[DannyTN]

TABLE 8

SUMMARY OF KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION – BY PARTY ID AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Base: All Adults

	All Adults (n=1,000)	Party ID			Political Philosophy
		Republican (n=391)	Democrat (n=439)	Independent (n=170)	Conservative (n=538)	Moderate (n=103)	Liberal (n=359)
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FROM EARLIER SPECIES
Yes	38	27	48	36	25	40	56
No	54	65	44	53	65	52	37
PLANT AND ANIMAL DEVELOPMENT
Yes	49	37	61	47	38	50	65
No	45	58	33	42	53	46	31
MAN AND APES HAVE COMMON ANCESTRY
Yes	46	30	61	44	37	36	63
No	47	62	32	47	56	52	31
DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION PROVEN BY FOSSIL EVIDENCE
Yes	46	37	55	43	36	40	62
No	48	58	40	45	58	43	35
HUMAN EVOLUTION
Belief in evolution	22	16	27	25	16	22	32
Belief in creationism	64	73	58	57	75	63	48
Belief in intelligent design	10	9	11	7	7	4

TABLE 9

SUMMARY OF KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION – BY AGE AND REGION

Base: All Adults

	All Adults (n=1,000)	Age			Region
		18-34 (n=258)	35-54 (n=374)	55+ (n=340)	Northeast (n=213)	Midwest (n=220)	South (n=349)	West (n=218)
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FROM EARLIER SPECIES
Yes	38	46	38	29	52	37	28	41
No	54	46	53	61	38	57	64	50
PLANT AND ANIMAL DEVELOPMENT
Yes	49	51	50	46	63	47	41	51
No	45	45	44	46	28	48	54	42
MAN AND APES HAVE COMMON ANCESTRY
Yes	46	57	45	39	60	43	40	44
No	47	37	48	52	32	50	52	48
DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION PROVEN BY FOSSIL EVIDENCE
Yes	46	57	48	35	58	43	36	52
No	48	41	44	58	37	47	56	47
HUMAN EVOLUTION
Belief in evolution	22	25	25	16	30	17	17	28
Belief in creationism	64	60	59	73	52	72	71	56
Belief in intelligent design	10	11	9	9	13	9	8	10

Methodology

[curiosity]

It's interesting how inconsistent those poll numbers.

For instance, 57% of 18-35 year-olds say they believe that humans and apes have a common ancestor and that the fossil record proves Darwin's theory, but then only 25% say they believe in evolution. Wierd.

It seems as though they are confused about what the pollster meant by the word "evolution." Given that it's contrasted with the word "creationism," the most likely explanation of the discrepancy is that they were under the impression that by "evolution" the pollster meant some atheistic version of the theory, rather than the purely scientific one, which neither proves nor disproves the existence of God.

At any rate, that 57% of 18-35 year-olds believe that humans and apes share a common ancestor does not bode well for creationists' political future, nor does it bode well for the future of any political party that would embrace creationist dogma.