# Nearly a third of Texans think "The Flintstones" was a documentary **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 20, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814 "2010-02-20T22:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/1 "2010-02-20T22:30:09Z")
[http://www.texastribune.org/stories/2010/feb/17/meet-flintstones/](http://www.texastribune.org/stories/2010/feb/17/meet-flintstones/) > [@](#): > > Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Anther nugget from the same poll: > [@](#): > > 38 percent agreed with the statement “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.” Is Texas competing with South Carolina in a race to the bottom? Just another reason textbook publishers should never allow Texas to dictate what goes into science books. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/2 "2010-02-20T22:36:27Z")
Not that I’m thrilled by this, but do these numbers differ significantly from the US as a whole? My sense is that Texas isn’t much of whack with the rest of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/3 "2010-02-20T22:58:41Z")
I am sure that nearly half the states in the country share a similarly dismal level of education. I don’t think pointing that out lessens the disgrace it sheds on America. If there were similar polls in every state, I would post them here as well. This has nothing to do with the right to one’s religious beliefs; it is blind, stubborn ignorance. Plenty of Christians do not share this fatuous credulity. I just wish those who do were not so influential. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/4 "2010-02-20T23:10:57Z")
I just don’t know what to think about polls like that. Willful ignorance? Some people are really gullible and believe the first thing that they are told. My mother thought that Forrest Gump was based on a real person (plenty of other examples as well) and yet she can beat me in chess about half of the time and I’m not too shabby. \< shrug \> ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/5 "2010-02-20T23:13:17Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > … Is Texas competing with South Carolina in a race to the bottom? > … There’s quite a race going on for the bottom. There’s Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana – Kansas is always in the running for the most anti-evolutionary education system. And then there’s Florida and Arkansas as dark horse candidates. At this point I wouldn’t place any bets. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/6 "2010-02-20T23:16:54Z")
[It’s unfair to single out Texas for young earth-ism beliefs.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2680/nearly-half-the-u-s-population-believes-the-earth-is-less-than-10-000-years-old) [QUOTE=Cecil] Gallup first surveyed U.S. adults on this score in 1982 and has asked the same question several times since, most recently in May 2006. Participants can choose one of three answers: - “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” It’s fair to describe this as the creationist view. … Between 1982 and 2006, the number subscribing to the creationist view has ranged from 44 to 47 percent… [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/7 "2010-02-20T23:30:15Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > …Kansas is always in the running for the most anti-evolutionary education system. You may be about 3 years behind the times: [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14brf-evolution.html?fta=y](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14brf-evolution.html?fta=y) I can also offer this: [http://www.kansas.com/opinion/story/1000802.html](http://www.kansas.com/opinion/story/1000802.html) > [@](#): > > A new survey shows Kansas secondary biology teachers have the lowest rates of creationist belief of teachers in any of the states surveyed. The survey results — presented at a September conference of the Kansas Association of Biology Teachers and due to be published in an upcoming Kansas Biology Teacher journal — verify that the general press image of Kansas being backward on evolution is completely opposite of the facts. > > The percentage of biology teachers from different states who thought that creation has a valid scientific foundation were: Kentucky teachers, 69 percent; Oklahoma, 48 percent; South Dakota, 39 percent; Ohio, 38 percent; Illinois, 30 percent; Georgia, 30 percent; Louisiana, 29 percent; and Kansas, 24 percent. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/8 "2010-02-20T23:33:15Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > [It’s unfair to single out Texas for young earth-ism beliefs.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2680/nearly-half-the-u-s-population-believes-the-earth-is-less-than-10-000-years-old) My guess is that the OP is worried about Texas influencing the content of text books. Me, I’m not really worried. We are not going to see creationism taught in public schools. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/9 "2010-02-20T23:44:36Z")
Too bad for many that reality is not a democracy where the “idea” with the highest public support is the one that is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/10 "2010-02-21T00:16:50Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > You may be about 3 years behind the times: [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14brf-evolution.html?fta=y](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14brf-evolution.html?fta=y) > > I can also offer this: [http://www.kansas.com/opinion/story/1000802.html](http://www.kansas.com/opinion/story/1000802.html) Or three years ahead. Every elections cycle or so, the people lose focus on education, and a bunch of creationist loonies get thenselves elected to, er, some kind of educational board. And then they try and find some kind of new scheme that sidesteps the court rulings against them from the _last_ time. And then the state becomes a national laughingstock, _again_, and they get tossed out in the next cycle. It’s like a Jesus Horse Merrygoround. I think this has happened like 2 or 3 times. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/11 "2010-02-21T00:18:04Z")
Ya know, there are ignorant assholes in other states, too! Like Iowa, got ignorant assholes. North Dakota, some, but not many, but not many people anyway! New York is full of 'em! You can’t expect the entire state to be as advanced and enlightened as Waco, or Odessa! Just sayin’, is all. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/12 "2010-02-21T00:30:39Z")
I’m honestly to the point where I no longer care that people have erroneous information. I mean, I’m all for fixing the problem, but I lack any ability to get emotionally involved. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/13 "2010-02-21T03:13:03Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > It’s like a Jesus Horse Merrygoround I’d say it is. If I knew what the heck a Jesus Horse Merrygoround was. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/14 "2010-02-21T03:43:53Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > I’d say it is. If I knew what the heck a Jesus Horse Merrygoround was. Here’s [one version](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/414998399_4b1b06b1b8_b.jpg) of a Jesus Horse – it’s all about people and dinosaurs coexisting. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/15 "2010-02-21T03:52:40Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Here’s [one version](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/414998399_4b1b06b1b8_b.jpg) of a Jesus Horse – it’s all about people and dinosaurs coexisting. Wow. I’m not sure if I’m more amused at the “coloring hints”, the names of the crayon colors, or the suggestion that Jesus rode velociraptors bareback. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/16 "2010-02-21T03:57:36Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > I just don’t know what to think about polls like that. Willful ignorance? Some people are really gullible and believe the first thing that they are told. When I was taking Biology 101 as an undergraduate in Arkansas I witnessed what I thought to be am amazing demonstration of willful ignorance. There a small group of people in my class who were routinely making high marks on every exam. I would usually squeak by with an A or a high B but these folks were consistently scoring in the hi 90s. We all got together before classes to study for the tests and when it came time for the section covering evolution many of them just shut down. Comments like “I just don’t believe it” and “It means nothing to me so I don’t want to study it” was what I heard them say. When we got our tests back they ended up making grades in the high 70s and low 80s. It was absolutely amazing, I had honestly never seen anything like it before in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/17 "2010-02-21T04:11:34Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > … or the suggestion that Jesus rode velociraptors bareback. Only Jesus could do that safely. Normal people needed a saddle and a muzzle, and got the raptors declawed first. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/18 "2010-02-21T04:24:36Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > … or the suggestion that Jesus rode velociraptors bareback. No doubt an innocent observation, but subject to sniggering and perverse misinterpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/19 "2010-02-21T04:31:55Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No doubt an innocent observation, but subject to sniggering and perverse misinterpretation. Oh yeah, I forgot condoms from my list. ---
**Author:** ![Snite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Snite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snite)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814/20 "2010-02-21T05:57:28Z")
As the son of two Texas highschool teachers(who despite their creationsit views support teaching evolution in school because they think education should be secular) I will say this: No matter what material is presented to a student, the student will only learn it if they care enough to pay attention. No amount of education reform will make highschool students care more. It’s really shocking how much apathy there is in today’s classrooms. For both my parents it’s their greatest source of stress. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-a-third-of-texans-think-the-flintstones-was-a-documentary/529814.md?page=2)