Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth

[BertRoot]

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204...historyoffbeat

[Freddy]

Daily Star readership poll?

[super mike]

Must be. Bunch of fuckin' dipshits.

[blaggard]

You mean he was real?!

[prezzy]

UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

Fuck knows where they found them dumb cnuts from - having said that half the people round where I live are dumb as fuck

[Cenus_]

UKTV Gold television

One word. Housewife.

[GameKing]

UKTV Gold television

One word. Housewife.

buahahahaha spot on mate.

[BBK]

Shocking! Shoot these people now, put them out of OUR misery!

[GTI]

I think you lot are confusing intelligence for general knowledge. For many people the gap in conventional knowledge (e.g. history, geography) has been filled by other stuff like IT, football, celebrity etc..

[liveseytowers]

UKTV Gold television

One word. Housewife.

They should have done the survey at a Jeremy Kyle show, now that would have made interesting reading!

[4me2]

1/4 think hes a myth and 90% of under 20's think hes a dog from an insurance advert.

[B B Leo]

so its not that dog that sells insurance then!!!!

[grint]

Wonder why we ain't speaking German here...

[TwoPlAnKs]

I think you lot are confusing intelligence for general knowledge. For many people the gap in conventional knowledge (e.g. history, geography) has been filled by other stuff like IT, football, celebrity etc..

i think you might be right

i'm 20 and i'd have got everything mentioned in that article right, but I have a lot of interest in history and in general knowledge in general. but, i know people who are smarter than me(i know it surprised me too) who wouldnt know a lot of that stuff but could tell you loads about other subjects, or who could do amazing maths or write amazing programs or whatever.

i'm sure if you asked the people who were alive during churchill's time as prime minister what USB stands for or what fuse you would put in a toaster or what GHDs do or anything else like that then they'd be equally as stuck as many young people are with those questions

what if you asked your granny if 50 Cent is a real character or a fictional one? Or whether hogwarts is a fictional school of witchcraft or a public school on surrey? it's simply a case of asking the wrong person and not because people are stupid. you wouldnt ask your plumber to have a look at your car whilst he was round or ask your dentist about your wife's thrush problem. just because they wouldnt know doesnt make them stupid.

[blaggard]

i think you might be right

i'm 20 and i'd have got everything mentioned in that article right, but I have a lot of interest in history and in general knowledge in general. but, i know people who are smarter than me(i know it surprised me too) who wouldnt know a lot of that stuff but could tell you loads about other subjects, or who could do amazing maths or write amazing programs or whatever.

i'm sure if you asked the people who were alive during churchill's time as prime minister what USB stands for or what fuse you would put in a toaster or what GHDs do or anything else like that then they'd be equally as stuck as many young people are with those questions

what if you asked your granny if 50 Cent is a real character or a fictional one? Or whether hogwarts is a fictional school of witchcraft or a public school on surrey? it's simply a case of asking the wrong person and not because people are stupid. you wouldnt ask your plumber to have a look at your car whilst he was round or ask your dentist about your wife's thrush problem. just because they wouldnt know doesnt make them stupid.

It's a valid point but the meaning of "USB" "Hogwarts" are a current tech term and pop culture reference, hardly as important as the major player in the worst conflict known to man!!

[BBK]

It's a valid point but the meaning of "USB" "Hogwarts" are a current tech term and pop culture reference, hardly as important as the major player in the worst conflict known to man!!

Quite agree. Churchill is a man of major historical importance, and in WORLD history not just the UK. He's not a figure of pop culture of the time, which I'm sure many of us will never heard of. For someone born in the UK to not know this is a damning indictment on their own stupidity.

[CzarJunkie]

i think you might be right

i'm 20 and i'd have got everything mentioned in that article right, but I have a lot of interest in history and in general knowledge in general. but, i know people who are smarter than me(i know it surprised me too) who wouldnt know a lot of that stuff but could tell you loads about other subjects, or who could do amazing maths or write amazing programs or whatever.

i'm sure if you asked the people who were alive during churchill's time as prime minister what USB stands for or what fuse you would put in a toaster or what GHDs do or anything else like that then they'd be equally as stuck as many young people are with those questions

what if you asked your granny if 50 Cent is a real character or a fictional one? Or whether hogwarts is a fictional school of witchcraft or a public school on surrey? it's simply a case of asking the wrong person and not because people are stupid. you wouldnt ask your plumber to have a look at your car whilst he was round or ask your dentist about your wife's thrush problem. just because they wouldnt know doesnt make them stupid.

That's not strictly true, some of the knowledge that is being 'lost' is crucial to our place within the world. Take Geography for instance, we're quickly catching up with the USA in becoming a nation of dumb fucks who have no idea where other nations are on a map. This kind of knowledge is crucial for the future prosperity of a small Island nation, long term it will also have a negative impact on foriegn policy.

That's just one example. History is also crucial, when I was at school we covered all the major historical events from 1066 right up to WWII and the Space Race. I talk to young people now and their historical perspective is fucked, they don't have any idea of the history of this nation for a start. There's a great saying that goes, "He who doesn't learn from history is deemed to repeat it". If you don't even know anything about history how can you take lessons from it ffs?

[BBK]

I can see it now:

Q. Where is Libya?

A. Dunno mate, innit somewhere on a womans pussy like?

[4me2]

I can see it now:

Q. Where is Libya?

A. Dunno mate, innit somewhere on a womans pussy like?

Dead serious now, none of my nephews or nieces with "A" levels could tell me who Quasimodo is . My 15 year old nephew who leaves school in a few months answered " Wasn't he in Star wars ? "

And when my 21 year old "A" leveled niece asked " Oh, have gays got their own language then ? " when she heard the term Gaelic being mentioned on TV.

Yes she is blonde.

[BBK]

Dead serious now, none of my nephews or nieces with "A" levels could tell me who Quasimodo is . My 15 year old nephew who leaves school in a few months answered " Wasn't he in Star wars ? "

And when my 21 year old "A" leveled niece asked " Oh, have gays got their own language then ? " when she heard the term Gaelic being mentioned on TV.

Yes she is blonde.

Jesus, do they not have Disney's Hunchback of Notredame? What is the world coming too!

It is incredibly that people with this level of qualification can be so fundamentally dumb (no offence). Trouble with education now is we are so focused on results (as proven by the increase in A* grades etc), but we are losing our ability to have "common fucking sense".