In an earlier post, I suggested that liberals and conservatives live in two different worlds, and that conservatives, more than liberals, are lacking in epistemic rationality. That is, conservatives have a greater number of beliefs that do not correspond with objective reality. Public Policy Polling, a very credible polling organization, today reported a survey of 600 likely Republican voters in Alabama and 656 in Mississippi. The margin of error on these polls is plus or minus 4%. The main purpose was to predict the outcomes of tomorrow's primaries. Both are said to be too close to call, since the differences among the candidates are smaller than the margin of error.
What I found more interesting were the results of a couple of their throwaway questions--questions that were no doubt included simply to satisfy the pollsters' curiosity. In Alabama, 26% of Republicans said they believe in the theory of evolution, 60% do not, and 14% are not sure. In Mississippi, 22% believe in evolution, 66% don't, and 12% are not sure.
Another question that I believe measures epistemic rationality dealt with President Obama's religion. Only 12% of Mississippi Republicans believe Obama is a Christian, while 52% believe he's a Muslim, and 36% are not sure. In Alabama, 14% believe he's a Christian, 45% say he's a Muslim, and 41% are not sure.
One time, I had a conversation with a conservative student in which we were unable to reach a consensus about reality. When we finally decided to call it quits, his parting words were, "My vote cancels out yours."
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