Darwin's Birthday

I’ve posted a few thoughts on evolution on this blog.  I found this tonight and thought it was pretty interesting.

PRINCETON, NJ — On the eve of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, a new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they “believe in the theory of evolution,” while a quarter say they do not believe in the theory, and another 36% don’t have an opinion either way. These attitudes are strongly related to education and, to an even greater degree, religiosity.

Having grown up with a science teacher for a father, and, while not having done the greatest academically myself in science, I have always been a strong proponent of scientific theory and eduction overall.  That only 39% of people believe in the concept of evolution is not where I’m having a hard time.  It’s that 36% DON’T HAVE AN OPINION either way meaning that they simply don’t care, don’t know, or don’t understand the concept.  The Gallup poll data is an interesting read.

The idea of evolution is very simple.  All species evolved over time from a common ancestor.  I don’t take this to mean that humans evolved from frogs.  I do however take it to mean that humans may have evolved from earlier primates.  I really don’t think that’s a huge leap to make.  The Christianist theories when put in context of their belief structures don’t even begin to make sense, when you start to purport that the world is only thousands of years old when the fossil record proves the existence of species MILLIONS of years ago, it sort of makes that perspective just a bit illogical.

Theories aside, the fact that there is a sizable portion of people who have no opinion on this is significant because it is more reflective of a bigger problem when it comes to science education and understanding.  The world as we understand it today would not exist without science.  The critical thinking skills alone are crucial to the development of the mind and I dare say of the soul.  I find it troubling that such a sizable portion of people don’t have much interest in science.  Sadly, as we continue into the future, a huge number of jobs will be science based (from health care to technology, to space travel).

It behoves all of us who have at least a minimal background in science to help people understand the importance of scientific concepts and how they really do relate to real life.

Now, if only someone could do that for me when it comes to Algebra.