on skepticblog, michael shermer presents an excerpt of his book, the believing brain: from ghosts, gods, and aliens to conspiracies, economics, and politics—how the brain constructs beliefs and reinforces them as truths [what a title!] :
snip
according to a 2009 harris poll of 2,303 adult americans, when people are asked to “please indicate for each one if you believe in it, or not,” the following results were revealing:
82% believe in god
76% believe in miracles
75% believe in heaven
73% believe in jesus is god or the son of god
72% believe in angels
71% believe in survival of the soul after death
70% believe in the resurrection of jesus christ
61% believe in hell
61% believe in the virgin birth (of jesus)
60% believe in the devil
45% believe in darwin’s theory of evolution
42% believe in ghosts
40% believe in creationism
32% believe in ufos
26% believe in astrology
23% believe in witches
20% believe in reincarnation
/snip
i'm thinking of carrying around this checklist and conducting a private poll...
