Americans still have a difficult relationship with science, medicine, and sometimes reality. However, a review of annual surveys between 1985 and 2019 shows some encouraging news: More than half of those surveyed believed in evolution. This is a victory, I think.
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The Scopes trial in 1925 was almost a century old. It pitted a science teacher against his curriculum, which included evolutionary theory, and the state of Tennessee. They had banned the subject from schools due to concerns that it would contradict the Bible's creation story. Natural selection is the theory that living organisms adapt to changing environments over time through evolution. Charles Darwin, a naturalist, observed such adaptations in the Galapagos Islands finches' beaks and documented them. Humans have evolved over time like all living things. This is why some people seem to be most concerned about it.
Over the years, more Americans have accepted evolution through natural selection as the driving force behind life on Earth. Although the split was not clear for a while, it was almost half-and-half. However, a University of Michigan study has shown that deniers are now in the minority. Public Understanding of Science published this week a paper that examined opinions about evolution from public opinion surveys since 1985. The paper found that Americans have been embracing Darwin's theory of evolution in a new surge.
Jon D. Miller, a University of Michigan researcher who studies public understanding of science at The Institute for Social Research at The University of Michigan, stated that there was a statistical deadlock between acceptance and rejection of evolutionary theory from 1985 to 2010. This was stated in a university press release. However, acceptance grew and was the dominant position in 2016.
The National Science Board, NASA and its subsidiaries conducted the surveys. They asked American adults to respond to the following statement: Human beings as we know them today evolved from earlier species of animals. However, 54% of respondents to the survey agreed with the statement in 2019.
Some people who were once skeptical of the idea of evolution are now open to it in a world filled with misinformation, distrust and foolishness. Perhaps it's because the denialists are now interested in hotter topics such as climate change and covid-19. Evolution may be old news.
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Despite the fact that the number of participants who identify as religious fundamentalists has declined over the past decade, the research team discovered that even these individuals are beginning to change. Only 8% of self-described fundamentalists believed in evolution in 1988. In 2019, 32%.
Mark Ackerman, co-author of the study, noted that nearly twice as many Americans have a college degree in 2018 than 1988. While that may be a factor, the real reason is political. Only 34% of those who identified themselves as conservative Republicans said that they accept evolution in 2019, while 83% of those who identified themselves as liberal Democrats said the same.
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