Friday, August 20, 2010

This I Believe

So one of the big news items of the last couple of days has been that nearly a fifth of Americans believe that the Obaminator is a Sooper Dooper Sekrit Mooslim. Whatever... I guess the reason it's news is that it's a significant increase in the percentage. I guess the reason I find this so underwhelming is I've learned never to underestimate American ignorance and gullibility. Via Matt Yglesias, here's a new Gallup Poll illustrating the point:Now here's the kicker: only 27% of those polled didn't believe any of the ideas in the above list- in other words, 73% believed in at least one item in the list. So basically, 20-25% of Americans will believe any sort of horseshit you shovel at them.

And we wonder how scammers and spammers do so well.

1 comment:

Dana Hunter said...

Now, see, I totally do believe folks "can communicate mentally with someone who has died." I just don't believe the dead person can communicate back. ;-)