Friday, June 8, 2007

Is something wrong with this picture?

As a component of a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, the following two questions were asked of 1,007 adults:

1. Do you think that evolution, that is, the idea that human beings evolved over millions of years from less advance forms of life is definitely true, probably true, definitely false, or probably false?

2. Do you think creationism, that is, the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years is definitely true, probably true, definitely false, or probably false?

Fifty-three percent of respondents replied to the first question that it was definitely true or probably true. And 66% of respondents replied to the second question that it was definitely true or probably true. I found this startling, not because so many people believe in creationism (I've seen polling data in the past with similar results in that respect). I was surprised by the fact that 25% ignored the law of noncontradiction.

I am aware that some who want to simultaneously accept certain conceptions of evolution and creationism will tweak the definitions of those terms to make them compatible (i.e. the six days of creation are metaphorical "days"). However, the definitions promulgated in the polling questions are mutually exclusive.

I am also aware that there is a school of thought that rejects the law of noncontradiction. However, I don't think 25% of the population has pondered Hegel's dialectics, which itself is in dispute.

Whatever one believes about evolution vs. creationism, I just don't understand why one would reject the intuitive concept that the same thing cannot both be and not be. We even have cliche sayings about it -- you can't have your cake and eat it too and you can't have it both ways. Maybe it's just me...

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