Evolution accepted by majority of Americans

[rogue06]

I guess I could have posted this in Civics as well

Source: Evolution Now Accepted by Majority of Americans

The level of public acceptance of evolution in the United States is now solidly above the halfway mark, according to a new study based on a series of national public opinion surveys conducted over the last 35 years.

“From 1985 to 2010, there was a statistical dead heat between acceptance and rejection of evolution,” said lead researcher Jon D. Miller of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. “But acceptance then surged, becoming the majority position in 2016.”

Examining data over 35 years, the study consistently identified aspects of education—civic science literacy, taking college courses in science, and having a college degree—as the strongest factors leading to the acceptance of evolution.

“Almost twice as many Americans held a college degree in 2018 as in 1988,” said co-author Mark Ackerman, a researcher at Michigan Engineering, the U-M School of Information and Michigan Medicine. “It’s hard to earn a college degree without acquiring at least a little respect for the success of science.”

The researchers analyzed a collection of biennial surveys from the National Science Board, several national surveys funded by units of the National Science Foundations, and a series focused on adult civic literacy funded by NASA. Beginning in 1985, these national samples of U.S. adults were asked to agree or disagree with this statement: “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.”

The series of surveys showed that Americans were evenly divided on the question of evolution from 1985 to 2007. According to a 2005 study of the acceptance of evolution in 34 developed nations, led by Miller, only Turkey, at 27%, scored lower than the United States. But over the last decade, until 2019, the percentage of American adults who agreed with this statement increased from 40% to 54%.

The current study consistently identified religious fundamentalism as the strongest factor leading to the rejection of evolution. While their numbers declined slightly in the last decade, approximately 30% of Americans continue to be religious fundamentalists as defined in the study. But even those who scored highest on the scale of religious fundamentalism shifted toward acceptance of evolution, rising from 8% in 1988 to 32% in 2019.

Miller predicted that religious fundamentalism would continue to impede the public acceptance of evolution.

“Such beliefs are not only tenacious but also, increasingly, politicized,” he said, citing a widening gap between Republican and Democratic acceptance of evolution.

As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats.

The study is published in the journal Public Understanding of Science.



Source

© Copyright Original Source

And the abstract from the paper, Public acceptance of evolution in the United States, 1985–2020 can be read below:

Abstract

The public acceptance of evolution in the United States is a long-standing problem. Using data from a series of national surveys collected over the last 35 years, we find that the level of public acceptance of evolution has increased in the last decade after at least two decades in which the public was nearly evenly divided on the issue. A structural equation model indicates that increasing enrollment in baccalaureate-level programs, exposure to college-level science courses, a declining level of religious fundamentalism, and a rising level of civic scientific literacy are responsible for the increased level of public acceptance.

The poll that had typically shown the split being close to even over the years has been the Gallup poll, which has been long criticized for limiting the choices offered (Humans evolved with God guiding; Humans evolved but God had no part in the process; and God created humans in present form) forcing those asked to pick a category they might not agree with. When other polls (PEW for one IIRC), added responses like... I don't know/unsure, and the results were starkly different. The main effect was in the God created humans in present form group (anti-evolution), which shrank substantially.

IOW, the majority of Americans have accepted evolution for several years now which can be seen even in the Gallup polls if you bother to combine the first two categories (those that think it was God-driven and those that think it was entirely a "natural" materialistic process). Combined that number has been over 50% for roughly the last decade and a half.

[mossrose]

Doesn’t make it true.

[rogue06]

So is atheism.

The last survey that I'm aware of was by PEW in 2018-19 and found that only 4% of Americans identify as atheists. That's well short of even a tenth of half.


And you're right. Majority support does not make something true.

[mossrose]

The last survey that I'm aware of was by PEW in 2018-19 and found that only 4% of Americans identify as atheists. That's well short of even a tenth of half.


And you're right. Majority support does not make something true.

And that’s all I’ll say on the matter, cuz I loves ya.

[tabibito]

And that’s all I’ll say on the matter, cuz I loves ya.

But ... But ...

The herd is always right. Just ask any lemming.

[rogue06]

But ... But ...

The herd is always right. Just ask any lemming.

You do know that is a myth right? Based on a Disney program where they couldn't get the lemmings to run off a cliff so they used snow shovels to push them off.

[tabibito]

You do know that is a myth right? Based on a Disney program where they couldn't get the lemmings to run off a cliff so they used snow shovels to push them off.

You're allowing facts to mess with the narrative.
(If I remember rightly, the myth predates the Disney deception by quite a margin.)

[rogue06]

You're allowing facts to mess with the narrative.
(If I remember rightly, the myth predates the Disney deception by quite a margin.)

Which was why the Disney producers were expecting them to run off the side of the cliff. FWIU, the myth's wide spread acceptance today is typically credited to Disney.


And since this thread is about the growing acceptance of evolution, I'll use this to sege us back toward that from lemmings jumping off cliffs -- On the origin of the Norwegian lemming smiley smug.gif

[tabibito]

Which was why the Disney producers were expecting them to run off the side of the cliff. FWIU, the myth's wide spread acceptance today is typically credited to Disney.


And since this thread is about the growing acceptance of evolution, I'll use this to sege us back toward that from lemmings jumping off cliffs -- On the origin of the Norwegian lemming smiley smug.gif

segue

Percentage of population here that accept the story of God
creating humans (de novo) is something like 3% (which is good.)
creating the cosmos is around 25%. (unsatisfactorily low .)

[tabibito]

Percentage of population here that accept the story of God
creating humans (de novo) is something like 3% (which is good.)
creating the cosmos is around 25%. (unsatisfactorily low .)

And accepting evolution - a pitiful 72%. I had expected at least 85%

[Cow Poke]

You're allowing facts to mess with the narrative.
(If I remember rightly, the myth predates the Disney deception by quite a margin.)

If I recall, it goes back to the 17th century. I think ThunderFart Rogue was just showing that Disney couldn't replicate the alleged mass suicide.

Pay no attention to Rogue - he doesn't even believe Santa Clause is real. (the Easter Bunny told him that)

[rogue06]

If I recall, it goes back to the 17th century. I think ThunderFart Rogue was just showing that Disney couldn't replicate the alleged mass suicide.

Pay no attention to Rogue - he doesn't even believe Santa Clause is real. (the Easter Bunny told him that)

G'day brudder.

I see that your avatar has evolved again.

[Cow Poke]

G'day brudder.

I see that your avatar has evolved again.

How does that happen?

[rogue06]

How does that happen?

In your case I figure genetic drift such I can't comprehend nuttin' selecting for it -- especially sexual selection (what about half of Darwin's second major book on evolution was concerned with)

[tabibito]

In your case I figure genetic drift such I can't comprehend nuttin' selecting for it -- especially sexual selection (what about half of Darwin's second major book on evolution was concerned with)

Maybe its a HeLavitar