Republicans With College Degrees Are More Likely To Deny Global Warming Than Republicans With No Degree

People believe what they want to believe, but republican's are even less susceptible to data that challenges their beliefs than democrats. This article presents data on global warming denial that shows that republicans who graduated from college are more committed to denial than less educated republicans. The opposite is true for democrats. Those who graduated from college align themselves with the scientific community on global warming more often than those who did not attend college.

Since I have a belief that education opens the mind, I am surprised to learn that education has the opposite effect on republicans. I am still surprised when I have discussions with highly educated republicans who share many of the beliefs held by Tea Party members who are less well educated. Global warming denial is a classic example, but it is not hard to find problems in data that point to problems well in the future. I was more surprised by discussions with friends, that have PhD's, who believe that Obama is not a US citizen, and who believe much of the right wing nonsense that floats around the Internet. For example, one of my friends argues that the budget surpluses in the Clinton administration were the result of reforms made by the Reagan administration. On the other hand, he does not believe that the Bush administration had any responsibility for the budget deficits in the Obama administration. He does not see any inconsistency in his positions. He also has a very smart son who is beginning his search for colleges. The family has ruled out Harvard and several other prestigious colleges that they regard as "too liberal". I must admit, however, that I was pleased that my son chose a college that had a reputation for being liberal. I would not have been displeased, however, if he had selected another college that offered him admission with a reputation for being more conservative. Both of these colleges provide an excellent education. Perhaps the difference between my friend and myself is that he feels that it is necessary to protect his son from exposure to those who have do not share his belief system.