Why do most people think that Evolution is bogus while the majority of Scientists do not?

Question

Something like 99% of biologists think that evolution via natural selection explains the creation of human beings. Why do most people doubt this? And why do they think there is a controversy among scientists where none exists? It's true there are biologists (like Michael Behe) who doubt evolution. But the overwhelming majority do not doubt it.

Now, it's one thing to doubt Evolution, but it's entirely different to claim THAT THERE IS A CONTROVERSY AMONG SCIENTISTS WHERE NONE EXISTS.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/steve/

Answer 1

Sometimes our media contributes to this. Francis Collins is a biologist who seems to believe in an intelligent designer. He wrote a book and got on many TV shows. The TV interviewers seldom point out that they are interviewing one scientist who disagrees with 10,000 others. The one is given equal status to the entire 10,000 who disagree.

Also, since this is such an American phenomenon (as has been pointed out already), I sort of wonder if it has to do with our freedom of religion with no state imposed religion. If this stuff was state imposed maybe people would be skeptical since they are so often skeptical of government. But, that is just my cynical half-an-idea!

Answer 2

I do not discard creationism as a theory as to why we exist. For me, the evidence supporting evolution does out weigh the theory of creation by a divine being.
I also believe that those who discount evolution in favour of the theory of creation only do so because they either do not understand the theory or have had some major life event that has caused them to believe in the creation theory. Perhaps the one biologist cited has had such a life event.
What scientists believe and understand are two different things. Belief is based on social aspects of life, upbringing, country of origin and socioeconomic origins. Understanding is borne of education, discussion and thought process. This is the where the supposed controversy is probably arising from. The difference between belief and understanding is the difference between using the heart and using the head. The heart is where belief originates, faith in the creation theory or evolution. The head is where the understanding comes from. The thought of creation or the thought of evolution.
I know people who believe in creation and understand evolution. They prefer the creation theory because it is easier for them to accept. That is the crux of the issue, what is easier to accept.

Answer 3

Actually, there is controversy among scientists about evolution, even among those who are evolutionists themselves.

"...The components (of evolution) are, of course, familiar doctrine to everyone who has attended an American university and, if my samplings of opinion are reliable, they are accepted without question by almost every such person. The major doubters are the professional biologists."
Norman Macbeth - "Darwin Retried"

"It cannot be denied that from a strictly philosophical standpoint, geologists are here arguing in a circle. The succession of organisms has been determined by the study of their remains imbedded in the rocks, and the relative ages of the rocks are determined by the remains of the organisms they contain."
(R H Rastall, Lecturer in Economic Geology, Cambridge University: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol.10 (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1956, p.168)

"In most people's minds, fossils and Evolution go hand in hand. In reality, fossils are a great embarrassment to Evolutionary theory and offer strong support for the concept of Creation. If Evolution were true, we should find literally millions of fossils that show how one kind of life slowly and gradually changed to another kind of life. But missing links are the trade secret, in a sense, of palaeontology. The point is, the links are still missing. What we really find are gaps that sharpen up the boundaries between kinds. It's those gaps which provide us with the evidence of Creation of separate kinds. As a matter of fact, there are gaps between each of the major kinds of plants and animals. Transition forms are missing by the millions. What we do find are separate and complex kinds, pointing to Creation."
(Dr Gary Parker, Ph.D., Biologist/palaeontologist and former ardent Evolutionist)

"Despite the bright promise that palaeontology provides means of 'seeing' Evolution, it has provided some nasty difficulties for evolutionists, the most notorious of which is the presence of 'gaps' in the fossil record. Evolution requires intermediate forms between species and palaeontology does not provide them."
(Dr. David Kitts, Ph.D., Palaeontology and Evolutionary Theory, Evolution, Vol.28 (Sep.1974) p.467)

"The fact that a theory so vague, so insufficiently verifiable, and so far from the criteria otherwise applied in 'hard' science has become a dogma can only be explained on sociological grounds."
(Ludwig von Bertalanffy, biologist)

"Micromutations do occur, but the theory that these alone can account for evolutionary change is either falsified, or else it is an unfalsifiable, hence metaphysical theory. I suppose that nobody will deny that it is a great misfortune if an entire branch of science becomes addicted to a false theory. But this is what has happened in biology: ... I believe that one day the Darwinian myth will be ranked the greatest deceit in the history of science. When this happens many people will pose the question: How did this ever happen?"
(S Lovtrup, Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth (London:Croom Helm, p.422)

And there are plenty more where those came from.

Answer 4

The latest Newsweek poll shows rejection of evolution at 48% ... so it is NOT a majority. Among college graduates, this drops to 34% who believe in Biblical creationism. (See source 1.)

But to put this in perspective, a 2001 Gallup poll showed that 42% of Americans believe in haunted houses, 41% believe in demonic posession, and 38% believe in ghosts, and 54% believe in psychic powers/spiritual healing. (See source 2.)

Also keep in mind that this is almost exclusively an American phenomenon. The rejection in most other countries in the world is much lower ... the only country that ranked higher was Turkey.

So it is a good question to wonder why there is such an enormous gap between what the general American public believes, and what scientists believe. The answer is fairly obvious ... (a) a truly decimated science education system, and (b) a relenteless campaign of misinformation by religious conservatives. These two are connected. Bad science education leaves people vulnerable to truly BAD arguments by creationists (as we see over and over here on Y!A), and the relentless campaign of fundamentalists leads to further erosion of science education.

It's this latter trend that is the reason this is more than just a quaint Americanism. It is *dangerous*. The creationist effect of eroding science education doesn't just attack evolution ... but must, by necessity, attack science itself. This is why we get an open *contempt* for scientists displayed by the general public ... even *ON MATTERS OF SCIENCE*. This extends to issue like whether smoking is bad for you (smokers to this day shrug off what the scientists are saying); global warming (which may have resulted in a truly *devastating* delay in doing something about it); but even to questions like "are there weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?" ... while not a strictly *science* question, it still came down to the ability to evaluate *evidence* ... and the American public showed a willingness to trust politicians over the experts (the weapons inspectors who were insisting there was no evidence of WMDs).

In other words, distrust of scientists and experts among the public leads to *terrible* democratic choices.

But you are absolutely right ... there is no controversy at all among scientists.

Answer 5

It is hardly a majority of people that doubt evolution. That is just creationists propaganda. Of course they will claim there is a controversy. A controversy would strenghten their case.

Answer 6

Children tend to swallow whatever dogma is fed to them, and religion is taught to children at an earlier age than biology.

Would you like me to say that more plainly? Parents suck. The school systems suck. Religious organizations propagate ignorant dogma to new generations.