Despite scientific consensus that intelligent design theory is inherently unscientific, 25 per cent of high school biology teachers in the U.S. devote at least some class time to the topic of intelligent design. And in Canada, for example, Alberta passed a law in 2009 that may allow parents to remove children from courses covering evolution.
"Our results suggest that when confronted with existential concerns, people respond by searching for a sense of meaning and purpose in life," says Tracy. "For many, it appears that evolutionary theory doesn't offer enough of a compelling answer to deal with these big questions."
“For many, it appears that evolutionary theory doesn’t offer enough of a compelling answer to deal with these big questions.”
… and so it’s back to believing a thrilling fable because it’s emotionally more satisfying!?
It doesn’t ring quite true that evolution’s answers aren’t sufficiently compelling. It’s just too pat and convenient, assuming as it does that people actually decide on short notice in a conscious, objective and directed way what they are going to believe in this context. I’ll wager that very few people will readily trade the origins myth they grew up with for another one that’s more exciting, fantastic or awesome. What most of these studies ignore is that thinking patterns are largely a matter of habit via the establishing and reinforcing of neural pathways, and that the more firmly engrained they are, the more difficult they are to break.