Creationism and democracy

The latest Gallup poll indicates that 46% of Americans, almost half the population, believe in creationism, including that the world was created only some 6000 to 10,000 years ago. I hardly know what to make of this information. It implies that almost half the population either doesn't understand the methods of science, or is entirely unswayed by evidence that contradicts what they want to believe.

It is hard to see how a democracy can function in the modern world with such a population.  But then, our democracy does not seem to be functioning very well these days, and perhaps it is because a successful democracy requires an intellectual and educational level in the voting population that we simply don't have. Certainly successful politicians, who probably do understand their voters pretty well, have learned to simplify even the most complex issues down to simple sound bites, because (I guess) they have found accurate and realistic explanations to be beyond the comprehension of most of their voters.

People are concerned these days that real power in our nation has flowed increasingly to a powerful and wealthy ruling elite. In light of this statistic about creationism it is not clear to me that if power were returned to the general voting public we would get any better governance; indeed we might well get worse government.

It certainly makes me wonder...........