gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Well it is SundayYes, lets take a merry trot down the yellow brick road to facepalm . . .
Half of Britons don't believe in evolution
- Thread starter big eejit
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goldenecitrone
post tenebras lux
I've often wondered about it, too. What could possibly be so appealing about a rational, scientific explanation of life on earth backed up by huge amounts of evidence? It's certainly a mystery.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
The presentation of this story is dodgy. How much of a story would it be if it read 10% of British adults reject evolution
There are 40% who use believe in a mixture of evolution, creationism and intelligent design to explain how life on earth came about and
50% who believe that evolution is probably or definitely true.
I imagine that the way that the question was asked could also have have influenced the answers.
"Half of British adults do not believe in evolution, with at least 22% preferring the theories of creationism or intelligent design to explain how the world came about, according to a survey.
The poll found that 25% of Britons believe Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is "definitely true", with another quarter saying it is "probably true". Half of the 2,060 people questioned were either strongly opposed to the theory or confused about it.
The Rescuing Darwin survey, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of *Species, found that around 10% of people chose young Earth creationism – the belief that God created the world some time in the last 10,000 years – over evolution.
About 12% preferred intelligent design, the idea that evolution alone is not enough to explain the structures of living organisms. The remainder were unsure, often mixing evolution, intelligent design and creationism together. The survey was conducted by the polling agency ComRes on behalf of the Theos thinktank.
There are 40% who use believe in a mixture of evolution, creationism and intelligent design to explain how life on earth came about and
50% who believe that evolution is probably or definitely true.
I imagine that the way that the question was asked could also have have influenced the answers.
"Half of British adults do not believe in evolution, with at least 22% preferring the theories of creationism or intelligent design to explain how the world came about, according to a survey.
The poll found that 25% of Britons believe Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is "definitely true", with another quarter saying it is "probably true". Half of the 2,060 people questioned were either strongly opposed to the theory or confused about it.
The Rescuing Darwin survey, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of *Species, found that around 10% of people chose young Earth creationism – the belief that God created the world some time in the last 10,000 years – over evolution.
About 12% preferred intelligent design, the idea that evolution alone is not enough to explain the structures of living organisms. The remainder were unsure, often mixing evolution, intelligent design and creationism together. The survey was conducted by the polling agency ComRes on behalf of the Theos thinktank.
8ball
World is a fuck
some will some will not and i am not suprised that you do not as you are a prize plankton
Sometimes it can be hard to tell the dyslexic from the merely thick.
I think I've got this one figured out but does anyone know if it is trying to make a point or is it just typing random words . . ?
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I've often wondered about it, too. What could possibly be so appealing about a rational, scientific explanation of life on earth backed up by huge amounts of evidence? It's certainly a mystery.
The alternative version is so much more imaginative though - and has some cracking tunes.
scifisam
deleted
I'd still be surprised at even 10% believing in young-Earth creationism. Most of the religious people I've known haven't believed that - those where it's come up in conversation, that is.
Azrael
circling Airstrip One
I agree when it comes to practical matters like education, the role of the state, law & order etc. However evolution has little to no day-to-day importance. If it's being systematically blocked in our schools, I agree that's dangerous, but if people choose not to go with it, well, I can't object save in principle. (Although it does call their wider critical faculties into question.)
I react in the same way to horoscopes. Drivel, but not harmful.
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
They should def start teaching science in school.
8ball
World is a fuck
Depends on whether you see truth and knowledge as something important. I'm a little suspicious of the 'just teach them enough that they can keep the shelves stacked' philosophy, myself.
goldenecitrone
post tenebras lux
I reckon there should definitely be alternative science classes in schools covering stuff like the moon is made out of green cheese, the earth is flat and Uri Geller really can bend spoons with the power of his mind. Just to balance things out.
You want an entire generation to end up thinking by the principle "question everything including this!"?
Thanks for being so charitable and proving my point regarding how you view evolution again
8ball
World is a fuck
Thanks for being so charitable and proving my point regarding how you view evolution again
Once again, you are very welcome.
Srsly - anyone??
Azrael
circling Airstrip One
I never said that: I specifically said that keeping people ignorant was dangerous and wrong. But if they choose to ignore the facts, then there's little you can do about it, and provided it doesn't actively harm society, I can't get worked up.
8ball
World is a fuck
Guess so. You'd be getting worked up an awful lot otherwise.
Agent Sparrow
AGENT TRAITOR; fools 8 year olds
Tbf, for some people intelligent design could just be a way of being able to largley believe in evolution and also keep a belief in a god who is somewhat involved in it all. Whilst I certainly don't think it's a valid scientific theory, at the level of personal belief, ID for some can be quite different from creationism and it doesn't necessarily mean a rejection of evolution, just an adaption.
scifisam
deleted
Sorry, can't help you - I've had him on ignore for ages. That might be why nobody's explaining whatever he's on about.
8ball
World is a fuck
ID is just a rebranding exercise for creationism - I think what you're describing is more of an 'evolution with interventionist God' type thang.
scifisam
deleted
It depends how the question was phrased. If it was something like 'evolution doesn't explain everything about how life evolved, so there must be a higher intelligence at work,' then loads of people would agree with it. It would even cover people who believe evolution is simply the process by which God created/creates life forms. I doubt 12% of people would say they belived n Intelligent Design explicitly, because not that many people have even heard of it.
Agent Sparrow
AGENT TRAITOR; fools 8 year olds
I don't know if there's an official "ID" phillosophy, but I've heard Christians describe ID to me as evolution with just a bit of purpose and a nudge from god. I think potentially, people describing their beliefs as ID could be actually quite a wide ranging bunch.
Yup, I'd agree with that.
8ball
World is a fuck
Perhaps nobody knows what he's on about. Or perhaps it's a surreal attempt at cross-thread trolling (not that I was party to whatever thread that may have been).
Perhaps we will never care . . .
Azrael
circling Airstrip One
Interesting article in this month's History Today, to the effect that religious objections to evolution are a recent thing, rooted in America's unique religious free market. The two are not naturally in opposition.
Having the likes of Professor Dawkins strutting around saying that they are is helping nobody.
8ball
World is a fuck
Not surprised they're confused, I think that's part of the point, though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design
Agent Sparrow
AGENT TRAITOR; fools 8 year olds
Interesting. I thought there was always a big hooha about the idea that we evolved from apes.
8ball
World is a fuck
8ball
World is a fuck
We are apes.
Azrael
circling Airstrip One
Apparently the controversy arose with the rise of the fundamentalist movement in America in the early 20th century. There was controversy in the 1850s, but it waned, and evolution, it seems, was broadly accepted when Dawin was buried.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I thought it was that we and apes share a common ancestor ?
Azrael
circling Airstrip One
danny la rouge
Ninja swords for all disabled people
I'd like to see the actual poll, but if I've got this right:
- 25% say Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is definitely true,
- 25% say it's probably true,
- 28% are confused,
- 22% prefer creationism or intelligent design.
Though I'm disappointed it isn't more than 50% who strongly or somewhat support evolution, I'm delighted that those outnumber supporters of creationism or ID by more than 2:1. A better headline, picking up on the actual story here, would be "vast majority don't support creationism/ID".
Just over 1 in 4 are confused? I'm not too surprised about that, either.
With a bit of good education I'm sure we can bring that 1 in 4 who are confused down a fair bit. As to the 22% of creationists/IDers, they're probably a lost cause.
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