The Political Polarization of Evolution

Another interesting survey from Pew Research:

According to a new Pew Research Center analysis, six-in-ten Americans (60%) say that “humans and other living things have evolved over time,” while a third (33%) reject the idea of evolution, saying that “humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.” […]

There also are sizable differences by party affiliation in beliefs about evolution, and the gap between Republicans and Democrats has grown. In 2009, 54% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats said humans have evolved over time, a difference of 10 percentage points. Today, 43% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats say humans have evolved, a 24-point gap.

Not a new topic, but four years is a short time for change like this. And think about the consequences of this — we have a two-party system in which the majority of one party believes “humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time”.

Correction: It’s not quite a majority of Republicans — 48 percent — who believe that. But only 43 percent believe in evolution, so it is a plurality, outside the margin of error for the poll. And the trend is clear — just four years ago, 54 percent of Republicans believed in evolution and only 39 percent believed this “existed in their present form since the beginning of time” nonsense.

★ Monday, 30 December 2013