U.S. 'out on a limb by ourselves' in evolution rejection, Jon Miller tells AAAS

Americans do embrace science and technology, says Jon D. Miller of Northwestern University--with the notable exception of evolution.

Miller and his colleagues, and others before them, have carried out formal surveys over the years that continue to demonstrate a strong belief in the promise of science to make our lives healthier, easier, and more comfortable. In that regard, says Miller, "There's a high amount of support for science and technology." Ninety-two percent of adults, for instance, when asked, "Is the world better off or worse off because of science?" answer yes. Eighty-eight percent expressed the same view after Sputnik fifty years earlier.

But reservations about the pace of change brought about by science and conflicts with traditional religious beliefs trouble large proportions of the public. Fifty percent agree that "we depend too much on science and not enough on faith," for instance.

It's when you get specifically to evolution-related issues that the trouble begins in the U.S., Miller said. To the question, "Human beings ... developed from earlier species of animals," those answering "accept" have declined from 45 to 40 percent in the past twenty years. Those who "disagree" declined even more, but those who are "not sure" increased dramatically, from 7 percent in 1985 to 21 percent in 2005.

If you add the adjective "definitely" before each question, only 12 percent say evolution is definitely true, and 32 percent say evolution is definitely not true, Miller reported in the "Science Under Attack" session at the AAAS meeting.

"The roughly even division of the American public on evolution is disappointing," he told the AAAS audience.

The distrust of evolution is almost entirely an American phenomenon. "We are out on a limb by ourselves," Miller says.

Polls in thirty-four countries about acceptance of evolution show the United States virtually at the bottom. Only Turkey--which has its own brand of Muslim creationism, Miller pointed out--shows lower rates of acceptance of evolution. Eighty percent or more of adults in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and France accept evolution, Miller reported. Japan, Britain, Norway, Belgium, Spain, and Germany all have better than 70 percent acceptance rates.

American fundamentalism and its differences from European Protestantism are at the root of the discrepancies, Miller says. And the problem is seriously exacerbated at the moment by what he calls "politicalization by conservative Republicans for partisan political issues purposes." Says Miller: "Creation science has become a political platform. It is good for primaries, if not good for November. It drives out the moderates."

What do we need to do about it? Miller says we need to learn the rules of the political game, work within both political parties ("many Republicans are appalled by the capture of the Republican party by religious fundamentalists"), and fix high school education, which, he says, "is broken."

In contrast, he says, a bright spot is that at the university level, "We are the only major nation that requires all students to take general education requirements, including science." Forty percent of Americans take a college-level science course. There, he said, is our chance to reach future lawyers, congressmen, and presidents.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
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