Study reveals that at least 39% of Americans are idiots - GoFuckYourself.com

Libertine · 08-17-2006, 02:16 PM

Also, there seem to be relatively fewer idiots in Europe than in the United States.

Quote:

Why doesn't America believe in evolution?
Jeff Hecht

Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals: true or false? This simple question is splitting America apart, with a growing proportion thinking that we did not descend from an ancestral ape. A survey of 32 European countries, the US and Japan has revealed that only Turkey is less willing than the US to accept evolution as fact.

Religious fundamentalism, bitter partisan politics and poor science education have all contributed to this denial of evolution in the US, says Jon Miller of Michigan State University in East Lansing, who conducted the survey with his colleagues. "The US is the only country in which [the teaching of evolution] has been politicised," he says. "Republicans have clearly adopted this as one of their wedge issues. In most of the world, this is a non-issue."

Miller's report makes for grim reading for adherents of evolutionary theory. Even though the average American has more years of education than when Miller began his surveys 20 years ago, the percentage of people in the country who accept the idea of evolution has declined from 45 in 1985 to 40 in 2005 (Science, vol 313, p 765). That's despite a series of widely publicised advances in genetics, including genetic sequencing, which shows strong overlap of the human genome with those of chimpanzees and mice. "We don't seem to be going in the right direction," Miller says.

There is some cause for hope. Team member Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California, finds solace in the finding that the percentage of adults overtly rejecting evolution has dropped from 48 to 39 in the same time. Meanwhile the fraction of Americans unsure about evolution has soared, from 7 per cent in 1985 to 21 per cent last year. "That is a group of people that can be reached," says Scott.

The main opposition to evolution comes from fundamentalist Christians, who are much more abundant in the US than in Europe. While Catholics, European Protestants and so-called mainstream US Protestants consider the biblical account of creation as a metaphor, fundamentalists take the Bible literally, leading them to believe that the Earth and humans were created only 6000 years ago.

Ironically, the separation of church and state laid down in the US constitution contributes to the tension. In Catholic schools, both evolution and the strict biblical version of human beginnings can be taught. A court ban on teaching creationism in public schools, however, means pupils can only be taught evolution, which angers fundamentalists, and triggers local battles over evolution.

These battles can take place because the US lacks a national curriculum of the sort common in European countries. However, the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind act is instituting standards for science teaching, and the battles of what they should be has now spread to the state level.

Miller thinks more genetics should be on the syllabus to reinforce the idea of evolution. American adults may be harder to reach: nearly two-thirds don't agree that more than half of human genes are common to chimpanzees. How would these people respond when told that humans and chimps share 99 per cent of their genes?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125653.700

JD · 08-17-2006, 02:17 PM

i guess Sleazy was right....

EdgeXXX · 08-17-2006, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Study reveals that at least 39% of Americans are idiots

That is complete BULLSHIT!!!

I say it's more like 85-90%...

=^..^= · 08-17-2006, 02:19 PM

Jon Miller of Michigan State University in East Lansing,

Just PROVES americans are idiots - an american did the study and he got it wrong!

99% of americans are idiots!!

.. .j/k ;)

Libertine · 08-17-2006, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdgeXXX

That is complete BULLSHIT!!!

I say it's more like 85-90%...

Hey, I said "at least"

fris · 08-17-2006, 02:21 PM

how many of that % are on gfy

MediaGuy · 08-17-2006, 02:23 PM

lol - I'm not even reading the thread, the title was my biggest laugh all day - thanks whoever lol

Trixie · 08-17-2006, 02:24 PM

GFY is where American idiots and their European counterparts bridge the cultural gap, united by more common denominators (aforementioned idiocy).

woj · 08-17-2006, 02:36 PM

that number seems pretty low :-/

08-17-2006, 02:19 PM	#4
=^..^= Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: ICQ 380-366 Posts: 6,935	Jon Miller of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Just PROVES americans are idiots - an american did the study and he got it wrong! 99% of americans are idiots!! .. .j/k ;) __________________ #RememberYourRoots #AaronMForGFYHOF

08-17-2006, 02:21 PM	#6
fris Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 55,372	how many of that % are on gfy __________________ Since 1999: 69 Adult Industry awards for Best Hosting Company and professional excellence. WP Stuff

08-17-2006, 02:23 PM	#7
MediaGuy Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Montrealquebecanada Posts: 5,500	lol - I'm not even reading the thread, the title was my biggest laugh all day - thanks whoever lol __________________ YOU Are Industry News! Press Releases: pr[at]payoutmag.com Facebook: Payout Magazine! Facebook: MIKEB! ICQ: 248843947 Skype: Mediaguy1

08-17-2006, 02:24 PM	#8
Trixie Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: near Seattle, WA Posts: 1,850	GFY is where American idiots and their European counterparts bridge the cultural gap, united by more common denominators (aforementioned idiocy). __________________ WebWhoreBucks: Girls, a guy and a tranny -- unique indie porn!

08-17-2006, 02:36 PM	#9
woj <&(©¿©)&> Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Chicago Posts: 47,882	that number seems pretty low :-/ __________________ Custom Software Development, email: woj#at#wojfun#.#com to discuss details or skype: wojl2000 or gchat: wojfun or telegram: wojl2000 Affiliate program tools: Hosted Galleries Manager Banner Manager Video Manager Wordpress Affiliate Plugin Pic/Movie of the Day Fansign Generator Zip Manager

08-17-2006, 02:17 PM	#2
JD Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 22,651	i guess Sleazy was right....