Oh this is funny. There’s not even any Gore involved.
We’ve seen that man-made global warming has taken some hits in the opinion polls lately, and that its 10 minutes of fame may be over, but sharp eyed blogger Dave R. at Care2 spotted this zinger. I’ve posted the graphs and tables from the polls with highlights below.
Dave R writes:
In the United States, more people believe that houses can be haunted by the dead than believe that the living can cause climate change. Is this simply a scary Halloween tale or our frightening future?
The latest Pew poll on global warming shows a large drop in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising, from 71% down to only 57% in the last 18 months. And global warming due to human activity? The overall numbers have declined from 47% to 36%. To put this in perspective, a Gallup poll found that 37% of Americans believe that houses can be haunted.
Here’s the Pew poll graphics:
And the Gallup Poll says:
Of course the margins of error for each poll is probably greater than the 1% difference noted, but it is still darn funny.
Perhaps next, to prop up the numbers, the two issues will get fused.
On the Care2 website, DaveR has a poll of his own that asks:
“Does global warming frighten you more than ghosts?”
So far, the Yes votes far outnumber the Noes.
Melinda (09:55:21) :
Otherwise your words are simply flapping in the wind.
Which is just fine with the anti-education forces. Look around on this blog [even] to see that many posters are actually proud of knocking on scientific education. In another thread, there were even people maintaining that it was good and desirable [and protected by the Constitution, no less] for people to impress their beliefs on other people. Probably some of those worms might come out the woodwork and respond to this my comment and spare you having to go look for their postings.
The Lord of darkness, Gore (“el Gordo Al”), will deliver a conference about the hideous global warming next Holy Halloween. No garlic or crosses allowed.
There is something in the fact we do not have to baulk at the protection of the Constitution as look as we face the children, teenagers and college students of today are the people who will be in charge tomorrow. They are the ones who will make the decisions and push them forward. The Constitution also specifically addresses the issue of right to life…. therefore without the awareness of our planet. The education they are receiving and willing to put into practice is what we will all have to depend on in the future.
Lief – SSHS
Work it out for yourself
Pitiful
@Gary Young: 2880 Broadway seventh floor haunted? Probably not, ghosts prefer interactions with sentient beings. ‘Course there could be an aquarium.
@Patrick: I’d say it’s probably to late to do anything about all the incidious things that are affecting our education system.
Especially for me: “too” late.
jlc (12:59:11) :
Lief – SSHS
Work it out for yourself
Pitiful
you lost me on that one.
Polls like this would shake my belief in universal suffrage, if I held such a naive belief.
Comment #42 By Leif Svalgaard on October 27, 2009 at 7:11 am :
“… read from the bottom up. Also note the mild-mannerism of the ignorant.”
That was funny.
This statistical comparison only leaves me wondering why Americans are so stupid (or at least the Americans surveyed for the purposes of acquiring this statistic).
I would rather Americans believe in climate change than haunted houses. At least climate change has the built-in intention of caring for the environment.
Even considering that over a third of Americans believe in haunted houses makes me want to move to Denmark.
Well, we have a Specter in the Senate, don’t we? So why would the House be immune?
Mark me down with the 37%.
Steve (18:17:33) :
“This statistical comparison only leaves me wondering why Americans are so stupid”
It’s not just Americans, stupidity may be a global phenomena:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/19558/paranormal-beliefs-come-supernaturally-some.aspx
“more people in each country believe in haunted houses than any of the supernatural or paranormal items tested; 37% of Americans believe, as do 28% of Canadians and 40% of Britons.”
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c7/c7s2.htm#c7s2l3
Belief in astrology may be more prevalent in Europe. In 2001, 53% of Europeans surveyed thought astrology is “rather scientific” and only a minority (39%) said it is not at all scientific.
The fact that so many people believe in haunted houses is testament to how woeful our scientific literacy is in the USA.
An insteresting statement of whether science has brought greater belief in haunted houses or if it simply the fact that people are willing to search further than their own front door. Some could look at haunted houses as an unknown that science has not touched.
“A haint cain’t haint a haint . . . “
makes me want to move to Denmark.
I suggest Dragshom Castle . . .
http://paranormal.suite101.com/article.cfm/ghosts_of_dragsholm_castle
Benjamin P. (19:07:31) :
The fact that so many people believe in haunted houses is testament to how woeful our scientific literacy is in the USA.
Not so sweeping please. Beliefs in metaphysical phenomena should not be contrasted to science in such a way.
The more science progresses, the more unknowns are discovered. An 18th century scientist faced with a 3D hologram would surely believe in the supernatural. This would not make him less a scientist, as long as he/she clearly knew where science started and ended and beliefs took over.
Beliefs are a level of thought organization crucial to our development as a species, and very useful. Science involved on a meta level when we finally organized a system of objective reality. Still, beliefs are needed to face metaphysical situations from birth and death to even falling in love, for all humans, including scientists. It behooves scientists to know where science stops and beliefs take over, but it is hard for the general population.
I believe, and I know it is a belief, and not science, that any metaphysical effects, from telepathy ( of which I have experience) to haunted houses can be explained with laws of physics that have not been discovered yet. Present day physics leaves open a lot of gateways with time being a dimension even in orthodox physics and many more time and space dimensions available in frontier theories to allow me to hold such a belief.
I will not invalidate the experience of fellow humans by saying :science cannot explain it therefore it does not exist, from reincarnational memories to near death experiences. In the end, each of us is one running experiment, with a beginning a middle and an end, and we each will know the results soon enough.
anna v (00:29:27) :
An 18th century scientist faced with a 3D hologram would surely believe in the supernatural.
Would he? A scientist of all people would surely look for an explanation of the phenomena.
I believe, and I know it is a belief, and not science, that any metaphysical effects, from telepathy ( of which I have experience) to haunted houses can be explained with laws of physics that have not been discovered yet.
But these beliefs can be (and have been) tested by experiment and have found to be wanting. A non-existent phenomenon doesn’t require a physical explanation.
I absolutely agree with Anna v. for the idea to push away or look down upon anyone’s beliefs into the unknown is nothing to be accepted. I am a Spiritual Intuitive and have indeed experienced many haunted houses as other that science has yet to be able to explain. A great science mind Doug Matzke has shown through many of his works that all things are connected and are balancing in every arena. The concept to believe that energy is not continual that the energy of a person who had existed and has simply left his/her physical being should therefore be an easy theory to accept.
Yarmy (06:10:07) :
Would he? A scientist of all people would surely look for an explanation of the phenomena.
The difference between scientific belief and ‘other’ [e.g. religious, ideological, etc] belief is largely that scientific belief can be falsified [and a lot end up that way], while ‘other’ belief is not open for discussion or falsification.
Leif Svalgaard (07:43:34) :
The difference between scientific belief and ‘other’ [e.g. religious, ideological, etc] belief is largely that scientific belief can be falsified [and a lot end up that way], while ‘other’ belief is not open for discussion or falsification.
Indeed. And more generally…
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” (Bertrand Russell)
infrasound and haunted houses:
The presence of the tone [ sounds beneath 20 Hz down to 0.001 Hz ]resulted in a significant number (22%) of respondents reporting anxiety, uneasiness, extreme sorrow, nervous feelings of revulsion or fear, chills down the spine and feelings of pressure on the chest.[19][20] In presenting the evidence to British Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the scientists responsible said,
“These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have unusual experiences even though they cannot consciously detect infrasound. Some scientists have suggested that this level of sound may be present at some allegedly haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations that they attribute to a ghost—our findings support these ideas.”
Electrophysiology and “telepathy”?
“Extracellular field potentials are local current sinks or sources that are generated by the collective activity of many cells. Usually a field potential is generated by the simultaneous activation of many neurons by synaptic transmission.” Wik
Once the criminal elite realise more people believe in ghosts they could set up
a new phenomena of Global “Haunting” and tax everyone to death.