Krugman on the Pew Poll, Evolution, and Conservative Tribalism

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The big takeaway is that a plurality of self-identified Republicans now believe that no evolution whatsoever has taken place since the day of creation — let alone that evolution is driven by natural selection. The move is big: an 11-point decline since 2009.

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Wait — is the theory of evolution somehow related to Obama administration policy? Not that I’m aware of, but that’s not the point. The point, instead, is that Republicans are being driven to identify in all ways with their tribe — and the tribal belief system is dominated by anti-science fundamentalists. For some time now it has been impossible to be a good Republicans while believing in the reality of climate change; now it’s impossible to be a good Republican while believing in evolution.

I say that the tribalism hypothesis is a pretty good one.

Hypotheses are virtually useless without testing...but testing will never be done here. Still, it's not a dumb guess.

(previously)