[extropy-chat] survey on fringe ideas: evolution

[spike]

________________________________________
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Samantha Atkins
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 11:42 AM
To: ExI chat list
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] survey on fringe ideas: evolution


On Oct 24, 2005, at 9:07 PM, spike wrote:

...

>>Ron Numbers...demonstrates that a significant portion of the
>>population believes in two or more mutually
>>exclusive concepts simultaneously... 

>Yep, which is why in the 21st century we are still wasting time on monkey
trials in the US.



The kick is that they aren't really monkey trials.  They
are battles in a culture war.  Science is politicized.


>Sophisticated rationalization exists. I have done more than a little of it
myself.

Haven't we all.
 


>Sure. But this is part of recognizing or explaining the truth of what the
surveys portray. We are also too used to treating religious notions as so
sacrosanct that we don't point out the obvious errors in one another's
religious beliefs. Even atrocities are condoned in the name of religion.


Ja, understatement.  The worst attrocities can only
be explained in terms of religion.



>>Ron Numbers makes the case that those polls which
show a person believing mutually exclusive notions
should be eliminated from the final score. 

>What for? It is merely an accurate portrayal of the chaos in the minds of
many people.


So let's try to measure it.  In the spirit of
previous posts on the topic, let us consider
a test of some kind, that is a combination of
belief survey and a measure of mastery of the
subject.  In the evolution example, I would
speculate that those who demonstrate a stronger
belief in evolution will also know more about
evolution.  How would we design a test?
 

>What for? The on-going monkey trials show all to real fire behind what you
would pass off in part as meaningless smoke.


If you mean public schools are failing to
teach evolution, I am fully aware of that.  The
question is how can it be measured?  What if we
show that belief in creationism correlates with
ignorance of evolution?  Perhaps this would be
meaningless, for a creationist could design
a test to show that belief in evolution 
correlates with ignorance of creationism.  So
how do we derive metrics? 

spike