Dear John,
Wasn't the "silent majority" argument last used by Nixon, just before he
was forced from office? :-)
To the numbers:
According to an October 2005 poll, a majority (515) of American reject
evolution. Only 15% support it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/22/opinion/polls/main965223.shtml
According to a March 2006 poll, 69% of Americans favor teaching
"intelligent design." 21% favor teaching evolutionary theory only.
http://www.physorg.com/news11504.html
Numbers like these are seen nowhere else in the developed world.
According to an Augsut 2006 international poll, only Turkey had a lower
pct. of the population believing that evolution is true (and that poll
showed an uncharacteristically high US figure of 40%). Iceland, Denmark,
Sweden, France, Japan, UK, Norway, Belgium, Spain, and Germany all had
figures of 80% or higher (if I read the graph correctly).
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060819_evo_rank.html
Global Warming is a little better. As of Nov 2005, 77% think it is
occuring (the other 23% just don't believe the raw data, I guess). Of
those who believe it is occurring, 46% think it is caused by humans
(which is only 35% of the popluation as whole).
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175070,00.html
Regards,
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada
416-736-5115 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo
======================================
John Kulig wrote:
I'd wager a bet that the % of people who ignore evolution and global
warming is reasonably comparable between the UK and the US (my ego is
not involved in such a bet, btw). The right-wingers in the US, in
recent years, have exterted far more political influence than you'd
expect based on the polls. The "genius" of the right wing is in
mobilizing troops, and controlling the debate, and the money. Most
people in the US for instance, support Roe vs Wade, yet the right wing
is opposed, yet they maintained control of the US congress and the
White House in recent years. Same is probably true of environmental
issues (I don't have the data). The fact the right-wing wages such a
vigorous battle against political correctness is because PC has alot
of support. Even now, after such a resonding victory for the
Democrats, they are tip-toeing around the war issue. They can't even
pass a non-binding resolution against the war. But, these are my
perceptions; I'd like to see the data. As Will Rogers once quipped "I
don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat"
-----------------------------
John W. Kulig
Professor of Psychology
Director, Psychology Honors
Plymouth State University
Plymouth NH 03264
-----------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 10:23 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIP
Subject: [tips] BBC NEWS | Education | Whose classroom curriculum is it?
Interesting. The US isn't the only country in the developed world
arguing about what should be taught in publc schools. Of course, the
nature of the debate is rather different in England. Global warming is
considered "basic" material there, rather than suspicious lefty stuff,
and there is no inclination to dump evolutionary theory at all.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6347263.stm
Chris
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada
416-736-5115 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo
======================================
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