55% of Australians prefer a God-guided or biblical account of the development of human beings over Darwinian evolution, an Australian science communication researcher was reported in The Otago Daily Times as saying. Now, I lived and worked in Australia for 12 years and I didn't see any evidence that our Aussie friends are a particularly god-fearing bunch, so I can only conclude that the survey was conducted outside the Waggawagga Methodist Church at 11am on a Sunday or that the majority of respondents thought that "Darwinian" referred to residency in the Northern Territory's capital city.
As a Kiwi writing about Australians, I favour the latter explanation, but lest any Americans who might happen upon this post should be feeling smug, the same report says that only 40% of Americans believe the Darwinian account of evolution.
Okay, okay, New Zealanders are not all that rational either. According to a Massey University survey, 39% of Kiwi adults believe fortune-tellers can predict the future. There is no mention, however, of fortune-tellers setting up their tents at racetracks alongside the bookies. Apparently their entrepeneurial skills don't match their fortune-telling expertise.
If the surveys are accurate, my greatest worry is that one day I might have to face trial by a jury of New Zealanders (or Australians or Americans) with my defence depending their ability to digest scientific evidence!
0 comments:
Post a Comment