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Thursday, August 10, 2006
By Ker Than

A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution.

Only Turkey ranked lower.

Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say.

"American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalists, which is why Turkey and we are so close," said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.

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Read it here.

Charts & graphs available here.

Unfortunately Canada was not one of the countries sampled.

[ 11 August 2006: Message edited by: Snuckles ]

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Originally posted by oldgoat:
yeah, it's too bad there are no Canadian figures.

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Originally posted by otter:
Isn't this tread a rather moot point? The u.s of a. lags behind everything and everybody except when it comes to rapaciousness, arrogance and self-righteousness.

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Originally posted by slimpikins:
Actually, Sven, what is offensive is a country where there are Supreme Court decisions that say you have to teach not only science but religion when it comes to how we all got here, a country where the usual response is a military one, a country where they are sending people into space but kicking people out of hospitals because they can't afford to be sick, a country where a mentally challenged minor can be executed for a crime, a country where a black man is 6 times more likely to be sentenced to death than a white man for the same crime, a country where you can buy a gun a lot easier than you can get an abortion.....etc ad nauseum.

And yeah, I have some issues with amerika. So does any progressive thinking person. Like the man said, if you aren't with amerika, you are against amerika........like me.

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Originally posted by Sven:
Babblers usually, and rightfully so, shy away from, if not actually condemn, broad-blanketed statements about groups of people (blacks, Muslims, aboriginals, Iranians, Jews, women, etc., etc., etc.), religions, countries and so forth.

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Canadian magnanimity seems to hit a wall at our southern frontier, at which point we start sounding an awful lot like very small people in a very large country. But you knew that.

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what is offensive is a country where there are Supreme Court decisions that say you have to teach not only science but religion when it comes to how we all got here

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There are great things that come out of America like some of the finest schools, beautiful scenery, and some really nice people.

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Originally posted by Proaxiom:

Next let's talk about England, with its beautiful women, delicious food, and wonderful weather.

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I can fix that one.

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Slimpikins wrote:

[QUOTE] country where the usual response is a military one

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You know, Slim, your thundering condemantion of the US on this issue might be slightly more plausible were you not a citizen of a country which begged the US for military contracts during the Vietnma War, and is currently assisting in the mass slaughter of Afghanis and Haitians.

[ 16 August 2006: Message edited by: voice of the damned ]

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Christians, dumbing America down since before the United States of America was united.

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Originally posted by voice of the damned:
You know, Slim, your thundering condemantion of the US on this issue might be slightly more plausible were you not a citizen of a country which begged the US for military contracts during the Vietnma War, and is currently assisting in the mass slaughter of Afghanis and Haitians.

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The poll found that:

About 77 per cent of Americans can name at least two of the dwarfs from the fairy tale Snow White, but only about 24 per cent can name two U.S. Supreme Court justices.
57 per cent of the U.S. respondents know that English writer J.K. Rowling's fictional boy wizard is named Harry Potter, while only 50 per cent can name U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
73 per cent can name the Three Stooges (Larry, Curly and Moe). Only 42 per cent could name the three branches of the U.S. government (judicial, executive and legislative).
60 per cent of respondents knew that, on The Simpsons, Homer's son is named Bart. Only about 21 per cent could name one of the ancient Greek poet Homer's epics (The Iliad and The Odyssey)
Of those polled, 60 per cent could name Krypton as the home planet of Superman. Only 37 per cent could name Mercury as the closest planet to the sun.
While 23 per cent of poll participants know that Taylor Hicks is the most recent singer crowned American Idol, only 11 per cent could name Samuel Alito as the most recent judge to join the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Originally posted by voice of the damned:
You know, Slim, your thundering condemantion of the US on this issue might be slightly more plausible were you not a citizen of a country which begged the US for military contracts during the Vietnma War, and is currently assisting in the mass slaughter of Afghanis and Haitians.

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Maybe he didn't vote for those administrations and thus, they do not represent his values? As an NDP voter, I do not see the hypocrisy of criticising US foreign policy just because the current administration happens to be Conservative.

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Umm, it wasn't Conservatives that sent troops to Afghanistan and Haiti, or which lobbied to get those contracts to help murder Vietnamese people.

And anyway: if I recall, Slim phrsed his remarks in terms of "the US is a country that...". When someone denounces a foreign country in such terms, I think the tacit implication is usually that the speaker's own country does NOT do those sorts of things.

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The poll found that:
About 77 per cent of Americans can name at least two of the dwarfs from the fairy tale Snow White, but only about 24 per cent can name two U.S. Supreme Court justices.
57 per cent of the U.S. respondents know that English writer J.K. Rowling's fictional boy wizard is named Harry Potter, while only 50 per cent can name U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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You know, you guys might wanna do a bit of comparative research before you start throwing stones here...

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A new survey has found one-third of Canadians can't recall even the seven words that begin the anthem.

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Only 65 per cent of Canadians can name the three oceans bordering our country.

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only 48 per cent could name the event when the first provinces joined to form Canada.

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As well, 57 per cent think the prime minister is Canada's head of state

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Which part of the Constitution legally protects the basic "rights and freedoms" of all Canadians? Despite the clue, one in three failed to clue in.

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http://tinyurl.com/zcjf3

[ 16 August 2006: Message edited by: voice of the damned ]

So I tossed out a question: Who is the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada? Nobody could answer. It was Herb Gray at the time.

General disinterest in broad subjects that don't touch our every day lives is a malady that affects most of the population of Earth. I don't think it's at all fair to single out the Americans, who, for some inexplicable reason, we seem to expect more from.

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Originally posted by Noise:
Quite simply put, Americans on general prefer to live in their own reality with themselves at the center of the universe.

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I saw those stats, too, and I'm not a bit surprised. Average Americans usually see little beyond the horizon of their daily lives.

And very true VOTD... Though this thread was directed towards the US. For the 'awareness level' Canadians are as bad as Americans, though the internet/blogging scene is starting to change that a bit. I'd be just as willing to 'throw stones' at the general Canadian public that can list the 12 finalists of Canadian Idol in order, but couldn't name a single member of harpers cabinet (or even know what a 'cabinet' is for that matter).

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those characteristics are not uniquely American

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Unique? No. More predominent? Yes.

[ 16 August 2006: Message edited by: Noise ]

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I saw those stats, too, and I'm not a bit surprised. Average Americans usually see little beyond the horizon of their daily lives.

That being said, I suspect that's true for the average citizen of pretty much all countries.

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The sad truth is that a great many people have never learned how to 'think things through' or to examine an issue from more than their current perspective on it. It is much easier to simply repeat what we have heard or been taught than to analysis, examine and find out for ourselves.

I admit that i personally spent some 30 years simply accepting the status quo and allowing the 'experts' to tell me the way things were. Then i took the time and expended the effort to learn how to develop my own beliefs and find out the truth of matters for myself. I still don't get it right every time, but i am far closer to the reality of things than i ever was before.

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Originally posted by Noise:
More predominent? Yes.

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