Unplugging from the world wide web for a few days can be a difficult adjustment. Coming back can be even more difficult. I’ve realized, quite suddenly, while I was out in the woods without internet access, that the Information Age has come to an end. Information itself is now obsolete.
No matter what the facts are, no matter how much information is available to us, approximately 20 percent of the population will opt for something else.
This came to my attention, of course, when The Guardian reported today a recent poll showing that 1 in 5 Americans believe their president, Barack Obama, is Muslim. What does one even say to such a thing? Who are these people? Where do they come from? Do they know how to read?
I wanted to find out more about this strange 2o percent of the population, so I did some research. The results are startling. I thought I recognized this 20 percent from another poll a year or so ago. And I was actually able to find it after a bit of digging. It was actually a CNN poll from 2009 showing that 1 in 5 Americans supported the use of torture in terrorism interrogations. Yes, the use of torture to protect fairness, democracy, freedom and basic human rights. Laughable? Hardly.
Don’t get snide. It’s not just the United States. It seems to be a global problem. For example, I found a Canadian survey that showed about 1 in 5 Canadians dismiss evolution and believe that God created the universe less than 10,000 years ago because that’s what they infer from the parts of a book that were once read to them. (Yes, I know about half of Americans agree with this too, so, okay, non-Americans, you can get just a little snide if you want.)
But it goes deeper than this.
A Reuters poll in April 2010 showed 1 in 5 believe aliens not only exist, but live among us… disguised as humans.
Another poll that month showed that 4 out of 5 Americans distrust the government. This means of course, that 1 in 5 do.
A BBC poll in March 2010 showed that 4 out of 5 people in the word believe internet access is a fundamental right… meaning this 1 in 5 do not.
Are you seeing the same trend here? It seems no matter what the country, or what the poll is about, approximately 1 in every 5 people surveyed are completely messed up. Is it possible, through all these polls, it is the same 20 percent?
It goes well beyond pop culture or politics. Their personal lives are also a shambles. In fact, a CNN poll in earlier this month showed that 1 in 5 people who are in a relationship are actually in love with someone else. Can you imagine the pressure this would cause on the human psyche? Living with such guilt and heartache? Is it any wonder you would eventually start using drugs to keep your brain sharp (Yes, 1 in 5, according to a nature.com survey published last year.)
A poll in Canada shows that 1 in 5 will suffer from mental illness at one point or another in their lives.
Finally, yes, I did look into this last bit of data because I knew someone, somewhere would bring it up. While four out of five dentists do recommend sugarless gum, 1 in 5 dentists apparently do not. Their recommendation? And here, I quote: “Bubblicious baby! Hell yeah!”
Personally, I have two possible theories. First, no matter what topic, 1 in 5 people are going to dismiss all evidence to deny things that are easily verifiable, because it seems easier, or because someone implied that it is so.
My second theory is that no matter what the survey, 1 in 5 people have a brilliant, though somewhat twisted, sense of humour. Is Barack Obama an alien? Yes. Is sugarless gum better for your teeth? No. I can see them now, sitting back, smoking pot, listening to the Doors and laughing at every researcher who calls them on the phone.
Five to one, baby, one in five. No one here gets out alive…” ~ Jim Morrison
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{ 8 comments }
Ah, but we need this 20%. Without them, who would buy toast with a portrait of Jesus burned into it or a french fry that looks like Lincoln’s profile? Who else would amuse us with wild conspiracy theories and, last but not least, who would read my blog?
This post is brilliant!
I support your 2nd theory lol, if you ask a silly question you get an even sillier response. law of cause and effect.
The numbers might be higher in Arizona where laws were put in place to look for aliens. I think they mixed up the term aliens from their neighbor New Mexico, specifically a town called Roswell.
We got the numbers, we’re gonna win, and we’re taking over.
Hm … I wonder, Mr. W.
From my experience, there are whole segments of the population that are as gullible as humanly possible. Though, on the other hand, one could argue that being gullible = being removed from reality = being insane …
– Daniel
Great post. Thanks for this.
Thanks for stopping by.
The comment about people believing is that the world was created 10,000 years ago is pretty pathetic to say the least. However it seems like the comment as a whole seeks to legitimize evolution, which is still nothing more than a theory; no more vindicated than Stephen Hawking’s theories regarding time travel or alien life-forms. In all actuality they are as filled with mysticism and creative license as the Bible.
Also nowhere in the Torah (Old Testament) does it say that the world was created 10,000 or any amount of years ago. I’ve heard of people who think the world was created 2,010 years ago because that is how many years we have marked. These people are so cut off from reality that they essentially believe anything they are told or only what they can see. It is like that organization that still believes the earth is flat because they haven’t been in space to see the curvature.
I would like to say that the problem with scientists as a whole is that they create a theory (or hypothesis) and then they seek to legitimize it through research. When their research turns up no substantial evidence, instead of reporting that the current information available can’t verify the theory they claim that the theory is a fact because no opposing scientific theory has been presented. In other words, humanity tends to close its mind off to the possibilities before it even begins to search for the truth; a stumbling block that will inevitably keep us in the dark for the foreseeable future.
Science should present all theories as just that, theories. Provide the evidence that substantiates those theories and let people determine with their own sense what is most likely. Somebody with an agenda trying to shovel shit down our throats, whether it be about God or science doesn’t help anyone.
The most conservative thought a rational person can make is to admit to themselves that they really don’t know very much at all. To pretend otherwise is our egos getting the best of us.
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