But did they drive cars with their feet?

by wili_hybrid

Meet the Flintstones | The Texas Tribune
[Via The Texas Tribune]

Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

[More]

These sorts of polls are so depressing. But first, take the stuff about what certain followers of certain politicians feel with a grain of salt. Looking at the actual data, you are looking at too small a cohort to give numbers without really big error bars. The most popular Democrat had only 131 people in the poll while the most popular Republican had 164. Besides, much larger polls have found that a majority of Republicans do not think evolution is true while a majority of Democrats and Independents do. Nothing new here.

Even the total number polled, 800 people, is a little light but should still give numbers to be examined.

Lets look at the total numbers.

Only 35% believe that humans developed from earlier species. As many people think that human beings developed over millions of year as those who believe they were created by God 10,000 years ago.

Only 41% of the people know that humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time. In fact, a whopping 30% actually do not know the answer to the question.

And here is an interesting factoid. About the same percentage of people feel that both Man (12%) and animals (15%) evolved without the hand of God. They are consistent. No God, Same process for both Man and animals.

But this is very different when God is involved. For Man, 38% think that Man evolved over millions of years but that God was involved and 38% believe Man was created by God in our present form. Same percentage believe in evolution as in Young Earth, special creation. Not a great number but a start.

For animals, the percentage drops to 22% believing that animals have always existed in their present form and 53% thinking that animals evolved through natural selection but with a hand from God. So a majority believes that animals evolved and were not specially created.

Therefore, a sizable portion of the public in Texas (about 16%) thinks that animals evolved through natural selection just like Darwin said but that mankind is special and has never evolved. These are the ones who switched their votes and were not constant between their views, depending on whether Man was involved or animals.

Not only do some think that dinosaurs and man lived at the same time, there are people who believe that Man has arrived here from a totally different process than all other animals!

These sorts of numbers have consistently been found in the South and the Midwest, where a plurality does not believe in evolution, especially with respect to Man. Only in the Northeast and the West do solid majorities believe in evolution, see natural selection as proven and see common descent of Man and animals.

So, large parts of the country, majorities get the answers correct. I’ve always wondered why other parts, particularly the South, get it so wrong. I think the major reason may be less education attained. The South has some of the worst education systems in the country and education level accounts for a large part of the differences in evolution thought.  Only 32% of those with a High School education or less thinking that Man developed from other animals. For people with postgraduate education, this rose to 60%.

Why do we let this state which will be determining what science textbooks students in the rest of the country get to use!? I used to live there and I still do not know. I thought we fixed it one time but the Know-Nothings are back in charge.