A new Associated Press-GfK poll has found that when it comes to ideas about science that can be perceived as a conflict to religious or political values, Americans remain unsure. Though only a very small percentage doubts that smoking can cause cancer or have skepticism about the concept of genetic code, ideas like the age of the earth, the origins of the universe and man-made global warming remain contentious.
About 4 in 10 say they are not too confident or outright disbelieve that the earth is warming, mostly a result of man-made heat-trapping gases, that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old or that life on Earth evolved through a process of natural selection, though most were at least somewhat confident in each of those concepts. But a narrow majority—51 percent—questions the Big Bang theory.
Researchers believe that in addition to a variety of political and religious beliefs held by many Americans, big concepts that people don’t regularly encounter (unlike cancer or illness) can often lean them toward skepticism ...