I know the methodology is dubious, and I know it doesn’t say much except how stupid the viewers of a certain UK TV channel are, but … damn … this one is funny, and worth mentioning:
Nearly quarter of Brits think Churchill a myth: poll
Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll which shows nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth, while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
Read the whole thing — I dare you to.
While I know the headline is the worst, conflating a guaranteed-not-very-scientific poll with a national trend for their whole country, but seriously, who could possibly be under the impression that Winston Churchill and Gandhi were fictional? It’s just nuts …
The article also mentions Florence Nightingale and Richard the Lionheart as other figures believed “fictional” by a large percentage, and while I think they’re slightly different and slightly more forgivable examples, it still reaks of extraordinary stupidity. Florence and Richard are both very real of course, but both people that are imbued with plenty of popular myth to go with their reality — not to mention lacking obvious film of them a la Churchill and Gandhi.
But still, where are these people that were polled and what can we do about them?!?!