In the face of ever-increasing contradictory evidence, millions of Americans believe God created humans as they exist today and that Earth is just thousands of years old. Why?

Salman Hameed, assistant professor of integrated science and humanities at Hampshire College, says people often cling to improbable explanations of their experiences and the world around them because abandoning them means losing their sense of themselves and the relationships, comfort and other benefits that come with belonging to a community.

How best to advance the causes of knowledge and reason then? By showing believers what they stand to gain, he says. –ARK

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