Yet another poll, this most recent one by Newsweek, shows a lack of support/understanding for real-life, established science. Questions 12 and 13 ask the tired old questions of evolution.
Personally, I’m tired of these polls as they don’t tell us anything we haven’t been told over and over again before. I also wonder why evolution, out of the zillion other possible subjects out there that cause a stir and are related in some way to religion, is always in the polls. Except for the evolution brush fires that pop up here and there, do people really think about evolution all that much? Do they think about it at all? Do questions 12 and 13 serve any real use? Other than pointing out how stuck in a rut the overall American population is when it comes to science, what does the same old question tell us?
I wouldn’t mind seeing some other science subjects polled and then held up beside the evolution results. Do you accept that light from distant stars takes one heck of a long time to reach us here on Earth? Do you accept that the Earth goes around the sun? Do you accept the germ theory of disease? Throw a few questions like that out there and see what sticks.
Heck, I think a question asking people to choose a correct definition for evolution would add some value to the polls. Do people understand what it is they don’t accept?
Agreed. Why should evolution be treated differently than other aspects of science?
I whole heartedly agree. The one and only reason that evolution is treated differently is for religious reasons. Specifically, the agenda of the religious right as exemplified by the ‘Wedge Document’. Because these people wield political clout, it gets media attention.
But were these other scientific theories and observations (such as the distant star example given) asked of the public, the answers given, I believe, would expose the fundamental lack of scientific knowledge that is pervasive in America. And that is the real story.