Survey Results - Roughly 50% Of Americans Unaware Humans, Dinosaurs Were Not Contemporaries - AFP

[hatrack]

Though the United States is the world leader in science and technology, many of its citizens display a shocking ignorance regarding basic scientific facts. Recent surveys have revealed that only about half of Americans realize that humans have never lived side by side with dinosaurs, and about the same number reject the idea that humans developed from earlier species of animals.

This lack of knowledge, in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence for evolution, springs from a number of negative influences in contemporary society: poor secondary education in some regions of the country, misinformation in the mass media, and deliberate obfuscation by supporters of Creationism and Intelligent Design.

In The Top 10 Myths About Evolution, educators Cameron M. Smith and Charles Sullivan clearly dispel the ten most common myths about evolution that continue to mislead average Americans. Using a refreshing, jargon-free style, they set the record straight on claims that evolution is "just a theory," that Darwinian explanations of life undercut morality, that Intelligent Design is a legitimate alternative to conventional science, that humans come from chimpanzees, and six other popular but erroneous notions.

Smith and Sullivan's reader-friendly, solidly researched text will serve as an important tool, both for teachers and laypersons seeking accurate information about evolution.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Dispelling_The_Top_10_Myths_About_Evolution_999.html

[mike_c]

1. then explain this....

I rest my case.

[bahrbearian]

5. Or what about this 1966 Documentary.

[enuffs_enuffs]

6. Um... sorry but MY Earth was created 6,000 years ago...

Your source is only fiction thank you very much. :P

[Ezlivin]

2. Roughly 50% of Americans are completely and utterly clueless

Else how can you explain that 19% still believe we're "winning" in Iraq or that 27% support Bush?

[Arugula Latte]

3. Gawd that's depressing.

And religion is largely (though not entirely) to blame for such ignorance.

[MADem]

4. Oh, Pshaw, you say!!! We had a gay old time!!! Wilma!

http://www.ezthemes.com.nyud.net:8090/previews/f/flintstones.jpg

[NNadir]

7. They weren't?

Wow.

[Dead_Parrot]

8. God, that's depressing.

Three millions years of evolution to reach the intelligence of a mushroom. What a waste of time...

[Nihil]

9. Sorry ... I know it's true and it is desperately sad but I laughed ...

> Three millions years of evolution to reach the intelligence of a mushroom.

:spray:

[Kolesar]

10. Wow. Snakebite on a website

I would not have looked for it had I not seen your sig line. I was Stan's biggest fan in the Wall of Voodoo/IRS Records days. http://cdbaby.com/cd/stanridgway13

[hatrack]

12. Cool - another Stan Ridgway fan!

:hi:

I think he's brilliant - one of the most underrated songwriters in the last 20 years.

[Kolesar]

13. Stan's Bakersfield twang sounded a lot like the Appalachians I grew up with

Factory whistles and a vibra-slap. How could they go wrong? I will have to check out the album and have a party on the patio.

[atommom]

14. That takes me back. I miss Stan Ridgway!

Thanks for the link! :hi:

[screembloodymurder]

11. No wonder Bush won.

50% of us belong in mental institutions.

[Javaman]

15. I blame Rachel Welch, her fur bikini and 1,000,000 B.C.!!!! nt

[mainegreen]

16. :banghead till it bleeds:

:banghead:

[depakid]

17. "a shocking ignorance regarding basic scientific facts."

After 25 years of divesting in education, deregulating the corporate media and denigrating science, I don't really find it all that shocking. More like what one would expect.

Even reading DU, you see an impressive amount of ignorance, magical thinking and plain old denial.

[ramapo]

18. I don't believe it

I know that ignorance is a perceived virtue in this country. As cynical as I am, I do not accept that Americans are really this ignorant. I'm not saying it isn't true....I just can't believe it.