Jaw dropping....

I think that even sporadic viewing of PBS's Nature, NOVA or most any program on the pre-reality-show Discovery Channel would cut this number significantly.

The poll found that 42 percent of respondents held strict creationist views, agreeing that "living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time."

While the study, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, also says that 48 percent did evolve over time, the fact that 42% of the public would discount the reams and reams of researched and peer-reviewed data that details evolution as a mechanism in human development is incredible.

It's been pointed out other places, but it should be restated as often as possible. Technological innovation will drive the growth of tomorrow's economy. The U.S.'s incredible economic growth in the second half of the 20th century was a direct result of technological innovation. The G.I. bill and the U.S. position as the sole technologically capable nation post-WWII drove the success that conservatives look back so fondly upon.

It was not led by moral absolutists who deplore relativism, but are happy to ignore truth when it contradicts their metaphysical beliefs.

When the center for technological innovation and manufacturing moves out of the U.S. there will be some of us who will remain unsurprised.

- Murphy