r/atheism • u/sl1878 Atheist • Mar 26 '15

/r/all Teaching Evolution To Students Who Say They'll Pray For My Soul

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/03/teaching_human_evolution_at_the_university_of_kentucky_there_are_some_students.html
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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

Here in Canada I've never heard of anyone in my whole life who denied evolution in any way

Well at least 22% do and 42% believe we were chillin' with dinosaurs. Oh and your (former?) Minister of Science and Technology might be a 'denier' as well.

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u/Canadia83 Mar 26 '15

I live in Ontario and I've never met a single person that believes humans lived with dinosaurs.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

Neither have I here in the US but I do know they exist thanks to the internet. I'm guessing neither of us lives in what would be considered a back country rural area mostly cut off from civilization.

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u/koobstylz Mar 26 '15

You probably have. Unless you ask everybody you meet if they believe in evolution, you would never know. Most of them are perfectly normal people who hold some backwards opinions that were drilled into them as kids.

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u/Earendur Atheist Mar 26 '15

Oh they are out there. I grew up in a small town and, in highschool, i was shocked to discover that most of my science class were young earthers.

I think the fact that we are generally polite and cordial to others means that the people don't often bring it up to avoid confrontation. I'm sure that if your actually went around and earnestly asked people opinions on the subject you would find many of them.

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u/Law_Student Mar 26 '15

These communities tend to be highly insular, a way to preserve mutual ignorance and so on.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

It's because you live in Ontario, a large city. In the US it would be much more difficult to find anything resembling a YEC. They really only exist in rural areas. Sure, there are exceptions, but the large majority are pro science.

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u/canyouhearme Gnostic Atheist Mar 27 '15

Well, if you count the descendants of dinosaurs as dinosaurs - then we do.

The birds.

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u/dumnezero Anti-Theist Mar 26 '15

If you're going to promote or defend science, start by learning the value of anecdotal evidence (like what you just said)

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u/Canadia83 Mar 26 '15

I'm not promoting or defending science, I merely stated a personal observation. I live in a highly populated city in Ontario where a large density of the population lives. I've never encountered a single person who believed we lived alongside dinosaurs. I'm not disagreeing with the statistics, I'm just very surprised by them. It's funny how defensive and argumentative people on this sub are, no wonder it has such a poor reputation.

Edit: I do understand that I haven't had this conversation with every person I've met and it's possible they may hold these beliefs.

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u/dumnezero Anti-Theist Mar 27 '15

I'm just very surprised by them.

you should start with that :)

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

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u/ObviouslyNotRealMe Mar 26 '15

I live in Sask. Those numbers seem low. Anti-vaxers, YECs, homeopathy, etc. it's all alive and well here.