Gallup: Only 45% Of Republicans Believe In Science

[riversedge]

Source: Crooks and Liars





7/16/21 2:52pm

Anti-reality has captured Republicans




In the latest Gallup poll survey, confidence has dropped in science from 70% overall to 64%.

But what has affected the six-percentage point drop the most has been the anti-intellectual, conspiracy theory-driven Republicans.

This has been coming since 1980, when the religious right was brought into the fold of the GOP, at first by Ralph Reed, the Young Republicans, and the Televangelist movement under Reagan.

It continued to grow and grow, and during George W. Bush years, the Terry Schiavo faux scandal blew up on right-wing media and was led by evangelicals and Randall Terry pro-life wackadoos who claimed Schiavo was alive and well when she was actually in a vegetative state.
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Read more: https://crooksandliars.com/2021/07/gallup-only-45-republicans-believe-science

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shocking, but not surprising.



A woman holding anti-COVID-19 vaccination sign displays it while listening to speakers during a protest on state capitol grounds on April 14, 2021 in Frankfort, Kentucky. Image from: Jon Cherry/Getty Images



@NumbersMuncher

Gallup: Confidence in science has dropped since 1975, with just 45% of Republicans having confidence in science compared to 72% in 1975.

It's easy to see why so many Republicans believe in conspiracy theories when they don't trust basic science that has been proven by evidence.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[everyonematters]

1. They don't know the difference between believing something because you just choose

to believe it and believing something thru logical thinking.

[AZ8theist]

2. You can't fix stupid.

?1

[Ziggysmom]

3. My outspoken husband looked at the woman holding the bright pink sign.

He said the only poke she’ll ever get is from a vaccination.

Apologizing in advance for offending anyone. It’s a serious problem, these morons.

[monkeyman1]

4. very much so ! now it's totally on the un-vax'd !! republican's live with the death rate !

[twodogsbarking]

24. Give him a big hug.

There are never enough hugs.

Or as Lenny Bruce said "There are never enough I love you's."

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "Terry Schiavo faux scandal blew up on right-wing media"

This was Frothy Rick Santorum's finest moment, where he flew down to Florida to insert himself into what had become a fiasco, eventually resulting in a 17% re-election loss of his Senate seat here in PA, and leading to the ascension of current Senator Bob Casey, Jr.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

6. "The good thing about science is that it's true, whether or not you believe in it."

-- Neil Degrasse Tyson

I wonder if the lady borrowed her pink sign from a pro-choice friend. I've heard similar sentiments expressed by so-called pro-life Repugs without a touch of irony.

Come to think of it, I wonder whether she even has any pro-choice friends.

[not fooled]

31. That's a great quote

although it's sad we need it.

So many willful idiots.

And how convenient that as belief in science declines, corporate polluters get less pushback. It's almost as though that's an intended outcome.

[csziggy]

32. THIS! Though I wouldn't say "belief" comes into it at all

I do "believe" in the use of the scientific method - observation, testing, and verification. But blind belief in the system is not there.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. my body my choice stolen from us

Republicans are always in your face

[Borderer]

39. Yes, it would be interesting to know whether the lady with the sign...

...is also pro-choice when it comes to reproductive rights. Perhaps she is, but many of the anti-vaxers seem to be the same right wing morons who are normally very keen to pass laws restricting other peoples' choices. I doubt if they are bright enough to see the irony.

[NurseJackie]

8. Wow! Both (I) and (R) are getting stupider.

I'm not surprised at all that ONLY DEMOCRATS are smart.

[FakeNoose]

44. This graph proves that Dems are 34% more likely to tell the truth

... to pollsters!

[ProfessorGAC]

48. Something Seems Amiss On That Chart

21% of DEMOCRATS don't trust science. That number seems amazingly high.
And, in 1975 it was 33%.
This whole poll seems specious.

[Walleye]

9. They don't believe in math either

[Apollo Zeus]

10. strong link to religion

and religious people tend to favor GOP



https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/science-and-religion/

[paleotn]

20. That was my first thought....

Use to be religious types swung both ways, dependent on other factors like geography, economic status etc. Prior to Reagan, even the most ardent evangelical southerner was likely a Democrat and the most secular New Englander a Republican. Today, if someone is an evangelical or fundamentalist protestant or catholic, no matter where they are, it's nearly guaranteed they're a Republican. Part of the great reshuffle of American politics in the last 40 years.

[Vinca]

11. I say we push them off the edge of the earth.

[logosoco]

12. Neil DeGrass Tyson said something along the lines of

Science is true whether or not you believe in it.

He also said something like the universe is under no obligation to make sense to you, and I guess that is the one i need to remember when i read stories like this! Because it does not make sense to me at all!

[twodogsbarking]

13. Old white man in sky take care of us.

"Old white man" being key.

[twodogsbarking]

14. Only 3% of people believe Gallup polls,

according to a Gallup poll.

[ProfessorGAC]

49. See My Post #48

This poll smells funny, to me.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. And then they complain they're outnumbered on college campuses.

[mwb970]

16. I love the idea that you can choose whether or not to "believe in" science.

This treats science like a religion. Who would do that?

You can decide not to believe in Zoroastrianism. You cannot decide not to "believe in" gravity.

[twodogsbarking]

23. You stated what I have been thinking.

I don't think you can explain that to everyone though.

[LiberalFighter]

17. They need to be banned from making any decisions that involved laws or regulations.

[BadgerKid]

18. Look how readily they accept technology "welfare".

Get off the grid already.

[Lonestarblue]

19. And yet these people would be first in line to get treatment for cancer or a heart attack.

Or any other illness. Why do they think we have treatment for cancer anyway? No science involved—it just magically appeared! I suspect that they do believe in some science, but the first thought that pops into evangelical brains is that science equals evolution and therefore they don’t believe in it.

[Rebl2]

34. Yes

somebody needs to point out to them that if they see a doctor, then they believe in science.

[paleotn]

21. Reality verses fantasy.

[LearnedHand]

22. Lazy polling questions like this - and the resulting lazy headlines - do great damage to all of us

Critical thinking 101. I’m not arguing there is no anti-intellectual problem, but for fuck’s sake, WHICH SCIENCE? Do the respondents have cell phones and work on computers? Do they drive cars and have electrical appliances? Do they fly in planes? Do they get annual checkups and X-rays? If so, they certainly forked over large money for “science.” Science is not a single monolithic thing. If we’re to understand the real implications of this sentiment, we need to understand exactly which science they don’t “believe” in (whatever TF that even means). And people who report on these polls do our country a huge disservice by not digging deeper into the poll results. Democracy by sensationalist headlines really sucks.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. Calm down. It's a poll. They've asked "do you have confidence in" various "institutions" for years

but they hadn't included "science" for decades - maybe because it used to have a high rating, and hadn't seemed a political football, unlike things like "the police". Now they added it back into the list, and found it had plummeted in Republicans (and fallen a bit in independents).

No, asking the question, or reporting the poll results, do not "do great damage to all of us". It points to something that deserves greater study - such as whether it is specific sciences, or just a general "Science Is Bad" feeling they've cultivated. If you attack the first person to say "it looks like there's a problem", then you'll never fix the problem.

And this is not, of course, "democracy". No one ever said an opinion poll is "democracy".

[malthaussen]

30. Science and technology are different things, you know.

Although quite a lot of modern technology is based on some sort of science or other.

-- Mal

[Calista241]

36. This, 100% this.

My fundie parents, who used to send me Trump shit daily, quarantined pretty religiously and were vaccinated early on. To this question they would have answered yes, but if the question was "do you think science has been politicized?" they would have also answered yes.

[traitorsgalore]

40. Gallup is a repuke organization, they don't care about critical thinking or intellectual questions

I'm sure 1/2 of their repuke respondents couldn't identify 1 single area of scientific study.

[Mysterian]

26. There's a lot of stupid assholes out there

I stopped trying to figure out why and just accepted it.

[PatrickforB]

27. Ah, the party of STUPID, driven by a STUPID corporate media that cares more

for ratings and profits than the republic, and a STUPID bunch of social media. And let's not forget REALITY TV, which definately caters to the lowest common denominator.

[kimbutgar]

28. Homeschooling has been one of the reasons for the decline

[malthaussen]

29. The poll question was not about "belief," it was about "confidence."

The headline writer apparently sees no difference in the two.

-- Mal

[DBoon]

33. conspiracy theories are the sociology of fascism

Imagined conspiracies call for an all powerful leader to crush the supposed conspiracy. The conspiracy cannot be proven false by definition, since any contrary evidence is just proof of a deeper conspiracy.

[Elessar Zappa]

35. Honestly, I'm surprised it's that high.

[ffr]

37. How does someone believe in science? It's not something you believe in.

Its not like evidentiary fact is debatable, like are religions and the belief that supernatural and natural worlds commingle, when by definition they cannot.

I don't believe in science either. But I trust scientific methods and results. It's what I base my whole world view upon and how I'm able to live my life in a consistent manner with nature and technology.

[traitorsgalore]

38. Comedian Michelle Wolf: "In high school, if you didn't believe in science it was called failing"

So using that logic, 55% of today R/Nazi party wouldn't make it through high school. What a culture, Rs worship stupidity and hatred of everything that benefits mankind.

[Polybius]

41. Is this a partial opinion piece?

News stories usually refrain from calling people "pro-life wackadoos", even when true.

[andym]

42. If asked, those with less confidence in science would likely state their beliefs are literally facts

to turn Daniel Patrick Moynihan's statement on its head:
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just not his own facts."

[Aristus]

43. 100% of Science doesn't care what Republicans believe.

My standard response to anyone who says they "believe in God, not science"; I would tell them to go to the top of a 100-storey building, jump off, pray all the way down, and see what happens when they get to the bottom.

[Stallion]

45. Proving Once Again that the Movie "Idiocracy" Deserves an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement

[raccoon]

46. Science says there is a force of gravity. If they want to test that out

Science says there is a force of gravity. If they want to test that out, They can jump off a high building and see how that works for them.

I just saw that Aristus beat me to the post.

[Kid Berwyn]

47. Scopes Monkey Trials Forever!

USA USA USA!!!

[ck4829]

50. K&R

[lagomorph777]

51. That number seems way too high.

Today's Reptilian Party demands so many literally insane and internally contradictory beliefs from their followers. I don't see how anybody could possibly believe in any kind of recognizable reality (especially science), and still call themselves Reptilians.