Science? Science! Republicans Don't Need No Stinking Science!

by Pa Rock
Amused Observer

The Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com) published the results of a poll today by Research 2000 that sheds some light on the likelihood of people to understand or incorporate science into their thought processes. The survey was based on the long established scientific belief that all of the earth's continents were once a massive land mass that slowly pulled apart. It is a concept that is familiar to students in elementary schools - at least those in public elementary schools - and there is a plethora of proof available to anyone who allows their mind to be open.

Survey respondents were asked the following: Do you believe that America and Africa were once part of the same continent?

Forty-two percent of all people surveyed replied that yes, they believed the statement. Twenty-six percent did not, and 32% were not sure.

It gets interesting in the sub-groups. Fifty-one percent of Democrats believed the statement, as did 44% of Independents. Republicans, however, checked-in with only 24% - less than one in four, accepting that statement into their belief system. Republicans also had the highest percentage of no responses with nearly one in two unable to accept the reality of science.

Fifty-percent of respondents from the Northeast believed the statement, as did 46% from the Midwest and 43% from the West. The South, however, lagged far behind with only 32% - less than one in three - demonstrating the ability to recognize science when it stared them in the face.

The racial breakdown was also interesting. Blacks were far more likely to believe in science than Whites. Sixty-three percent of Blacks accepted the statement, while only 35% of Whites did. Latinos recognized science at a rate of 55%, and "Others" were slightly higher at fifty-six percent.

Looking at the overall picture, it starts to make sense. Republicans are less likely to be accepting of science, they tend to be White, and they are most thickly concentrated in the South.

People used to believe that the earth was flat, but most have now accepted the fact that it is round, like a ball. They used to think that the earth was the center of the universe and everything, including the sun, revolved around it, but today most know better. One vacuous Alaskan and some others are still hanging on, however, trying to tell us that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans just a few thousand years ago - even though the fossil record clearly refutes that nonsense. Their drivel will eventually dry up and blow away.

The point is that education will win out - it always does. The South was desegregated, albeit kicking and screaming, a generation ago, and the creationist theories of the ignorant white cracker Republicans, regardless of where they reside, will eventually be washed aside by science and common sense. Education can be painfully slow, but sooner or later it will tug us forward - whether we want to go there or not.