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Happy Birthday Darwin! Only 39% of Americans Believe Your Theory

by Tina Kells | February 12, 2009 at 12:48 pm

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On what would have been Charles Darwin's 200th birthday a Gallup poll of over 1,000 participants revealed that only 39% of Americans believe in his theory of evolution. That means that a full 61% of those polled either do not believe in evolution or have no opinion either way.

Not surprisingly the poll also demonstrated a high correlation between not believing in evolution and church attendance. Only 24% of all American church goers believe in Darwin's theory of evolution.

The demographic data collected in the poll also show a link between a belief in Darwinism and level of education. Only 21% of people with a high school education believed Darwin was correct compared to 74% of postgraduates.

Similar results were found in another study on the American belief in Darwinism conducted by the Pew Research Center.

The Gallup survey, released Wednesday, found a quarter of those polled do not believe in evolution, and 36 percent said they don't have an opinion either way.
Another survey by the Pew Research Center got similar results.

The Gallup poll of 1,018 American adults found strong ties between education level and belief in the theory of evolution.

"Among those with high-school educations or less who have an opinion on Darwin's theory, more say they do not believe in evolution than say they believe in it," Gallup found. "For all other groups, and in particular those who have at least a college degree, belief is significantly higher than nonbelief."

Just 21 percent of respondents who had up to a high school level of education believe in evolution, compared with 74 percent of those with postgraduate degrees.

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Jordan Yerman

at 13:16 on February 12th, 2009

What percentage identified as Pastafarian?

eastvanray

at 14:07 on February 12th, 2009

Here are percentages from 2006 by country. Apparently the only western country with fewer scientific devotees is Turkey.

Belief in Evolution, by Country

Thye exact % are missing but you get the idea.

Roy C

at 19:00 on February 12th, 2009

Yes, but there is a reverse chart as well.

The more extroverted the people, the more the people tend not to see a psyche within themselves.

Who sees psyche sees intent in the universe and, in the absence of great reasoning powers, may choose "not to believe Darwin".

While those who think that the conscious mind is the whole shebang run around watching "X Files" trying to fill in what is missing in a materialist and object-oriented version of the Universe, and have trouble finding a center to themselves outside of the ego.

So, you end up with deconstructionist views of morality, which are inherently contradictory.

Dostoyevsky has it all there in books such as Crime and Punishment.

eastvanray

at 22:14 on February 12th, 2009

Good points to ponder, Roy.

Carmen D.

at 01:22 on February 13th, 2009

It´s sad to see how some modern countries have such polls results.
I must give thanks to Darwin to become "open-mind" people less ignorant. Being a religious man he could see the evidence of nature and science over religion. Brave and intelligent he explain the world who we are and from where we came.

Carmen D. has contributed a photo to this story.

Cecinatrix

at 14:42 on February 13th, 2009

Whatever else you believe, Darwin's work exemplifies the valid use of observation and extrapolation in exploring our relatedness to the world. A theory after all is merely a place to begin and should be open to dissension and controversy.

Cecinatrix has contributed a photo to this story.