A Slow, Bitter, Resigned Burn
That's often how I feel when I read the news, watch the TV, and hear the results of opinion polls.
Here's one I discovered today:
A 2006 Gallup Poll found that 46% of Americans believe that God created humans as they are today, whereas 35% invoke evolution under God's guidance. Only 13% of respondents agreed that "human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process." These percentages have fluctuated litte in the past 25 years.
Just under half of the survey's respondents think humans just *popped* into existence at the word of gawd and haven't materially evolved since.
Now, I think that just sucks but I am willing to carve out a measure of respect for those who take a position and stick with it to the end.
When asked the True or False question, "The universe began with a huge explosion," only 35% of Americans and Russians answered True, compared to South Koreans (67%) and Japanese (63%). Similarly, 44% of Americans and Russians answered True to, "Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals," well behind Japan (78%), China and the European Union (70%).But there's a twist. When these same questions were prefaced with "according to the theory of evolution" and "according to astronomers," American respondents were more likely to answer the questions correctly (74 and 62%, respectively).
Toss in an authority figure to the question and the response rate nearly doubles. Fucking weak, guys. Flip science the bird one second and then rush to embrace it when some dude with a title is associated with it. That's disgraceful and aside from more profanity there's no other way I can describe it.