we take the faith road of there being an inquision any time disent is raised.
Ah, the acolytes of Darwin make their obligatory appearance.
Nothing more needs to be said.
The kind of information mongering that Coulter addresses like the superficial stuff one gets from "Scientific American." This is all the average biologist knows about the subject, or certainly the average high school biology teacher or the average physician/nurse. Like "Sportin Life" in" Porgy and Bess." she is saying that 'taine necessarily so." where most people in the life sciences claim necessity simply because it is in their textbooks.
Oh sorry, I misread it, your last sentence to me was misleading. My apoligies.
Genus and species are part of the taxonomic classification system, by which living things are classified. Evolution is a theory that relates elements of that system and seeks to explain their similarities and differences; your mistaking the forest for the trees.
What a crock. Conservative Christians desire a rigorous examination of genetics and other biological disciplines. It is not us, but evolutionists, who are running away from objective science by stacking one untenable hypothesis upon another!
Teach the students the FACTS of genetics, and then let them draw their own logical conclusions about whether such marvelous complexity organized itself.
But my biggest problem (among many) with evolution is not scientific. It has to do with my faith. I believe humans are different from animals because we have souls. But what was the dividing line between ape and human? If we evolved from apes, at what point did we get our souls? Did God one day decide that every ape that had a certain mutation would get a soul, but the other apes were just out of luck because they weren't "human" enough? What was the genetic mutation that suddenly made apes human enough to warrant souls?
I hope I'm making myself clear enough on this issue, since stuff like this tends to get muddled when you try to explain it in writing, but if anyone who believes both in God and in evolution has a reasonable resonse to this, I'd love to hear it.
Evolution is the basis of the taxonomic system. There is no other basis.
Oh, and let me also say that I believe in natural selection on a micro-evolutionary scale, but not a macro-evolutionary scale.
I don't doubt it. Surveys for the past several decades have consistently found huge percentages of American adults who don't know who the current President is (VP stats are even more alarming), can't find the continental US on a globe, and at the height of the Cold War, didn't know that the Soviet Union and China were Communist countries. However, this article seems to jump to the conclusion that people who answer "No" to the question "Do all plants and animals have DNA?" are somehow being influenced by a belief in Biblical creationism and imagine that humans are special in this respect. More likely, they simply have no idea what "DNA" is, but have vaguely absorbed references to DNA testing in crime cases, but have never heard of DNA in any other context (after all, many of our most clueless citizens live in crime-infested cities, where many of their friends and relatives -- and themselves -- have had occasion to have DNA samples tested by police, and many are also regular watchers of TV crime shows). You'd probably get about the same percent of "No" answers to the question "Do all plants and animals have fingerprints?", for the same reason, and in that case the same simple reasoning process would have resulted in the correct answer.
What would you call the farce that was the Scopes trial? What about Dover?
Its a fact that there IS an inquisition.
As for Nobel prizes, most are awarded for political accomplishments of the left.
I realize that after the fact, his last sentence was rather confusing.
Evolution is not a classification system. I'm starting to see why some of you folks can buy flimsy ideas like evolution.
darn, why are we such a third world country? oh wait, we're the only superpower?? But this article suggests
Oh thats right, this is nothing more than a bash America article.
That Americans don't know that all plants and animals have DNA is a bigger concern, >>>
Doesnt concern me one bit, after all we all arent going to be going into biology as a living..besides I would assume that most people believe that animals have DNA but not plants which is perfectly reasonable response from people who havent had a biology class or a class in years.
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