Being an engineer, it drives me crazy sometimes that people
don’t and won’t believe facts and scientific evidence. My whole life and foundation
is built around facts and using them. When I say a fact that I know if true and
someone disagrees with me, it makes me very frustrated. How can people believe
that? One controversial topic related directly to this is evolution.
There is scientific evidence that proves evolution is a fact
itself. Not only is it good data, but there is a lot supporting it enough were
it is known to be a fact in the scientific community. There are three main
arguments that help explain how evolution is a fact; common traits or common ancestor,
seeing species change over time, and the remnants of past generations. I am not
here to convince you that this is true though. If you want to see more, you can
click the link below.
Why do people not believe this? How can someone look at all
the science of this and still say it isn’t true? Some will say that it has to do
with religion, which can very well be what this is. But the bigger question part
of it is that people are stubborn and will stick to their view regardless. There
have been multiple studies done revolving around how hard it is to change people’s
minds, even for simple facts. Another way to explain this that science is a
system that corrects for people’s natural inclinations. Science tells people
when they are wrong and it has proof to show, and people hate to be wrong. It
is in our nature. It doesn’t matter what the topic is, no one wants to admit
they are wrong. They don’t want to be weak.
As I was doing research about this, I found a study that was
done saying that the more education someone has, the more likely they are to
believe in evolution. This tells me that whether people believe in evolution
being a fact has to do with the way we grow up and how much education we have. This
makes very much sense. Knowledge equals power. To have more knowledge can be a dangerous
thing as well. People also don’t like other who are smart than they are. This
is again in our blood. We are competitive and want to be the smartest and be
right. And that is what I have figured out while going through all the paper
and research around evolution fact and why people will not accept it. People
are stubborn. People don’t want to be wrong. It doesn’t matter if we are
talking about evolution or climate change or the color of the grass to be
green.
Below are some of the links I found that are great at
explaining why people don’t believe in facts.
I, too, cannot fathom how people don't believe in evolution. Going with the comment Brianna made, I find it very interesting how she mentions that evolution undermines the anthropocentric image of ourselves that we uphold--we want to believe that we, as humans, are different and superior... we don't want to think that we could be mixed up with other species in any way. Also, religion, as always, plays a key factor in this belief-- it heavily conflicts with evolution, and people would rather have faith in their centuries-old religion than in the data that has been more recently established by scientists. Another thing that I found interesting was how you said that "science is a system that corrects for people’s natural inclinations." I like this because it situates science as something that not only provides knowledge or a means through which we can explore things that make us naturally curious but also as something that "corrects" us and, in a way, saves us from our own cognitive flaws.
ReplyDeleteIts amazes me how much people want their OPINIONS to be right. I notice that a lot in Facebook posts from people who share something that they think is a fact and believe what they shared (like Robin's friend), but in reality, its a fake meme that has made its way around the internet and is sticking with people who believe it without knowing the facts. There are so many memes and viral posts on social media that people think are real because of the popularity, but when you try to tell them that what they posted is false, they attack you. One big one I remember being a part of is a vaccination post that an old coworker posted. She reposted a video of vaccination "facts" and how vaccines contain harmful ingredients that could kill children or cause mental disorders. What I informed her on was about my research on vaccines, and yes there are ingredients, such as aluminum, that is harmful in LARGE QUANTITIES, but there is a miniscule amount in vaccines. Yet, she argues with me. People, like anti-vaxxers, are some of the people you mention about being stubborn and don't want to be wrong. I understand the struggle.
ReplyDeleteEvolution is an interesting topic especially to a person/people of faith. I want to use Catholicism as an example. In an earlier post, I had written about the difference between truth and fact and how the Bible is truth, not fact. Although the Church takes no official position in cosmological, biological, or human evolution, the Church does make clear that if any of these were absolutely fact and truth, that the process itself is derived by the will of God and not random forces. Some Christian's however, do not know that the story of creation is not to be read as literal, but rather allegorical. Because of this, many Christians say that evolution is impossible despite the evidence for it, but what really brings the conflict is the explanation for why it happens. I am not sure how other religions work in their explanations to be in favor, in the middle or against this topic, but I'm sure there is a deeper explanation than what we see on tv, social media, or what our perceptions of other people's beliefs are.
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