2 ms·

> As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats. I wish this surprised me. If something as straightforwar

> As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats. I wish this surprised me. If something as straightforward as evolution has this kind of political split, I can’t help but feel that we’re screwed politically.

jfengel 5y ago
That is, to me, the crux of this issue. In a lot of ways I don't care whether somebody accepts evolution or not. People get away with disbelieving because it largely doesn't matter. It would make you a crummy biologist, and not a great doctor, but most people don't actually need to accept evolution in their daily lives. It gets aggravating when such people try to mis-educate people in schools, but that's the worst of it. Except that creationism seems to have been a kind of test-bed for anti-intellectualism. They learned tactics for getting people to place their ill-informed opinions over expertise any time it suited them. Failing to understand evolution doesn't kill people, but failing to understand epidemiology and virology does. They don't need to understand it, but they do need to believe medical experts who say things like "get vaccinated" and "wear masks". Instead, people are handed a litany of tools telling them that the experts are wrong and they're right, and it's literally killing people. The same toolkit is being used on climate change, and lots of other issues. This is far past serious differences of opinion or values. It's cases where they're Just Plain Wrong, and not just a fringe but a large majority supported by the leadership. I'd really like to get back to arguing about legitimate differences of opinion, but it feels like that hasn't been an option for decades. Instead we're fighting about basic facts, no matter how obvious or overwhelming the evidence.

2 ms·

> As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats. I wish this surprised me. If something as straightforwar

by 6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago

jfengel 5y ago
That is, to me, the crux of this issue. In a lot of ways I don't care whether somebody accepts evolution or not. People get away with disbelieving because it largely doesn't matter. It would make you a crummy biologist, and not a great doctor, but most people don't actually need to accept evolution in their daily lives. It gets aggravating when such people try to mis-educate people in schools, but that's the worst of it. Except that creationism seems to have been a kind of test-bed for anti-intellectualism. They learned tactics for getting people to place their ill-informed opinions over expertise any time it suited them. Failing to understand evolution doesn't kill people, but failing to understand epidemiology and virology does. They don't need to understand it, but they do need to believe medical experts who say things like "get vaccinated" and "wear masks". Instead, people are handed a litany of tools telling them that the experts are wrong and they're right, and it's literally killing people. The same toolkit is being used on climate change, and lots of other issues. This is far past serious differences of opinion or values. It's cases where they're Just Plain Wrong, and not just a fringe but a large majority supported by the leadership. I'd really like to get back to arguing about legitimate differences of opinion, but it feels like that hasn't been an option for decades. Instead we're fighting about basic facts, no matter how obvious or overwhelming the evidence.