In short? Bad.
To give an overall flavor, here is a collection of data from a number of polls on American belief in evolution, correlated to a number of factors:
- The Majority of Republicans Doubt the Theory of Evolution | Gallup, 2007
- 40%-50% of the public accepts a biblical creationist account of the origins of life | Pew, 2005
- Only 26% of Americans believe in Natural Selection | Pew, 2005
- In the year 2009, 200 years after Darwin’s birth, only 39% believe in the theory of evolution, and 36% have no opinion either way | Gallup, 2009
- 79% of those with a high school education or less either don’t believe in evolution or have no opinion either way | Gallup, 2009
- 27% of those with postgraduate degrees in the United States either don’t believe in evolution or don’t have an opinion either way | Gallup, 2009
- Among those who seldom or never go to church, 45% either don’t believe in evolution or have no opinion either way | Gallup, 2009
- Of those who go nearly weekly or monthly, 70% either don’t believe in evolution or have no opinion either way | Gallup, 2009
- And finally, in the year 2009, in the United States of America, only 39% believe in evolution | Gallup, 2009
Here’s Gallup’s implications summary:
As Darwin is being lauded as one of the most important scientists in history on the 200th anniversary of his birth (on Feb. 12, 1809), it is perhaps dismaying to scientists who study and respect his work to see that well less than half of Americans today say they believe in the theory of evolution, and that just 55% can associate the man with his theory.
This makes me sad. ::
