For decades, approximately half of Americans rejected the theory of evolution. But finally the University of Michigan reports that in the last few years, the tide has (slightly) turned and "the level of public acceptance of evolution in the United States is now solidly above the halfway mark." Why? According to lead researcher Jon D. Miller, it's all about (gasp) education. From the University of Michigan:
"Almost twice as many Americans held a college degree in 2018 as in 1988," said co-author Mark Ackerman, a researcher at Michigan Engineering, the U-M School of Information and Michigan Medicine. "It's hard to earn a college degree without acquiring at least a little respect for the success of science."…
The current study consistently identified religious fundamentalism as the strongest factor leading to the rejection of evolution. While their numbers declined slightly in the last decade, approximately 30% of Americans continue to be religious fundamentalists as defined in the study. But even those who scored highest on the scale of religious fundamentalism shifted toward acceptance of evolution, rising from 8% in 1988 to 32% in 2019[…]
As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats.
image: Brian Wright (CC BY-ND 2.0)
