Why don't the majority of Americans understand natural selection?

Answer 1

They do, just don't realize it. Most people recognize genetic traits in families (you look just like aunt Erma when she was your age). And most people are attracted to those who have the most chance of success (wealthy, smart, athletic). So natural selection takes place every day. The general public does not recognize it as such due to the timescale. Insects can turn over several generations a year, filtering out unhelpful genetic traits. We require mellinia to do the same (height, for instance)

Answer 2

They really understand you know, because it is so obvious. But the ones who don't make so much more noise.... the problem with stupidity is that it ignores it is stupid, and naturally makes a lot of noise.
BUT creationism has several perspectives that can be understood from a scientific point of view.
This is not such a simple question as you may think. We should be extremely careful in sticking to a single, simple solution. There are many wonders in our world. More than you could imagine.

There is not only one type of creationism, as well as Darwin natural selection is already an abandoned theory. If you are really interested see Evolution in Wikipedia. There you have several related topics.
See also Stephen Jay Gould.

Answer 3

There are multiple reasons why many Americans (as well as many other people around the world) don't understand or accept the idea of evolution through random variation and natural selection.

Some people do understand the concept, but they refuse to accept it for philosophical or theological reasons. They do not believe life, humans, the human mind, or the soul are the result of random variation and natural selection.

Others (the majority) do not understand the concept because they incorrectly think that natural selection is purely a random action, and they (correctly) believe that purely random changes cannot lead to ever more complex life. They don't understand that natural selection is actually the organizing principle that acts on random variations to drive changes. Since they don't understand the mechanism, they don't accept the concept at a gut level.

Ulitimately, the lack of understanding for most folks is because we don't think statistically. For the vast majority of the time that humans has existed, he and she needed to make quick decisions based on gut feel and personal memory of past events. When deciding what to eat, where to hunt, or when to run away, taking broad samples of risk and success factors wasn't an option.

As a result, our common sense and gut feel is great and even opfor many personal decisions but makes seeing and accepting broader paterns more difficult. Just think about how many people believe they have a better chance of winning the lottery if they know someone who has won even a small amount of money recently.

Natural selection, along with quantum physics, is ane xtreme example of the exact opposite. Its action occurs very slowly (over many generations) and in such small increments that virtually no one (except a few scientists who dedicate entire lives to studying certain animals) can personally see significnat variation. Throw in that many variations aren't for physical traits but for internal development and behaviors and the ablilty to see variation is even more unlikely.

The obvious exception here is acquired immunity in bacteria, insects, and plants (weeds) to drugs, insecticides, and herbicides. This trend is widely reported but people still don't seem to grasp the idea or reasons why they need to change behavior. It just shows that the tendency to jumpt to the wrong conclusion maybe hardwired in to us. To change this, we need to come up with better narratives that overcome this hardwiring.

Answer 4

The majority of Americans do not understand natural selection because of religious teachings. Evolution is not part of what is taught, most religions believe that we are all born the way we are as one of our tests in this life. Even in our "modern day society" natural selection and evolution of humans is scoffed at as if we are above any other form of life. After all we are all just animals.

Answer 5

I've never seen any statistics indicating it's the majority. But there are obviously a number of Americans who are appallingly ignorant on the subject. I consider it a flaw in our education system. At least a basic understanding of evolution, DNA, natural selection and genetic drift should required for a High School diploma .

Answer 6

I think the vast majority of Americans DOES understand the basics. I have noticed a larger than expected number of vehement creationists here, but even when I was a member of a rural, fundamentalist, Bible church, I don't think that anywhere near a majority of the other members took creation so literally.

Answer 7

Because the word of the Bible is ingrained so deeply in the American population. They see it as a sin to question it. But there is a segment of the population like you and me who question everything. And in this example natural selection is the most logical answer.

Answer 8

I don' think it's a question of not understanding it. My belief is that it's a question of why don't they understand Creationism - most people who believe in this seem to automatically believe that that belief negates the possibility of natural selection in any form (which it doesn't), so don't read up on it, so don't understand it.

Answer 9

It's not very well taught until a person reaches college level classes, and often times those classes are only taken by people with biology or anthropology majors.

You also have to take into account the basic resistance shown by certain segments of the population.

Answer 10

Because people can't grasp the realization that some animals are stronger than others. And most people won't admit to their own weaknesses. So natural selection is something they realize but won't accept.