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Disbelief in human evolution linked to greater prejudice and racism
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Archeopteryx: [QB] Once a Christian world view and explanations derived from the Bible was considered common knowledge also among scientists here in the West. In the early 1800s for example many geological features in Northern and Central Europe were interpreted as effects of the great flood. But gradually a reinterpretation of these features led first amateur scientists, and later professional scientists to realize that such features were most probably created by ice, big glaciers that once covered much larger areas than today. But it still took nearly 50 years before theories about one or many ice ages were accepted. In the early 1900s geologists still had no good explanations on how mountains were formed, or why certain fossils were distributed in a certain way. There were some who noticed that the shape of continents fit into each other but one did not make so much of it. It was first when Alfred Wegener presented his ideas about continental drift and how all the continents once sat together, but then drifted apart that several geological phenomena seemed understandable. But it took until the 1960s and even later before geologists had accepted that the continents were moving and, moreover, began to understand how it happened. This led to the theories of plate tectonics that are prevalent today. The theory of evolution also faced fierce resistance at the beginning both among biologists and among laymen. Gradually, the scientific community in the relevant sciences has accepted it, but there is still resistance among laymen and within some religious organizations. Other religious organisations have accepted evolution as an idea even if some say that it is governed by a deity. It is interesting that the theory of evolution has met more resistance and become more debated also outside the guilds of professional sciencists than many other scientific theories. For example not many question the theories of gravitation or relativity. One does not hear so many complaints today about the teachings of plate tectonics (except among some young Earth creationists) or about Big bang theory or more fuzzy theories about quantum mechanics, or string theory and similar. These theories seem not to engage people in the same way as the theory of evolution does. Probably is it because we feel that evolution concerns us on a deeper personal plan. After all it deals with our whole identity, where we came from and who our ancestors were. And it also collides with some peoples religious beliefs in a more direct way than many other scientific theories. On top of that it (or rather corruptions of it) has been used for political purposes, and different moralic aspects have been read into it. One can also mention (as been touched upon already) that evolutionary thoughts had existed already in ancient Greece, in ancient India and among medieval Muslim thinkers so the idea was not totally new when people like Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, Erasmus Darwin and later Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin put forward their evolutionary ideas. Today there are in many cases a rift between religion and science. But not too long ago many scientists were religious, and some were even monks and priests like Gregor Mendel, William Buckland or Armand David just to mention a couple. Even Charles Darwin himself was a Christian even if some events made him loose his faith in later days. -------- Polls like the one in the OP can never give a complete picture of people's beliefs or worldview. It is difficult to know how representative it is, i.e. who has been asked. And how are the questions asked? Are the questions leading? If they were asked in a different way, would the result give a different picture of people's perception? How much do the respondents really know about the subject they are asked about, i.e. in this case about the theory of evolution? Polls like this can just give a rough estimate of people's thoughts on a certain topic. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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