A poll 65 million years in the making
Welcome to YouGov's weekly newsletter The Surveyor, with new polling data, insights, and charts on politics, life, and other topical issues — from our U.S. News team.
This week, we're spotlighting surveys about dinosaurs, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., health, Christmas, artificial intelligence, crypto, health insurance, and college football.
We're going to cover fresh polling data on a weighty and terrible topic: dinosaurs.
These fearsome Mesozoic animals have long captivated many people both young and old. I'm far from alone in having wanted to be a paleontologist when I was young, and media such as Jurassic Park or Dinotopia have long fascinated audiences with visions of humans and living dinosaurs meeting up.
But if you, like me, have long loved the terrible lizards, I have bad news: lots of Americans don't agree with you. Only 13% of Americans say they "love" dinosaurs. Another 31% say they merely "like" dinosaurs. And while only 5% say they "dislike" or even "hate" dinosaurs, 47% profess an even more shocking opinion about the creatures who dominated the Earth for the better part of 200 million years: indifference.
Likewise, 41% of U.S. adult citizens say they don't have a favorite dinosaur, which my mind can barely fathom. Only 5% of Americans gave the correct answer — triceratops — but even the 19% who named tyrannosaurus rex are outnumbered by millions of people who somehow just don't care. (And the 6% who named velociraptors might do well to avoid looking up details about the actual velociraptors, rather than the version depicted in the Jurassic Park franchise.)
I could not, of course, just leave things there. Who are these Americans who mystifyingly don't care about dinosaurs? So I looked at the breakdown of the favorite dinosaur question against a whole host of other information YouGov gathers.
One immediately striking factor is age. Majorities of adults under 65 say they have a favorite dinosaur, compared to 44% of older Americans. Men are more likely to have favorite dinosaurs than women; parents of children under 18 are more likely to have one than those who aren't taking care of minors. There's no big difference based on education — 54% of college graduates and 55% of non-college graduates have a favorite dinosaur. But a big gap emerges on how much attention people pay to public affairs news: 62% of Americans who follow what's going on in government and public affairs "most of the time" have a favorite dinosaur, compared to 42% of those who follow the news "only now and then."
Get more dinosaur-related findings in our full article.
— David Montgomery
Charting opinions
What Americans think of RFK Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda
Certain proposals by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — such as requiring nutrition education in federally-funded medical schools, banning certain food additives, and increasing restrictions on pesticides — are popular, receiving support from majorities of Democrats and Republicans. His plans to lift restrictions on raw milk and to remove fluoride from public drinking water are more divisive. And few Americans — but a sizable share of Republicans — agree with Kennedy's assertions on the dangers of vaccines.(Taylor Orth)
What Americans believe about health, from eight daily glasses of water to the hair of the dog
YouGov asked Americans whether 50 health beliefs — some might call some of them folk remedies; others, old wives' tales — are true or not. The five health beliefs included in the survey that are most likely to be believed are that you need to drink eight glasses of water a day (76% say this is true), that eating late at night leads to weight gain (75%), that sugar makes children hyperactive (75%), that Vitamin C prevents colds (68%), and that sitting too close to the TV damages your vision (63%). (Taylor Orth)
The share of Americans who think there is a war on Christmas has fallen sharply since 2022
A new YouGov survey finds that 86% of Americans plan to celebrate Christmas or another winter holiday. Many will be traveling, taking children to see Santa, listening to holiday music, and finding other ways to enjoy the season. The poll also explored whether Americans think there is a war on Christmas and which political party they think Santa Claus would be more likely to support. (Jamie Ballard)
Quick takes
AI: 36% of Americans say they are very (11%) or somewhat (25%) concerned that artificial intelligence will cause the end of the human race on Earth
Crypto: 16% of Americans say they currently own cryptocurrency, and 14% say they once did; 70% say they have never owned crypto
Health insurance: 37% of Americans say the U.S. health insurance system is "very confusing"; another 37% say it's "somewhat confusing"; only 4% say it's "not at all confusing"
College football: 36% of Americans say they're planning to watch at least some of the NCAA College Football Playoff
Person of the year: 33% of Americans say Donald Trump was the finalist most deserving of Time Magazine's 2024 Person of the Year designation, far more than any of the other nine finalists; second place was Kamala Harris (15%), while the strongest showing for a non-politician was Elon Musk (7%). Trump (2016), Harris (2020), and Musk (2021) all have previously been named a Person of the Year (alone or with someone else)
Elsewhere
Polling partnerships
The Economist + YouGov on health care, the presidential transition, the economy, President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, and cryptocurrency
Polling abroad
Polling in the press
The political case for limiting pardon power (Washington Post)
How to Pack a ‘Go Bag’ for Extreme Weather (New York Times)
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends (USA Today)
Health insurers: the 800-pound gorilla in profit-driven US system (Agence France-Presse)
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This newsletter is compiled by David Montgomery and Carl Bialik.