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At 3:19 PM -0800 3/1/11, Charlie Carlson wrote:
>  > In the 40% or so of Americans who accept evolution I'd shutter to 
>read some of their explanations.  Maybe they'd tend towards 
>acceptance but probably not understanding.

I have read a good many of them, and it's my opinion that a large 
fraction of people who accept that evolution happened (and will argue 
with creationists about it) don't understand it and don't know they 
don't understand it. Evolution is at least partly a shibboleth that 
serves as a marker for education and political views.

I'm not in a position to criticize though, because I don't really 
understand the rationale for most modern cosmology and a lot of other 
things. I know bridges stand up, but do I really know why? Probably 
not.

In contrast, the middle 60% who say they aren't sure whether 
evolution is right, freely admit they don't understand it. I'm 
tempted to think they are a good audience to target for education 
programs about evolution.

Jennie Dusheck

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