To give you an idea how unimportant evoltion is, look at the facts. The US ranks at the bottom right above Turkey, but the US also boasts the highest number of Nobel Prize winners year after year. Also, our pharmacutical companies still have the lead in medical innovation. Our Universities are the envy of the world, even average ones, like UCSD. Nothing can quite match MIT or Caltech (or Stanford, or Harvard, or...)
So you see, the United States claims leadershp when it comes to scence, innovation and invention, yet evolution in this country ranks near the bottom. This tells us not only that evolution sn't mportant, but that the US is among the most spiritually healthy nations n the world, as well.
Why do you think Americans have such high self-esteems? It's gotta be Jesus. It just has gotta be!
38 comments
a. Oxford and Cambridge, the Sorbornne, Heidleburg, Sydney, quite a list of universities that are, to say the least, comparable to any found in the U.S.
b. If you are going to invoke MIT and Caltech, please show me any reference to either of them offering courses in Creationist theory
c.America has a high number of Nobel Laureates, true. But then, it also has the world's largest educated population. In terms of Nobel prizes per head of population, I could be wrong, but I BELEIVE Australia is the leading contender. And only something like 15% of Australians believe in young Earth creationism.
So, once again, we see someone who not only wants to draw eroneous conclusions from the raw data, but ALSO eroneously assumes that worthwhile culture and science begins and ends within the US. Personally, I think anyone who misspells "science" in a post on that topic, should be viewed with some skepticism at best.
"To give you an idea how unimportant evoltion is, look at the facts."
Yes, let's look at the facts.
"The US ranks at the bottom right above Turkey, but the US also boasts the highest number of Nobel Prize winners year after year."
Ranks at the bottom of what?
"Also, our pharmacutical companies still have the lead in medical innovation. Our Universities are the envy of the world, even average ones, like UCSD. Nothing can quite match MIT or Caltech (or Stanford, or Harvard, or...)"
OK. What's your point?
"So you see, the United States claims leadershp when it comes to scence, innovation and invention, yet evolution in this country ranks near the bottom."
What, are you angry because you haven't evolved?
Your correlation is invalid. Just because the U.S. has a high level of evolution-denying nitwits, does not mean that is necessarily related to the achievements and recognition of the scientists in the U.S.. Though I have not evidence in hand for this, I conjecture that most of those Noble prize winners accept the ToE. Perhaps the "Steve project" could be considered evidence in favor of this.
"This tells us not only that evolution sn't mportant, but that the US is among the most spiritually healthy nations n the world, as well."
No, it tells us no such thing. It tells us that, though the top levels of science and thought are doing well, the majority of Americans are being held back by brain-stunting theologies.
"Why do you think Americans have such high self-esteems? It's gotta be Jesus. It just has gotta be!"
No, it doesn't "gotta be." Americans have many reasons for high (sometimes overly inflated) self-esteem. We are the strongest economic and military power in the world. We still have a relatively high standard of living, though that is slipping. We have (or proclaim that we have) high standards of fairness and personal freedom.
For what you presented as a look at the facts, you have managed to provide very few facts and mostly unsupported and ridiculous assertions. I won't be expecting to see YOU receiving a Nobel prize anytime soon.
<<< but the US also boasts the highest number of Nobel Prize winners year after year. >>>
Having a larger population than just about any other Western nation tends to do that. For instance, Germany has 92 compared to the US's 160, but it has less than 1/3 of the US's population. The UK boasts 68 with about 1/5 of the US's population. Both easily have the US beat on Nobel Prizes per capita.
<<< Also, our pharmacutical companies still have the lead in medical innovation. >>>
I'll bet you that not a one of the people who have made important pharmaceutical advances lately - at least, not in the field of antibiotics - thinks of evolution as unimportant.
<<< Nothing can quite match MIT or Caltech (or Stanford, or Harvard, or...) >>>
That would explain why the most prestigious graduate scholarships of all are for British universities (Cambridge and Oxford).
I think what this is telling us is that there's a much bigger gap between the educated and the uneducated here in the US than there is in the rest of the developed world. The best and brightest here are up there with the best anyone else has to offer, but the dumbest here are plenty dumber than the dumbest in Europe. (Either that or those who qualify as "dumbest" are far more numerous here. Most places you'd probably see something resembling a bell curve; here we'd probably have two peaks - one around an IQ of 120, another around 80.)
<<< Why do you think Americans have such high self-esteems? It's gotta be Jesus. It just has gotta be! >>>
Can't be the high standard of living, general lack of interference from the government (though that is changing, and not for the better), or the overinflated ego that comes with knowing that if someone decided to wipe you out you could take them down (and, for that matter, the whole planet) with you, could it?
<<...the US is among the most spiritually healthy nations in the world, as well.>>
Although you'd never guess that considering our rates of murder, suicide, substance abuse and mental illness are amongst the highest in the developed world.
@Papabear
Ranks at the bottom of what? He's referring to a recent study that started the thread at Christian Forums. Many first and second-world countries were measured in their support of evolution. Reasons for doubt were taken.
It's no surprise that it says we're an oddity because of *drumroll*
1) religion
2) right-wing politics.
See: The article that started the thread and PZ Myers on the study , with graphy goodness.
@HappyHealthyHolyRoller
The US ranks at the bottom right above Turkey, but the US also boasts the highest number of Nobel Prize winners year after year. The general population ranks that low. Scientists almost universally accept evolution. Plus, the US imports a large number of its Nobel winners (and scientists/mathematicians in general).
@HappyHealthyHolyRollerAlso, our pharmacutical companies still have the lead in medical innovation. Chock full of evolution-believers.
Our Universities are the envy of the world, even average ones, like UCSD. Nothing can quite match MIT or Caltech (or Stanford, or Harvard, or...) These are respected for good reason. For example, they teach only evolution.
Basically, the United States is a success despite you .
Without knowing what representative sample they used for the study, it has absolutely NO real basis, and shouldn't be used to support conclusions. What did they use to pick the subjects asked?
Statistical polls usually only say what we want them to, that's one of the biggest problems with them. After all, if I wanted to show that most of America supported racism and segregation, I'd poll Nazi Skinheads. If I wanted to show that everyone loves the Church and believes in Creationism, I'd poll churches.
Somebody should go to those forums and post this link there:
http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/pdf/2005-11.pdf
It shows that developed democracies that accept evolution to a far greater extent than the United States have lower homicide rates, juvenile and early adult mortality, sexually transmitted disease infection rates, teen pregnancy, and a lower abortion rate.
Wow. The level of ignorance is stunning.
As noted, per capita, we're not producing Nobel Prize Winners at the same rate as other countries.
Secondly, the concern is we're becoming more ignorant. As this post proves, it's a valid concern.
UCSD is average?
If CURRENTLY employing 8 Nobel prize winners (which is obviously how you measure success, judging from the post) is average, I wonder what good universities do? As a side note, the number employed by Princeton is only 9, so....unless you wanna lump Princeton into that average category, you haven't done much research.
As a Canadian, all the Americans I've ever met in person have been arrogant pricks. And on the internet, I've met a hefty share of the same thing. But I've also met some fairly cool Americans, so I hate to say I've simply met more jerkoffs.
1) We aren't doing so well in Nobel prizes per capita in any field.
2) U.S. Nobel laureates in the biological sciences are, if the numbers on the discipline are anything to go by, almost universally familiar enough with evolutionary theory to recognize that it's the basis of modern work in their field.
3) The U.S. may have the majority of top-10/top-20 universities in the world, but we also have a lot of pretty horrendously shitty ones.
4) UCSD is hardly "average" -- especially in some of the sciences. Any school in the UC system is quite respectable.
"the US is among the most spiritually healthy nations n the world, as well"
Could be we're getting there. Non-belief is over 50%
http://www.yesnogod.com/
This guy is proof that America is lacking the intellect.
At the bottom above Turkey in what?! Evolution ranks low in what? Our stupid population's belief system? That's a BAD thing!
And this somehow translates to high self esteem, and therefore Jesus? What?!
It's funny that all of the top universities you mentioned (and some you didn't, like Berkeley) are either on the East or West Coasts. >_>
Also, having a healthy sense of self-esteem and having an over-inflated ego are not the same thing. Shut your jingoistic mouth.
Fortunately for sane people everywhere, the US has managed to develop and thrive despite those of its citizens that would like to drag it back to the Middle Ages. While fundie idiots are singing hallelujah and waiting for the rapture, smart Americans are Getting Things Done. This has nothing to do with Jesus - quite the contrary in fact.
You have to love a country that could give birth to both Harvard and Liberty universities, if only because there are idiots who think the latter is somewhat equal to the former.
@ Cagnazzo --
UCSD is average?
UCLA and Berkeley have been on a decades-long campaign to convince people that they're the only real universities in the UC system and all the others are marginal. Hell, UCSD even stoops to offering a joint PhD program with a California State University school! (OK, yeah, it's in public health, and the SDSU public health program is quite strong...but you wouldn't expect to see the Big Two stooping to the level of the mere peons in the CSU system!)
ETA: Though yes, the joint program in question is one I'll be trying to get into once I have my Master's. It's a tradition; someone in my immediate family has been affiliated with every UC campus but Marin. The fundie who called them "average" can suck it.
> Why do you think Americans have such high self-esteems? It's gotta be Jesus. It just has gotta be!
This attempt at reasoning indicates why no-one need bother pay anything old HollyRoller says the least bit of attention.
I'm pretty sure he's speaking of a poll on education, America came in low on all subjects but were number one in self confidence.
In other words Americans are dumber than 35 other countries but Americans think they're smart. Not a big surprise as that's one of the "ugly American" traits other countries dislike them for, being sure of things they know nothing about. All talk
Okay then, name one single invention, one single advancement, one single contribution to humanity of any sort that came about through creationism.
And, no, the return of Kirk Cameron to the public consciousness is not a contribution!
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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