Evolution and mystery
The same week the European Organization for Nuclear Research announced the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle—which may be the missing puzzle piece for physics’ theory of everything—we also learned that some 46 percent of poll respondents hold “creationist views of human origins.” I might not be as incensed as Katha Pollitt is, but I’m distressed by this poll. Pollitt points toward the further findings and implications that have me squirming in my seat:
The proportion of college graduates who are creationists is exactly the same as for the general public. That’s right: forty-six percent of Americans with sixteen long years of education under their belt believe the story of Adam and Eve is literally true. Even twenty-five percent of Americans with graduate degrees believe dinosaurs and humans romped together before Noah’s flood.
She writes that her husband, a sociologist, contends that these questions are more about identity than actual statements of belief. But this doesn’t calm her.
