What percentage of Americans "believe in the theory of evolution"? Until I googled "the percentage of Americans believe in evolution" just a moment ago, I didn't know. (Fun fact: by the time I had typed "the percentage of Americans who b", Google had already identified as the first auto selection "the percentage of Americans who believe in evolution." Apparently I'm not the only one curious about this)
The first hit that came up from that search was the following 2009 poll data from Gallup http://www.gallup.com/poll/114544/darwin-birthday-believe-evolution.aspx. If you're interested in some of the demographic details (age, level of education, church attendance, etc), this page has information on that. But I'll give you the highlights: 39% believe in the theory of evolution, 25% do not and the rest (which is over a third of the population) don't have an opinion either way. So, at least as far as the American public goes, the "jury is still out on this one."
I'll tell you right now, if I had been polled I would have been part of the group that was labeled "No opinion either way." But it's not because I'm apathetic. It's because I don't feel like I understand enough about why it is that this theory is so widely accepted by scientists. I suppose the fact that such a large percentage of professional scientists believe it might be a good reason to consider the theory in a favorable light. After all expert opinion on issues can be very valuable. But then again, didn't at one point the bulk of scientists believe that the earth was the center of the universe?
For me, on this particular issue, expert opinion is not enough. I want to understand the rationale for evolution myself. And I figure the only way I'm going to come to understand that rationale is if I make a proactive effort to become more educated on the topic.
So, this is where my journey begins--with this blog post. In the coming weeks and months (and maybe even years) I'm going to be researching the topic. I want to read what evolution's biggest fans have to say as well as evolution's biggest skeptics. I want to go to museums and look at fossils. I want to learn more about carbon dating and how we date things. I want to ask questions and keep looking until I find answers. In short, if I'm going to be part of the "No opinion either way" percentage of the population, I don't want it to be because I am uninformed.
The function of this blog will be to document this educational journey. But why document this journey as a blog and not simply in some word doc or journal for private use? This is where I hope you, dear reader, will come into the picture. I think you can help me on my journey to understanding, and perhaps I can help you too.
These are the type of ways I'd love to see you involved:
1) If you are part of the 39% percent that believes in evolution, please let me know why you believe! Did you read a particularly convincing article? Was it because you had really great biology teacher? Did you go to a museum and see some really cool fossils which would count as transitional forms? If you think evolution's got it right, let me know why. I need your help!
2) If you are part of the 25% who don't believe, please let me know why you don't believe! Have you researched the topic yourself and found reasons to be skeptical? If you think evolution's got it wrong, let me know why. I want your help too!
3) If you are like me and don't know what you believe, what questions do you have? What is holding you back from taking a stance? What would be helpful for you to know in making a decision? My hope is by sharing my journey I can perhaps "do some of the work" for those of you who don't feel like you've got the time to invest in doing the research yourself.
So please flood me with your resources and questions and help me evolve into someone with a solid understanding of what's going on in the debate over the truth of evolution!
Yours truly,
-A Sincere Seeker (aka: Mark the Searcher)
