A study in the journal Evolutionary Psychology has found that “Exposure to a celebrity’s opinion about evolution can influence individuals’ acceptance of evolution”. It established that reading an expert’s opinion, in this case a fictitious biology professor, did not change a person’s core belief about evolution. Whereas, when reading an endorsement for evolution expressed by movie star George Clooney, the participants showed a greater acceptance.

Despite Clooney having no expertise in the field of study, he was an effective endorser simply due to his film-star status. The Bible is clear that people should not just accept someone’s word, and display gullibility to either star power or an ‘expert’, but should conduct their own investigation, examining the truth of such matters for themselves (Acts 17:11).

• Arnocky, S. et al., Celebrity opinion influences public acceptance of human evolution, Evolutionary Psychology, July–September, pp. 1–11, 2018 | doi:10.1177/1474704918800656.