Only 15% of Americans accept evolution.

[Frisivisia]

The only sort of evolution I believe in is Pokemon evolution. XD

Who puts the pokemon in the grass?

Can't explain that.

[The Republic of Kentucky]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

[Tlaceceyaya]

Again, folks, the poll numbers only add up to 93 percent. So 47 percent is actually a majority - by one percentage point, admittedly, but still a majority.

7% is the number of cop-outs.

[Ifreann]

The only sort of evolution I believe in is Pokemon evolution. XD

Who puts the pokemon in the grass?

Can't explain that.

Arceus did it.

[Divair]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

The ignorance is overwhelming. Do you know what a scientific theory is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory

"A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment."


You know what else are theories? Gravity and germs. Yet I don't see you jumping out buildings or not giving a damn about disease.

[Ifreann]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

Thanks for popping in to demonstrate your ignorance.

[Frisivisia]

Again, folks, the poll numbers only add up to 93 percent. So 47 percent is actually a majority - by one percentage point, admittedly, but still a majority.

It's a majority in the fact that the number of people who voted for Al Gore were a majority. Only slightly, and it doesn't matter anyway because it's unacceptable that any good number of people choose the other one.

[Wikkiwallana]

Saying they don't believe in science altogether when they only don't believe in evolution is a bit of a misleading stretch, wouldn't you say?

No.

[Frisivisia]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

#IDon'tUnderstandHowToScience

[Frisivisia]

Again, folks, the poll numbers only add up to 93 percent. So 47 percent is actually a majority - by one percentage point, admittedly, but still a majority.

7% is the number of cop-outs.

They voted "bonobo".

[Tlaceceyaya]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

Actually, it's both.
The theory of evolution by means of natural selection and just plain evolution. Like continental drift and tectonic plates.
^{Here's to hoping what I meant wasn't veiled too thinly with the comparison of natural selection to tectonic plates.}

[Divair]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

Actually, it's both.
The theory of evolution by means of natural selection and just plain evolution. Like continental drift and tectonic plates.

Or gravity and general relativity.

[Norvenia]

Note, please, that these data only add up to 93 percent; presumably 7 percent of people surveyed didn't answer. So, of those who responded, 47 percent is a majority - a narrow majority, but a majority. As for the idea that 32 percent acknowledged evolution ONLY because an unprovable God guided it - that's a much more narrow assertion than my original suggestion. I suspect that most people in that 32 percent acknowledge evolution because it is scientifically proven, and believe that God guided it because they believe that God guides everything. So their belief in evolution is not contingent upon their belief in God, nor is their belief in God contingent upon their belief in evolution. I have no data to support this, but in the absence of data, that view of the situation must surely be acknowledged to be at least as likely as the idea that people in that 32 percent believe in evolution only because they believe in God.

It's ridiculous that scientific fact only barely squeaks it out over superstition in the most powerful, and certainly should be most educated, nation on the face of the earth. Also, I choose my wording poorly, and going on a five line long rant about the fact that I used the word "only" isn't helpful to the thread.

I'm quite agreed that the margin should be larger, especially in the US. The difference between us, I daresay, is that I don't care about anything beyond that first clause: Humans evolved. I could care less about whether people feel that God is involved in the process. As for the "five-line-rant," here's why I think it is important. Your original argument was that believing in evolution guided by God made you either a bad theist or a bad evolutionist. This is true, if - as you suggested - your belief either in God or in evolution is reliant upon your belief in the other. Hence the importance of "only" in describing people who believe in evolution "only" because they believe that God guided it. My point is that we have no way of knowing whether this accurately describes the views of the people represented in this 32 percent of survey respondents - and therefore it is unfair to say, on the basis of this unverified argument, that they are automatically either bad theists or bad evolutionists. That's why "only" matters; it establishes a relationship of reliance between unconnected beliefs. If that relationship exists, then you are right: these folks are either bad theists or bad evolutionists. If that relationship does not exist, then we're back to non-overlapping magisteria, and they can be both good theists and good evolutionists, simultaneously.

[New Libertarian States]

I currently believe in evolution.

[Divair]

I currently believe on evolution.

You stand on it and believe things?

[AiliailiA]

They vote.

They do, indeed. And I'm not at all happy with Gallup's questions, since they all assume a "God" who may or may not have been involved in the development of humanity but does exist. Gallup was seriously wrong this past autumn on another, even more important question so I'm a little hesitant to accept these numbers at face value.

I'm going to defend Gallup here.

Of course they're not authoritative (no pollsters are) but there are heaps of other pollsters as we saw in the recent US Federal election. Gallup wasn't the most accurate of them by any means, BUT Gallup should just keep doing what they're doing, because there is value in longitudinal study ... asking the same question year after year ... and Gallup have been doing it for a long time.

The pollsters balance of landline/mobile-phone polling is awfully tricky because a lot of people have both and people use them differently.

And I think that between 1982 (in the OP's graph) and the present, a whole lot of people have changed their habits in response to telemarketing, to either not pick up at all from numbers they don't know, or to be suspicious of callers claiming to be conducting a poll. This would affect all pollsters not just Gallup of course.

[Norvenia]

Again, folks, the poll numbers only add up to 93 percent. So 47 percent is actually a majority - by one percentage point, admittedly, but still a majority.

It's a majority in the fact that the number of people who voted for Al Gore were a majority. Only slightly, and it doesn't matter anyway because it's unacceptable that any good number of people choose the other one.

This is, to me, a disturbingly extreme statement. I don't want to put words in your mouth, so correct me if I'm wrong, but is it your belief that the world would be a better place if there were no people who deny evolution?

[Torisakia]

I still wonder if it even matters whether anyone believes in evolution or creationism. We're all here, can't we all just get along?

[Divair]

It's a majority in the fact that the number of people who voted for Al Gore were a majority. Only slightly, and it doesn't matter anyway because it's unacceptable that any good number of people choose the other one.

This is, to me, a disturbingly extreme statement. I don't want to put words in your mouth, so correct me if I'm wrong, but is it your belief that the world would be a better place if there were no people who deny evolution?

I'd be interested to hear if you don't.

[New Densaner]

85% of Americans are ignorant fools. Story at 11.

[Northern Dominus]

Its still called the THEORY of evolution not the fact of evolution.(All im saying on the subject)

And here's the thing about theories: they're readily testable when new evidence is presented.

The theory of evolution has been tested over and over again with breakthroughs in genetics, biochemistry, and other life sciences, and guess what, it's not only been confirmed but understood in greater detail thanks to those breakthroughs.

Apply the same principles to creationism and there's also convincing evidence...if you stand it on its head and get really drunk so you can look at all of it through a haze. Otherwise it really doesn't hold up under pressure.

So yes, evolution is a theory regarding the origin of species and life. And that's a good thing, because with new discoveries and updates, it can be analyzed and applied. The only problem with evolution being a theory is that some people have bastardized the word and refuse to understand the actual meaning and implications of the word theory.

[Divair]

I still wonder if it even matters whether anyone believes in evolution or creationism. We're all here, can't we all just get along?

No.

[Ifreann]

This is, to me, a disturbingly extreme statement. I don't want to put words in your mouth, so correct me if I'm wrong, but is it your belief that the world would be a better place if there were no people who deny evolution?

I'd be interested to hear if you don't.

It would depend why people aren't denying evolution.

[Frisivisia]

It's a majority in the fact that the number of people who voted for Al Gore were a majority. Only slightly, and it doesn't matter anyway because it's unacceptable that any good number of people choose the other one.

This is, to me, a disturbingly extreme statement. I don't want to put words in your mouth, so correct me if I'm wrong, but is it your belief that the world would be a better place if there were no people who deny evolution?

If you're asking me whether we'd be better of if everyone accepted evolution, the answer would be yes. If you're asking whether I'm calling for genocide against those who don't accept evolution, no. Allow the religious to keep their Inquisitions.

[AiliailiA]

I currently believe on evolution.

You stand on it and believe things?

One letter wrong and you're on it.

An I and an O too. Those letters are right beside each other, and a very plausible typographical mistake.

You'll get yours noob