By Slugsie, on March 2nd, 2009Today Theos, an Theology think tank, have published the results of a survey carried out into UK public opinion on evolution and human origins. The results make for some interesting – if occasionally disturbing – reading.
That fact that only a slim majority (54%) know that Charles Darwin was the author of The Origin of Species is barely acceptable, and shows that the British public is woefully uneducated on even the most important theories of science – of which evolution is but one. Other revelations from the survey include the fact that while only 15% understood that Darwin was an Agnostic another roughly 20% each thought he was an Atheist or a Christian. That beds the question of what the remaining 45%(!) thought he believed.
Two thirds of the UK population seem to believe in evolution, although nearly a quarter think that God is behind evolution. There are still however 17% who are essentially Young Earth Creationists.
You can read the full release here, with a look at the figures here.
It would be interesting to get a hold of some actual numbers, and see how the figures break down by age, sex, and location etc.
*edit*
There is a PDF file linked on the second page I linked above that looks more closely at the figures. I’m be looking through that to see if I can spot any gems.
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Let’s all say it together: the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together,the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together, the unbelievably complex human body came from stuff bumping together… Isn’t that the trick, just keep saying it and eventually it becomes believable?
Nope, that’s not how it becomes believable. The unbelievably complex human body came from a slightly less complex body, which came from a slightly less complex body, which came from a slightly less complex body … etc
NB, this comment was initially caught by my spam filters. I decided to let it through with only a slight alteration (I removed the link to a website) because it was virtually on-topic and relevant.
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