Reason Has Left the Room

Trend prediction quote of the day:
“We’re just on the cusp of a massive explosion in mobile Internet and computing and adoption taking off.”
--Michael Cahill, Portfolio Manager, Chilton Investment Company

The earth is at the center of the universe, with the sun and stars revolving around it. Diseases are caused by demon possession. Or they are caused by an imbalance of bodily humours. The four known elements are earth, air, wind and fire. The earth was created 6,000 years ago.

All of these ancient beliefs, common at the time of the bible, have been superseded by uncontested scientific discovery and research. But, according to a 2006 Gallup poll, almost half of Americans still believe that the earth was created 6,000 years ago, literally according to the account in Genesis.

There is a creation science museum just outside San Diego, and a “Creation Museum” under construction in Petersberg, Kentucky, near Cincinnati. The San Diego museum is a popular stop for groups of schoolchildren who visit from Christian schools. Among the exhibits is a row of photos of “creation scientists” across from a row of photos of those “believing” in evolution.

The row of photos of those “believing” in evolution includes Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler, but does not include other “believers” such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Desmond Tutu and Gandhi.

My guess is that the belief in biblical creation will very gradually decline over the next 100 years, but it will hang on beyond all attempts at reason--as it has over the last 150 years. When Copernicus demonstrated that the earth was revolving around the sun, it was considered just a theory. Years later, Galileo, whose thinking now underlies much of modern science, faced persecution and excommunication from the church when he presented data confirming Copernicus.

It took hundreds of years for a majority of people to accept that the earth revolved around the sun. Evidently, it will also take hundreds of years for a majority of Americans to accept that the actual age of the earth is 4.5 billion years.