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Public acceptance of evolution around the world.

livescience.com — Well, I didn't know so many people didn't accept evolution as a fact.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 21, 2008

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  • darkzealot89, on 04/21/2008, -23/+1166We are beating Turkey! USA! USA! USA!
  • trunkster, on 04/21/2008, -14/+475hmm.. very appropriate colors
  • CrazedLeper, on 04/21/2008, -56/+466USA: #1 in obesity
    USA: #1 in gun deaths
    USA: #1 in consumption
    USA: #1 in prisoners
    USA: #1 in debt
    USA: #1 in WMDs
    USA: #1 in massive government deceptions
    USA: #1 in stupidity

    Popular does not equal correct
    Popular does not equal true
    Popular does not equal good
  • Agger, on 04/21/2008, -23/+335I'm really embarrassed for the 20% of my fellow Swedes... I'm moving to Iceland
  • Scottievm, on 04/21/2008, -4/+219I feel I have to say this as a Turkish person that was educated in the United States. A large chunk of the Turkish public lacks the education on the subject to make a proper judgement on evolution. Whereas in the U.S., even though the education system is far from perfect, the majority of the public have had sufficient exposure to the subject so that they are willingly choosing to disbelieve evolutionary theory, even though they have been told repeatedly that it is almost irrefutable.
  • bherring, on 04/21/2008, -8/+188Evolution, hell most of us American's don't even accept thermodynamics. ("Ain't no one gonna tell me I can't build no petule motion machine!") We don't have a problem with atomic theory, but only when it can be applied building bombs to nuke our enemies, not when those same concepts support the validity of carbon dating. From the way a lot of folks drive their 4x4s on an icy road, they don't accept the basic principals of momentum and friction either.
  • orangedude, on 04/21/2008, -19/+186Where's Canada? I know we're doing a lot better than US, but how much?
  • oo7evan, on 04/21/2008, -12/+162This makes the Flying Spaghetti Monster sad.
  • diggstown, on 04/21/2008, -4/+152Wow! They got the entire population of Luxembourg to vote in this.
  • gordonj, on 04/21/2008, -10/+155It would be interesting to know where many of the Islamic countries fall on this chart. Turkey is the only islamic nation on the chart although it is a secular islamic country. My guess would be that they would generally fall in at the bottom (with the US and turkey) demonstrating the similarities in religious thought between america and islamic countries.
  • mellomeh, on 04/21/2008, -10/+150It comes as no surprise that most of the countries towards the top of this chart also have the highest standards of living in the world.
  • Apokalyps2547, on 04/21/2008, -23/+155Dugg for "acceptance" of evolution and not "belief". Too many people are like "Do you believe in evolution?" No. "It's do you accept the truth or bury your head in the sand?"
  • 55mph, on 04/21/2008, -16/+128US voters are a Politicians wet dream. Obama had it right. Guns and Religion.
  • loulan, on 04/21/2008, -2/+109According to a 2001 Gallup poll,[63] about 45% of Americans believe that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so." Another 37% believe that "Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process."[64] Only 14% believe that "human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process."[63]

    Belief in creationism is inversely correlated to education; of those with post-graduate degrees, 74% believe in evolution.[65][66] A poll in the year 2000 done for People for the American Way found 70% of the American public felt that evolution was compatible with a belief in God.[67].

    In 1987, Newsweek reported: "By one count there are some 700 scientists with respectable academic credentials (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence to creation-science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve but appeared 'abruptly.'"[68][69]

    In 2000, a poll by People For the American Way[67] estimated that:
    20% of Americans believe public schools should teach evolution only;
    17% of Americans believe that only evolution should be taught in science classes—religious explanations should be taught in another class;
    29% of Americans believe that Creationism should be discussed in science class as a 'belief,' not a scientific theory;
    13% of Americans believe that Creationism and evolution should be taught as 'scientific theories' in science class;
    16% of Americans believe that only Creationism should be taught;

    According to a study published in Science, between 1985 and 2005 the number of adult Americans who accept evolution declined from 45% to 40%, the number of adults who reject evolution declined from 48% to 39% and the number of people who were unsure increased from 7% to 21%. Besides the United States the study also compared data from 32 European countries, Turkey, and Japan. The only country where acceptance of evolution was lower than in the United States was Turkey (25%).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism#Prevalenc ...
  • spyd3rweb, on 04/21/2008, -5/+96Somehow I knew the US was near the bottom before even looking...
  • inactive, on 04/21/2008, -36/+119W00T!!!

    The US is only the 2nd most retard-filled country in the world!!!!!

    WE WIN!!!
  • jonmlm, on 04/21/2008, -10/+89embarrassing.
  • inactive, on 04/21/2008, -3/+82Where Canada?
  • Cimlite, on 04/21/2008, -6/+82Yes, damn straight... say it like you mean it or it's waterboarding time.
  • Sornos, on 04/21/2008, -15/+88There is no way to prove it either. It comes down to the invisible garage dragons. I have invisible incorporeal dragon in my garage. You can't sense it in anyway, but I know it is there. Can you prove me wrong? It is unscientific and illogical to make unprovable statements. They bring you no where.
  • inactive, on 04/21/2008, -16/+85White Trash is a real problem here in America.
  • omnithought, on 04/21/2008, -5/+69It's both, actually. Evolution is a fact and natural selection is the main theory of how it works. You've also got to understand the scientific use of the word "theory", which includes evidence to back it and does not include just pulling it out of one's ass.
  • 1gunners4, on 04/21/2008, -8/+68My thoughts exactly.

    This graph makes me a saaaaad panda.
  • darkism, on 04/21/2008, -4/+61Excellent point; give this man a gold star.
  • smacksaw, on 04/21/2008, -2/+59Why is Finland low in comparison to the Nordic countries? Do they not like pasta in Finland?
  • Sinai, on 04/21/2008, -12/+68Basing major decisions in life around self-contradictory beliefs and delusions is generally considered crazy, yes.
  • dragonglass4096, on 04/21/2008, -14/+70Here is the full article (from Science) :

    http://richarddawkins.net/article,706,Public-Accep ...
  • tillerman00, on 04/21/2008, -3/+58Hey, why don't you c'mon over to the States instead? Obviously we're hurting pretty ***** bad over here for people with logic and common sense.

    Actually, you should stay put. I'll come there.
  • mountvale, on 04/21/2008, -8/+58Well listen here friend, the world certainly does care about Canada.
  • dragonglass4096, on 04/21/2008, -1/+49Sorry, digg butchered my link :
    http://richarddawkins.net/article,706,Public-Accep ...
  • shoover, on 04/21/2008, -10/+55India? China? Canada? Australia? Is someone cherry picking their countries to make a point or did they just completely miss the boat?
  • zmigliozzi, on 04/21/2008, -5/+49USA: #1 in massive government deceptions
    Not sure about that, Russia, North Korea, China are pretty bad.
  • dtreichler, on 04/21/2008, -7/+50I'm not your friend, buddy.
  • archcvd, on 04/21/2008, -6/+48I'm not your buddy, guy!
  • geoff1210, on 04/21/2008, -8/+49All I saw was:
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
    USA: #1
  • sKiLLa182, on 04/21/2008, -9/+50Actually, USA isn't close to #1 in Freedom. Canada has held #1 longer than any other country, though. However we haven't been #1 in while.
  • Stavrosian, on 04/21/2008, -6/+47So that's why mums go to Iceland...
  • KaiUno, on 04/21/2008, -5/+46I'm not your guy, friend!
  • NightVortez, on 04/21/2008, -5/+45Oh man, by this time I wouldn't be surprised if Russia has surpassed us freedom.
  • oldhick, on 04/21/2008, -14/+53So kill people that think differently than you? How is their belief hurting you? No one is making you believe anything. You people are so disgusting. I could care less what the world thinks on evolution. They have the right to believe whatever they want.
  • voodoochilli, on 04/21/2008, -6/+43So thats what the Patriot act is all about - freedom? Thats why your government knows what books you have got from the library - what websites you visit? Seems to me America has had most of its freedom stolen from its people in the last 8 or so years. I also find it amusing that you care about being number 1 so much. Its a phrase I hear all too often "We're number 1!"

    Keep saying it and it might come true.
  • Harabeck, on 04/21/2008, -3/+39Evolution occurs, it is a fact. The fossil record, all of biology, and all of biochemistry back it up. The theory of evolution explains how it works, natural selection, mutations etc.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL5GotAVN58
  • Aensland, on 04/21/2008, -3/+39I don't know about the middle east, but here in southeast asia (secular islamic governments) religious studies have their own class timeslots. I lecture different subjects, but from what I've seen of the science textbooks and supplementary material there's no religious mumbo-jumbo in there. I have seen quotations from religious texts about God and Adam and Eve, but from everything I've seen and heard the students take that metaphorically, not literally.
    Besides, unlike the middle east these are plural societies, so they have to take into account the differing religious sensitivities. The compromise? In school science is science, religious studies are divided between islamic studies for the muslims and "moral studies" (basic ethics classes actually, nothing religious here) for the rest. Sure, there are specialist islamic schools, for those who wish to memorise the holy book, become religious teachers etc (who typically end up going to the world-famous Al-Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt), but those are specifically designated religious schools. The general public, even muslims, are free to just go to ordinary basic public schools if they wish.
    As far as I know... there is nothing here on the order of "creationism" or "intelligent design" like in America. Science is science, religion is religion. If a schoolkid learns something apparently contradictory in religious class, they simply think of them as metaphors, and memorise them for regurgitation later during examinations (asian societies, if you've noticed, are quite exam-centric).
    Well, what do I know, I'm just a well-travelled gwailo.
  • mattbeetee, on 04/21/2008, -8/+42This, along with the sexy ladies and volcanoes, is why I'm moving to Iceland.
  • Hraes, on 04/21/2008, -2/+35Yeah, those damn yellow people, always equivocating. Wait, what did I just say?
  • inactive, on 04/21/2008, -1/+33There's definitely multiple kinds of ignorance. Ignorance because you haven't been exposed to evidence is a lot less worse than ignorance because you refuse to accept evidence.
  • talonstriker, on 04/21/2008, -3/+35@Ockneil, I've got news for you too....No one ever accused the world of being sane :)
  • CrazedLeper, on 04/21/2008, -7/+39Like I said, "#1 in stupidity". Free with an asterisk is not free. Maybe you should read the "patriot" act again.
  • mountvale, on 04/21/2008, -2/+32DUGG for first ever use of the word "petticoats" in a comment on DIGG.
  • inactive, on 04/21/2008, -11/+40Seeing invisible men in the sky? Ya, thats my definition of crazy...
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