In Europe, the birthplace of the Enlightenment, millions of citizens remain under the sway of superstition, with widespread beliefs in phenomena such as lucky numbers and worry that society depends too much on science and not enough on faith, anew EU survey has shown.

According to a study on public attitudes to science and technology published on Monday (21 June) of over 30,000 people from EU member states and Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Turkey and Switzerland, two out of five Europeans are superstitious, with a full 40 percent of respondents saying they believe in lucky numbers.

Only slightly more than a third, 35 percent, do not, while the rest feel somewhere in between or say they simply do not know whether certain figures have a magical effect.

Such superstitious belief is on the increase, but only slightly, up from 37 percent in 2005, the last time Brussels organised such a survey.

The strongest belief in lucky numbers tends to be found in poorer European countries in the east and south of the union, while wealthier states with more expansive social welfare systems tend to be less susceptible to myths and legends, although there is no across-the-board correlation, with, for example, 43 percent of Danes believing in the power of numbers while 39 percent of Bulgarians also feel the same way.

Women are slightly more likely (41%) to believe special numbers exist than men (37%).

The survey also shows that across the EU, almost two fifths (38%) of respondents believe that society "depends too much on science and not enough on faith." But only just over a third (34%) feel the opposite way.

In a different vein of science-wary thinking, six out of 10 Europeans feel that science and technology can sometimes damage people's "moral sense," and only 15 percent disagreed with the statement. Along the same lines, one in two Europeans feels that applications of science and technology can threaten human rights.

People are also growing more sceptical of scientists who depend on money from industry, with almost three fifths (58%) agreeing with the statement: "We can no longer trust scientists to tell the truth about controversial scientific and technological issues because they depend more and more on money from industry."

In total though, just 16 percent of citizens disagreed, suggesting very strong disquiet about the corporate influence on science. Interestingly, the more interested in science a correspondent was, the more likely they were to think that industry-backed scientists were less trustworthy.

In a complex picture of contemporary Europe, the EU survey also noted several pro-science trends, indicating that society is becoming increasingly polarised on the issue.

A notable handful of countries have seen very sharp drops in superstition, with 62 percent of Luxembourgers thinking lucky numbers are mumbo-jumbo in 2010, up from just 35 percent in 2005. Malta has also seen a decided increase in those who say lucky numbers are humbug.

Just as more people are saying there should be more faith in society, more people are also saying the opposite.

Overall, 34 percent of people felt comfortable with a lack of faith in society compared to 29 percent in 2005. The level rose top 54 percent in Denmark, which saw a strong debate on religious extremism following the Mohammed cartoons row.

There seems to be a robust interest in science and technology everywhere on the continent, with, perhaps unbelievably at a time when so many eyeballs are focussed on the World Cup, more Europeans interested scientific discoveries than interested in sport (80% to 65%), politics and the arts.

Most people also remain overwhelmingly optimistic about science, with three quarters of citizens thinking that science and technology will bring more opportunities to future generations.

On the whole, the more rich and the less religious a country is, the more its society leans toward rationalism, creating a divide in the EU between the north and west of the bloc and its south and east. But the correlation does not work across the board. Countries which see a more pronounced free-market political discourse, such as the UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic, also place more trust in commercial science.

Neil Denny, the presenter of Little Atoms, a popular UK-based radio programme promoting science, rationalism and the ideas of the enlightenment, saw both worrying and heartening news in the results of the survey.

"While a statistic that suggests that only 46 percent believe ‘The benefits of science are greater than any harmful effects it might have' is disturbing, the fact that 61 percent disagreed with the statement "In my daily life, it is not important to know about science" was cause for optimism," Mr Denny told EUobserver, "as was the fact that 57 percent of EU respondents think scientists should put more effort into communicating about their work."

"Both of these statements suggest a huge public appetite for science and technology." he added, stressing concerns he has about the affects of austerity measures on public funding of science and cheering the survey's result showing strong support for increased spending in the sector.

The EU survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 31,243 citizens in 32 countries in January and February of this year.