The response to Ardi’s unearthing was not surprising. According to surveys, barely a third of Egyptian adults have ever heard of Charles Darwin and just 8% think there is any evidence to back his famous theory. Teachers, who might be expected to know better, seem equally sceptical. In a survey of nine Egyptian state schools, where Darwin’s ideas do form part of the curriculum for 15-year-olds, not one of more than 30 science teachers interviewed believed them to be true. At a private university in the United Arab Emirates, only 15% of the faculty thought there was good evidence to support evolution.
From this article in the Economist.
I think stuff like this is good for me to see because it reminds me that even though there a lot of dumbasses in this country – A LOT – there are even more dumbasses elsewhere. And in fact, our homegrown dumbasses are like fucking Rhodes Scholars compared to your average global citizen.
This is something very very easy to forget, and while at first I found it kind of hopeful – perhaps we’re not as bad as I thought – upon further reflection it is not at all hopeful. Because it’s not a zero sum game, and having it made clear that Egyptians and vast swaths of the Middle East are ignorant out of the stone ages does not make our own position as Americans any stronger. It just makes the whole world worse.
Bleh.