Global Warming, Evolution And The Big Bang - Staggering Number Of Americans Doubt Accepted Science.

I am Non-American, but I do feel this is a desperate attempt to shame people, almost forcing them into a belief system which is not a religion, but is about science. Hows this story for being tricky dicky.

* "NEW YORK -- One of the many paradoxes that contort the US national character is the country’s uneasy relationship with science. Not litmus paper and Bunsen burners, but a raw belief that science can provide or at least go some way to informing truth.

This seems odd for a nation that put a man on the moon, created the atom bomb (with European help) and regularly pioneers breakthroughs in medical procedures and treatments. However, a new associated Press-GfK poll highlights how some scientific concepts are far more accepted than others.

Participants in the survey were asked not whether they believed in settled science facts but to rate their confidence in myriad scientific statements. Asked whether they believed smoking caused cancer, there were few doubts about the veracity of the statement.

Asked whether they were confident about global warming, the age of the earth and evolution by natural selection and the respondents were not quite so sure. Yet perhaps the most interesting area of doubt surrounded the theory of the Big Bang, the prevailing cosmological model for the origins of the universe, which, according to science, poured forth some 13.8 billion years ago.

Only 4% doubted that smoking causes cancer, while a meagre 8% doubted that our physical being is determined by a genetic code. However, 40% said they were not confident that the earth is warming up, with a similar number casting doubt on the age of the earth and that man is a product of evolution by natural selection. Amazingly, more than half (51%) expressed strong doubt over the Big Bang theory."


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www.huffingtonpost.co.uk...

If you read on it is pretty clear that this is another ploy to enforce..well I'm not sure really, AGW/climate change/the big bang/we are all edjits, as if all are are somehow correlated and correct to each other. I mean, did the big bangers tell you that climate change was just around the corner? No, they didn't tell me that either!

I will add that the star guest is a video called, " What climate change means to you" presented with a somewhat sceptical Ozzie, but I will also add CBS's, "No more snow" recent show, I wonder why they stuck that up with all the recent blizzards in the US.

a reply to: smurfy

Serious question OP!!!!

Is it a wonder that people "question science"?

Here is a good one for ya to chew on!

Composing Only 5% of the World Population, Americans Take 50% of All Pharmaceutical Drugs

How is that possible?????

Yet you want to bash those whom don't believe in the studies paid for by the same governments that are looking to tax people for breathing???????

Sorry! Al Gore was the biggest mistake that the Global Alarmists could have chosen to BS the poor to pay to breath!

originally posted by: smurfy
some scientific concepts are far more accepted than others

what are you saying ? that "accepted" science should be "accepted" ?

because if that's the case, then no Copernic, no Einstein, no Tesla and so many many other genius that would not have challenged that accepted science of their time...

accepted science is another belief system, like religion

(but maybe i didn't understand your post & that's exactly what you meant ?)

a reply to: smurfy
Maybe you need to research global temperatures over the last 10,000 years. Then get back to us.

a reply to: Bilk22

But that's not NEARLY as sensational. Or profitable.

Wait...those bast...!

There was a time when we could blame most things on Bush now it's co2 ...too cold too warm too dry too wet well it's no longer Bush but co2 ..science alright ..Science tells us the we need to act now to stop climate change ...mmm when did climate start changing ? ...would we really want to stop climate change ? Bush or Obama I could understand .But co2 .well that is what science is telling us ...

ETA here you go ..big bang black holes and scientist that say it's so lol www.youtube.com...

Science is the best tool we have to describe our world.
But science by nature is skeptical.

Just since I have been alive the estimated age of the
universe (as reported by leading astrophysicists) has changed
many times. Likewise, the number of stars in our galaxy and
the number of estimated galaxies in the universe.

Likewise with global warming, a mere glance into history
proves that the earth regularly cycles thru periods of warming
and cooling. What has not been established is how much effect
humans are having on our latest warming trend.

But you are referring to those who believe their religion
trumps accepted scientific theory. And that is a sad thing.
Religion is for describing how to live...science is for describing
the world we live in...

originally posted by: rival
Science is the best tool we have to describe our world.
But science by nature is skeptical.

Just since I have been alive the estimated age of the
universe (as reported by leading astrophysicists) has changed
many times. Likewise, the number of stars in our galaxy and
the number of estimated galaxies in the universe.

Likewise with global warming, a mere glance into history
proves that the earth regularly cycles thru periods of warming
and cooling. What has not been established is how much effect
humans are having on our latest warming trend.

But you are referring to those who believe their religion
trumps accepted scientific theory. And that is a sad thing.
Religion is for describing how to live...science is for describing
the world we live in...

So it's ok to believe climatologists when they say that the Earth has gone through periods of warming and cooling but then if climatologists say that it's been established (because the dissenters are in a fraction of a percent) that we're currently in a warming trend and that human activity has contributed to it then we should become skeptical?

So the rule is only believe scientists when scientists agree with what you want to believe?

I don't believe in the big bang theory, the evidence they have could apply to different possibilities. I don't believe in the theory of evolution as stated, there is way more possibilities that could change the steady progression. I believe that we can and are messing up the weather on this planet, although some evidence is misapplied, much of it is actually good evidence. None of this requires a tax.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I don't believe in the big bang theory, the evidence they have could apply to different possibilities. I don't believe in the theory of evolution as stated, there is way more possibilities that could change the steady progression. I believe that we can and are messing up the weather on this planet, although some evidence is misapplied, much of it is actually good evidence. None of this requires a tax.

I agree!

Not saying we don't have problems that need addressed at all. HOWEVER, by governments allowing Corporations to NOT pay taxes and to CONTINUE to pollute the environment while TAXING those of us whom are just trying to survive is INSANITY!!!

Plus, the whole Climate Change agenda is ridiculous in it's own right, because the climate of planet EARTH has been changing for thousands of years!!!

Science is only as reliable as to the reason the scientist are working and whom is PAYING THEM for the desired results!

Life is a wonderful thing, so many choices, from what we believe to what we eat. To choose one thing to believe in and stand behind is closing so many other doors. I appreciate what "accepted " science has done so far, but day after day i feel as though i'm 11 years old again and just found out my brother didn't come from the baby store like my parents led me to believe. what I "believe " in changes with what I feel is the most factual representation of any subject, I will never understand the mind set of those who don't think that way so I try not to worry too much. I can only hope the close minded fall out of power and finally let the human race progress.

Science needs to be questioned more than it is. It would be be foolish to blindly believe anything about this reality. Nothing should be regarded as truth.

a reply to: smurfy
To accept "Science" is a religious endeavor.
To accept "the scientific principle" as a method for considering "Science" is prudent.
When scientists work for Exxon, GMO, Inc., Greenpeace, Kill the Whales, Save the Whales, Marlboro Country, and Samuel Adams...and they all come out with studies that conclude opposite to what the scientists on the other side of the aisle have concluded - There is Reason to Question "Science".
No difference between/among "Industrial", "Commercial", "Medical", "Pharmaceutical", "Geological", "Archaeological"...etc...either.

Hmmm... I can't agree with the media here. They want to give the impression that Global Warming or Climate Change 'their way' is as settled as the 1st law of thermodynamics. Well... Saying so don't make it so and it isn't made by a country mile.

The rest sounds reasonable tho. ..Well.. Except for the age of Earth. No..I'm not one of those 6,000 year people. Silly..since we have man in habitation back at least 11,400 years. It's that Millions or Billions and how many of which one I kinda smile on the assumption we can get anywhere near right with current methods.

I guess we'll never get that Pics or it didn't happen on the Big Bang...but I'll take that wee detail on faith until or unless a better theory floats down the creek.

originally posted by: Bilk22
a reply to: smurfy
Maybe you need to research global temperatures over the last 10,000 years. Then get back to us.

Who's us? Anyway, here's one I drew earlier..no I didn't, I made it up.



Now go and get your own version..see how these things work?

There is an Anti-intellectual attitude pushed upon the american people.

It is sold that they are dumb, told that they are.

Our Children go under educated.

No body, wants the american people thinking, this is a Symptom of a greater Illness.

Whats the cause of it all?

I don't know who benefits?

Some say its religion, of course, as a Religious person I think that has little to do with it.

I think those in power want a dumb general populous, they teach you what to think, not how to think.

Even as a Religious person, I feel science should be held in reverence, it is vital to our understanding of the world around us.

Atheist, Theist, Dem, Rep, American, European, HUMAN, it doesn't mater, MORE knowledge only helps.

"Science is assuming the experts are wrong." - David Freedman

It should be noted that assuming the experts are wrong is only productive if you make an intelligent effort to correct them.

Here's my litmus test on issues of 'settled' science:

Challenge the scientist. If you detect an outburst of ego ... you're dealing with opinion. If you get a hyper complex mathematical equation ... you're probably being BS'd into silence.

OTOH, if someone shows you an experiment, and they repeat that experiment producing the same results ... you can safely bet the scientist knows what s/he's talking about.

originally posted by: Snarl
Here's my litmus test...
OTOH, if someone shows you an experiment, and they repeat that experiment producing the same results ... you can safely bet the scientist knows what s/he's talking about.

Kind of like a 'good magician'.
I prefer magic, anyway.

a reply to: smurfy

Good now the next step is to start challenging institutions.

That will bring about an evolutionary change in the way we think