The term “Darwin’s Big Bang” is apparently a reference to the Cambrian Explosion. Doing some poking around online, it looks like Time Magazine once decided to call the Cambrian Explosion “Darwin’s Big Bang” for a headline. Not sure if anyone else ever used that expression.

Let’s look on the bright side, though: it’s not like anyone needs to understand/believe in evolution in order to live a productive, useful life. A society could get by just fine if only 1% actually believed evolution was the sole means by which humans got here.

For example, look at bible-thumping creationist farmers. They understand that if you overuse antibiotics on their livestock, that this will give rise to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. They chalk it up to “microevolution,” a term that most real scientists don’t use and don’t like. They understand just enough evolution to do their jobs.

America won’t be doomed just because of this creationist nonsense. It won’t even hurt our economy. However, the blowback may damage the Republican Party. (In the short run, given that more Americans believe in divine intervention than pure evolution, it may help Republicans, but we will have to pay the piper sooner or later.)