Poll: Too many (and growing) Americans believe in nonsense

Chapman University has a yearly Halloween-time survey where they poll Americans about their paranormal and superstitious beliefs. Below are their findings for 2017:

My first reaction is those numbers are significantly lower than I was expecting. I wonder what that says, and about whom.

Second, regardless of my expectations, those numbers are still a few orders of magnitude above their ideal, reality-adhering positions of zero.

Third, here’s how those those beliefs are shared amongst the populace:

# of Beliefs	Percent
No paranormal beliefs	25.3%
1 paranormal belief	20.8%
2 paranormal beliefs	13.8%
3 paranormal beliefs	12.3%
4 paranormal beliefs	9.6%
5 paranormal beliefs	8.4%
6 paranormal beliefs	4.7%
All 7 paranormal beliefs	5.0%

On the one hand, only a quarter of US adults are free from the noted paranormal beliefs (note, of course, that this doesn’t include religion or vague “spirituality”). On the other, only a fraction of that superstitious majority believes in more than one puffy silliness at once. The article also points out that greater belief in hokum is correlated with socioeconomic status, religiosity (obviously) and rural conservatism, and that’s no surprise – preying on the impoverished and disenfranchised is organized religion’s entire m.o., after all.

Oh, and here’s a fun portent: those beliefs are growing, some by more than 10% since last year alone:

Belief	2015	2016	2017
Ancient advanced civilizations such as Atlantis once existed.	--	39.6%	55%
Aliens visited earth in our distant past.	20.3%	27%	35%
​Aliens have come to earth in modern times.	18.1%	24.7%	26%

Gee, I wonder if that may at all be related to the anti-intellectual, education-fearing attitudes we’ve seen growing in the US over the last couple decades, particularly as nurtured by the “elite”-hatin’ demagogic Right.

(via Pharyngula)