US poll find majority of americans dont believe in evolution

[CptStern]

Most Americans do not accept the theory of evolution. Instead, 51 percent of Americans say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved.

:O

so in total 81% of americans believe god had a hand in creating man ...I think that's disporportionately high ..however I cant compare it to my own country becuase I cant find any data ..I'd assume it's much much less because as a whole canadians are not all that spiritual (sure we have pockets here and there but it's usually not very visible)



Poll Results:

God created humans in present form: 51%
Humans evolved, God guided the process: 30%
Humans evolved, God did not guide process: 15%

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/22/opinion/polls/main965223.shtml

 

[15357]

Thats high. Too high. Maybe there will be a time when the US becomes a theocratic state.

 

[Absinthe]

lol evolution frum monkys?!!? tahts so stuped!!! lolllool

 

[DrDevin]

:O

so in total 81% of americans believe god had a hand in creating man ...I think that's disporportionately high ..however I cant compare it to my own country becuase I cant find any data ..I'd assume it's much much less because as a whole canadians are not all that spiritual (sure we have pockets here and there but it's usually not very visible)

I can't find statistics for those questions but

A 2004 BBC poll showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in a God to be about 10%. A 2005 Gallup poll showed that a smaller 5% of the US population believed that a god didn't exist. The 2001 ARIS report found that while 29.5 million U.S. Americans (14.1%) describe themselves as "without religion", only 902,000 (0.4%) positively claim to be atheist, with another 991,000 (0.5%) professing agnosticism.

Atheism is more prevalent in Canada than in the United States. The 2001 Canadian Census states that 16.2% of the population holds no religious affiliation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheist#Distribution_of_atheists

I don't see how you can "not believe" in evolution. That is just outright lying and denial of fact.

Question: I wonder where new viruses and diseases come from? I know! God makes them! Good thing he is benevolent, oh wait.....

 

[Axyon]

Doesn't surprise me, to say the least. It's still disproportionately high for most countries. Sigh.

 

[CptStern]

I can't find statistics for those questions but

A 2004 BBC poll showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in a God to be about 10%. A 2005 Gallup poll showed that a smaller 5% of the US population believed that a god didn't exist. The 2001 ARIS report found that while 29.5 million U.S. Americans (14.1%) describe themselves as "without religion", only 902,000 (0.4%) positively claim to be atheist, with another 991,000 (0.5%) professing agnosticism.

Atheism is more prevalent in Canada than in the United States. The 2001 Canadian Census states that 16.2% of the population holds no religious affiliation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheist#Distribution_of_atheists

I don't see how you can "not believe" in evolution. That is just outright lying and denial of fact.

Question: I wonder where new viruses and diseases come from? I know! God makes them! Good thing he is benevolent, oh wait.....

lol


...16% huh that seems low ;(


"nearly 40% of the New Zealand population has no religious affiliation."


/me packs bags for new zealand

 

[Icarusintel]

Evolution's overrated anyway. Last I checked they still haven't found the missing link, and it's only a theory, not a proven fact.

 

[Axyon]

Evolution's overrated anyway. Last I checked they still haven't found the missing link, and it's only a theory, not a proven fact.

Last I checked, there was absolutely no evidence for the existence of a God, just blind faith, whereas there's a vertitable slew of evidence for evolution. It's not a theory anymore.

 

[Icarusintel]

Last I checked, there was absolutely no evidence for the existence of a God, just blind faith, whereas there's a vertitable slew of evidence for evolution. It's not a theory anymore.

Heh, I'm just playing devil's advocate. I'm a firm believer in evolution.. Either that or this whole world is all in my head. Both of those are fun thoughts though.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Czech Republic is 51% non-religious. GET THE CARAVANS READY HEATHENS, WE'RE GOING TO EASTERN EUROPE .

But this...this poll I really don't know if I can believe. They must've taken the poll in the Bible Belt.

 

[CptStern]

there's plenty of evidence of god ...like Unicorns and fairies ...oh and dont forget those Keebler elves


deusexmachina:

This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 808 adults, interviewed by telephone October 3-5, 2005. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points.

 

[Axyon]

Heh, I'm just playing devil's advocate. I'm a firm believer in evolution.. Either that or this whole world is all in my head. Both of those are fun thoughts though.

Good. I was about to sacrifice you to Zeus. I mean, uh, Darwin.

 

[Absinthe]

and it's only a theory, not a proven fact.

Gravity is a theory. So are plate tectonics.

Evolution is more than just a theory. It's an indisputable explanation of observed facts as well as a central tenet of all modern biological science research. And at the very least, it holds far more credibility than the big man in the sky.

EDIT: Ah, I just read your last post. Never mind.

 

[PvtRyan]

I don't believe in gravity.

I think there's little strings attached to EVERYTHING that connects them to the world. And in the centre of the Earth, there's the Puppetmaster that pulls our strings to the ground so it looks like gravity is pulling us back. All other observations of gravity is lies spread by Nasa.

Seriously, not believeing in evolution? THERE'S NOTHING TO BELIEVE YOU ****S.

 

[Tr0n]

What's the statistics on how many americans can't find america on a world map? Wasn't it 11%? And that's just trying to find the US on a map...

So as you can see I do not doubt those statistics are wrong.

 

[kirovman]

I don't know people try to discredit various science areas by saying it's "Just a theory"
A scientific theory is totally different to that philosphical theory you had whilst drunk down the pub one time.

In scientific usage, a theory does not mean an unsubstantiated guess or hunch, as it often does in other contexts. A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of a related set of natural or social phenomena. It originates from and/or is supported by experimental evidence (see scientific method). In this sense, a theory is a systematic and formalized expression of all previous observations that is predictive, logical and testable.

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

 

[DaMaN]

I don't know people try to discredit various science areas by saying it's "Just a theory"
A scientific theory is totally different to that philosphical theory you had whilst drunk down the pub one time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory

Exactly.

Evolution's overrated anyway. Last I checked they still haven't found the missing link, and it's only a theory, not a proven fact.

Firstly, if you are attempting to prove that the scenerio of evolution is not true based on the missing missing link:

6: Argument From Ignorance:
Claiming that lack of evidence for one scenario is instead evidence for another scenario (without additional evidence for the other scenario) invalidates the claim.

Secondly, Evolution is actually defined as both fact and theory:

The word evolution is used to refer both to a fact and a theory. The existence of these two distinct meanings, and confusion over the relationship between and scientific definitions of fact and theory, have often caused misunderstandings among laypeople about the scientific status of evolution. In common language, the word fact is used to mean simply "something known to be true", but in science the word more specifically means "a confirmed observation". Likewise, while theory often means "speculation" or "conjecture" in nonscientific contexts, its scientific meaning is "a well-supported explanation".

As a fact, evolution is actually a commonplace occurrence that is regularly observed in a variety of forms. For example, evolution occurs whenever a new species of bacterium evolves a resistance to an antibiotic which previously was lethal to that bacterium. Biological organisms change over the course of many generations, as descendants are seen to go through a process of genetic modification that distinguishes them from their ancestors. The modification is most often the result of natural genetic synthesis, and the differential traits manifested may be translated into changes in the genetic composition of the population.

The modern scientific method seeks to formulate testable hypotheses—ideas which can be tested directly through experimentation and analysis of the evidence. After a hypothesis has been found to be consistent, and has held up under extensive testing, it is generally agreed that it represents a justified explanation of the observations, or facts, available: it becomes a theory. It is important to note that even though theories represent the best scientific explanations for observed phenomena, in no case is a scientific theory free from further testing and revision, nor is it necessarily considered a sufficient explanation of the observations to the exclusion of additional testable hypotheses. The same applies to scientific facts: a fact can always be replaced if the observation it is based upon turns out to have been misinterpreted.

In the case of evolution, the observation of organisms evolving, a fact, is explained by a theory of how they evolve. Past theories of evolution have either been refuted (e.g., Lamarckism) or expanded and revised (e.g., Darwinism), so that the modern theory of evolution—that is, the accepted explanation for how evolution occurs—is known as modern evolutionary synthesis. Modern evolutionary synthesis is considered a theory because it has stood up to extensive and repeated testing, and is consistent with all other theories and past observations. The broad scientific consensus is that it is the best explanation that has yet been proposed for the fact of evolution.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution )

-DaMaN

 

[Top Secret]

Polls are bullshit. Error margins are also bullshit. Take AP Calculus with a smart teacher, and they'll teach you ways around error margins. You just have to ask the right 800 people. You people have to understand, especially you Europeans. America isn't like Europe, where there are a couple of miles of farmland and then a big city. People are connected. In the US, there are hundreds upon hundreds of miles of open farmland, and then a small town, then a hundred miles, then a larger city. Those people aren't as in tune with reality. All you have to do is go trotting around the farmlands looking for 800 idiots around the US. Then you CAN say you randomly inquired to 800 Americans around the US. It's all bullshit. Location is everything.

The poll doesn't specifiy for Agnostics. I myself am Agnostic, but I lean towards athiesm. Something tells me if someone said Agnostic, they simply threw them into the God pile, or discounted them. They certainly didn't put them into the "God doesn't exist" pile. Myself, my friends, my friends friends, my family, my friends families, my friends families friends... etc etc. All either agnostic or Athiest.

I won't argue that there aren't a shitload of Church-goers in America, but don't tell me that we only make up 10% of the population. :thumbs:

 

[CptStern]

Polls are bullshit. Error margins are also bullshit. Take AP Calculus with a smart teacher, and they'll teach you ways around error margins. You just have to ask the right 800 people. You people have to understand, especially you Europeans. America isn't like Europe, where there are a couple of miles of farmland and then a big city. People are connected. In the US, there are hundreds upon hundreds of miles of open farmland, and then a small town, then a hundred miles, then a larger city. Those people aren't as in tune with reality. All you have to do is go trotting around the farmlands looking for 800 idiots around the US. Then you CAN say you randomly inquired to 800 Americans around the US. It's all bullshit. Location is everything.

The poll doesn't specifiy for Agnostics. I myself am Agnostic, but I lean towards athiesm. Something tells me if someone said Agnostic, they simply threw them into the God pile, or discounted them. They certainly didn't put them into the "God doesn't exist" pile. Myself, my friends, my friends friends, my family, my friends families, my friends families friends... etc etc. All either agnostic or Athiest.

I won't argue that there aren't a shitload of Church-goers in America, but don't tell me that we only make up 10% of the population. :thumbs:

This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 808 adults, interviewed by telephone October 3-5, 2005. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points.

........

 

[DeusExMachina]

Y axis ftw.

 

[Solaris]

What's the statistics on how many americans can't find america on a world map? Wasn't it 11%? And that's just trying to find the US on a map...

So as you can see I do not doubt those statistics are wrong.

That's why google maps/google earth should start over say... china, so everytime Americans want to use it they have to first relise what America looks like, and then find it!

Edit: Hahaha Top Secret.... A Random sample.... LOL

 

[15357]

Does the United States have some sort of massive brainwashing program that converts people to christianity?

 

[DeusExMachina]

Most countries have one. It's called the Church.

 

[kirovman]

Church here doesn't manage to brainwash us.

Largly because it's underfunded.

 

[DeusExMachina]

That's because Europe is a socialist heathen paradise.

 

[gh0st]

RANDOM samples can still be wrong.

and hell, while we may just be a bunch of bible humping farm boys we're still the most technically advanced nation in the world.

suck it!

oh yea and the richest. its clear who god favors

 

[Majestic XII]

Isnt the USA the most patriotic and religious country in the world?

 

[ComradeBadger]

and hell, while we may just be a bunch of bible humping farm boys we're still the most technically advanced nation in the world.

suck it!

oh yea and the richest. its clear who god favors

Who cares though?

 

[gh0st]

Who cares though?

clearly cptstern cares or he wouldnt have made this thread. im merely pointing out that dispite our religious nature we're still a very good country. i mean US has two worlds....

the city dwelling world
the farm cow-humping world

if you want agnostics like cptstern, or at least non religious types like me, you go to the cities.

if you want to join a cult, you go to the farm world. its really a beautiful thing.

 

[63]

America is not the richest country in the world.

 

[CptStern]

RANDOM samples can still be wrong.

I agree ....within 4 or 5 percentage points

and hell, while we may just be a bunch of bible humping farm boys we're still the most technically advanced nation in the world.

yet despite this you cant seem to find a handful of men with 20 year old weapons hiding in caves

oh yea and the richest. its clear who god favors

clearly god has a sense of humour

 

[MultiVaC]

Time to listen to "The Idiots Are Taking Over" by NoFX.

 

[kirovman]

I prefer being affluent, educated and in the countryside.

Although haven't got to the countryside quite yet.

 

[DaMaN]

oh yea and the richest. its clear who god favors

America is not the richest country in the world.

"Richness" is usually defined as "wealth", and there are many views of the term wealth, including anthropological, global, financial, non-financial, time, and sustainable. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth )

Since there are many who would argue about the U.S.'s anthropological, global, non-financial, time, or sustainable wealth, yet it's largely accepted that the U.S. leads in financial wealth, that's the definition I'll go by.

In terms of GDP purchasing power, the U.S. leads in first place with $12.36 trillion, https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html
But it also comes in at last place with the largest external debt, with $8.837 trillion, https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html which is 2/9ths of total world debt.

So, the United States can certainly out-buy anyone else, but also has more debts than anyone else.

-DaMaN

 

[theotherguy]

I'm not surprised at those figures. Both of my parents and the vast majority of my teachers think evolution is total bs for some reason. Every time something about evolution comes up on the tv my dad is like, "son, you don't beleive that shit do you?" and then I always say, "of course I do. how could I overlook a mathematical fact?" and then he'll get pissed off.

One time in english we had to make a speech on a "controversial topic" and I was randomly assigned evolution. I painstakingly laid out the foundations of natural selection, and made a diagram and a model on the board showing how a bacterium could evolve to become antibiotic resistant. Everyone thought I was crazy, and the english teacher said, "That's just mutation! Evolution has never happened.Why am I not evolving right now? where's the missing link? it's just a theory!" and then everyone basically told me to gtfo, and the teacher said to me after class "you know, people have feelings. I don't like you trampling on my beleifs like that. So please, keep your nonsense about evolution to yourself."

There was another biology class that I had in which the teacher started preaching about how "no man came from monkies." and that everything we had ever learned about evolution was wrong, which for some reason made everyone else euphorically happy, and made me extremely angry.
arg...I hate this area :frown:

 

[Solaris]

I'm not surprised at those figures. Both of my parents and the vast majority of my teachers think evolution is total bs for some reason. Every time something about evolution comes up on the tv my dad is like, "son, you don't beleive that shit do you?" and then I always say, "of course I do. how could I overlook a mathematical fact?" and then he'll get pissed off.

One time in english we had to make a speech on a "controversial topic" and I was randomly assigned evolution. I painstakingly laid out the foundations of natural selection, and made a diagram and a model on the board showing how a bacterium could evolve to become antibiotic resistant. Everyone thought I was crazy, and the english teacher said, "That's just mutation! Evolution has never happened.Why am I not evolving right now? where's the missing link? it's just a theory!" and then everyone basically told me to gtfo, and the teacher said to me after class "you know, people have feelings. I don't like you trampling on my beleifs like that. So please, keep your nonsense about evolution to yourself."

There was another biology class that I had in which the teacher started preaching about how "no man came from monkies." and that everything we had ever learned about evolution was wrong, which for some reason made everyone else euphorically happy, and made me extremely angry.
arg...I hate this area :frown:

Jesus....

Shoot your school up.

 

[DaMaN]

I'm not surprised at those figures. Both of my parents and the vast majority of my teachers think evolution is total bs for some reason. Every time something about evolution comes up on the tv my dad is like, "son, you don't beleive that shit do you?" and then I always say, "of course I do. how could I overlook a mathematical fact?" and then he'll get pissed off.

One time in english we had to make a speech on a "controversial topic" and I was randomly assigned evolution. I painstakingly laid out the foundations of natural selection, and made a diagram and a model on the board showing how a bacterium could evolve to become antibiotic resistant. Everyone thought I was crazy, and the english teacher said, "That's just mutation! Evolution has never happened.Why am I not evolving right now? where's the missing link? it's just a theory!" and then everyone basically told me to gtfo, and the teacher said to me after class "you know, people have feelings. I don't like you trampling on my beleifs like that. So please, keep your nonsense about evolution to yourself."

There was another biology class that I had in which the teacher started preaching about how "no man came from monkies." and that everything we had ever learned about evolution was wrong, which for some reason made everyone else euphorically happy, and made me extremely angry.
arg...I hate this area :frown:

Holy sh*t. That's rediculous! People have no right to treat you like that. Though i'm not sure you can call them people, as they seem to have no brains...

-DaMaN

 

[Majestic XII]

I'm not surprised at those figures. Both of my parents and the vast majority of my teachers think evolution is total bs for some reason. Every time something about evolution comes up on the tv my dad is like, "son, you don't beleive that shit do you?" and then I always say, "of course I do. how could I overlook a mathematical fact?" and then he'll get pissed off.

One time in english we had to make a speech on a "controversial topic" and I was randomly assigned evolution. I painstakingly laid out the foundations of natural selection, and made a diagram and a model on the board showing how a bacterium could evolve to become antibiotic resistant. Everyone thought I was crazy, and the english teacher said, "That's just mutation! Evolution has never happened.Why am I not evolving right now? where's the missing link? it's just a theory!" and then everyone basically told me to gtfo, and the teacher said to me after class "you know, people have feelings. I don't like you trampling on my beleifs like that. So please, keep your nonsense about evolution to yourself."

There was another biology class that I had in which the teacher started preaching about how "no man came from monkies." and that everything we had ever learned about evolution was wrong, which for some reason made everyone else euphorically happy, and made me extremely angry.
arg...I hate this area :frown:

Are you serious? Really?

Holy **** thats messed up. I can't believe it.

No wonder people have a problem with the US sometimes.

 

[Absinthe]

and hell, while we may just be a bunch of bible humping farm boys we're still the most technically advanced nation in the world.

Actually, a lot of our progress in modern science has been slowed down because of all the people who see it as a misleading heathen practice, or because it contradicts their precious faith-based lunacy. Some might even say it's starting to regress.

So while we may be top dog right now, don't expect that position to hold out much longer unless we seriously start putting some idiots in their places.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

Worry not, people. Most of these bible-thumpers are old and will die soon enough.