This is an atrocious survey that appears to be conducted by what I'm assuming is a Chav-centric network (not sure of the demographics of UKTV Gold's audience).
ABC News wrote:
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.
The survey found that 47 per cent thought the 12th Century English King Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 per cent thought World War II prime minister Winston Churchill was made up.
The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three per cent 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 were also in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 per cent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes actually existed, and 33 per cent thought the same of WE Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
My understand has always been that Churchill is far more popular outside of the UK then within, in part because people in the UK had to deal with his domestic politics and in part because reality is, he just wasn’t that great and had hoards of really stupid ideas. Still, even with that in mind people thinking him a myth is pretty absurd.
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Don't the Brits have a habit of pulling pranks on people who conduct polls? I remember one poll where "Jedi" ended up being listed as a major religion.
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Well, Australia rejected the Jedi religion question by stating that there was no central learning or place of worship after a shitload of people marked it as their religion on the Census.
weemadando wrote:Well, Australia rejected the Jedi religion question by stating that there was no central learning or place of worship after a shitload of people marked it as their religion on the Census.
Bet that'll change, in the next fifteen or twenty years...
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weemadando wrote:Well, Australia rejected the Jedi religion question by stating that there was no central learning or place of worship after a shitload of people marked it as their religion on the Census.
Bet that'll change, in the next fifteen or twenty years...
No, it will change now dammit.
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I think it's bogus. Does anyone think Washington was a myth? Franklin? What about Canadians? Have you ever heard of anyone saying Diefenbaker was a myth? Trudeau has the best chance of being the source of myths (he did do a lot of crazy shit compared to other PMs), but I doubt anyone will consider him a myth.
weemadando wrote:
But still. Thinking Churchill was a myth?
A friend and I were recently stunned to learn that a girl my friend works with (and until this moment was interested in) didn't know who Churchill was.
Phantasee wrote:I think it's bogus. Does anyone think Washington was a myth? Franklin? What about Canadians? Have you ever heard of anyone saying Diefenbaker was a myth? Trudeau has the best chance of being the source of myths (he did do a lot of crazy shit compared to other PMs), but I doubt anyone will consider him a myth.
I think that more than a few American's already believe Reagan to be an ascended demi-God. Does that count?
weemadando wrote:
But still. Thinking Churchill was a myth?
A friend and I were recently stunned to learn that a girl my friend works with (and until this moment was interested in) didn't know who Churchill was.
Her exact words were "Was that the Watergate guy?"
Phantasee wrote:I think it's bogus. Does anyone think Washington was a myth? Franklin? What about Canadians? Have you ever heard of anyone saying Diefenbaker was a myth? Trudeau has the best chance of being the source of myths (he did do a lot of crazy shit compared to other PMs), but I doubt anyone will consider him a myth.
How many Americans think the terrorist attack on the world trade center was a government conspiracy again? If people are wiling to deny something that a couple million people saw first hand, then I could easily believe that many of them are stupidly ignorant enough to think mere figures of history are a myth.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Whilst we do have a quite a few thickos, we are generally known to try and foul up the results of stupid polls by selecting the most outrageous answer. 'Tis the the result of being constantly bombarded by the things, I suspect.
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Dartzap wrote:Whilst we do have a quite a few thickos, we are generally known to try and foul up the results of stupid polls by selecting the most outrageous answer. 'Tis the the result of being constantly bombarded by the things, I suspect.
What can you tell us of the UKTV Gold viewer demographic. Perhaps that could lend insight.
Dartzap wrote:Whilst we do have a quite a few thickos, we are generally known to try and foul up the results of stupid polls by selecting the most outrageous answer. 'Tis the the result of being constantly bombarded by the things, I suspect.
What can you tell us of the UKTV Gold viewer demographic. Perhaps that could lend insight.
UKTV Gold is essentially a repeats channel, generally favoured by older viewers since it has programmes from the 'Golden Era' of Television (Any other than the current one).
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Dartzap wrote:
What can you tell us of the UKTV Gold viewer demographic. Perhaps that could lend insight.
UKTV Gold is essentially a repeats channel, generally favoured by older viewers since it has programmes from the 'Golden Era' of Television (Any other than the current one).[/quote]
Does the Vicar of Dibley really count as a 'golden era' program? That's just depressing.
But yes, UKTV Gold's programming is mostly repeats of shows that ran on one of the four terrestrial channels sometime within the last few decades. Usually British shows but they have been known to show the occaisional American program.
In any case, depressing asthe results are I'm hoping that the survey was skewed by people either filling in the most rediculous answers or by the demographic being mostly idiots. What type of survey was it anyway?
The poll results don't surprise me. The ignorance of many people - especially young women - when it comes to British history is appalling. One didn't know what side Nazi Germany was on during WW2! I have to wonder how these people get by in real world jobs and how they are capable of social interaction without constantly making a fool of themselves.
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Ubiquitous wrote:The poll results don't surprise me. The ignorance of many people - especially young women - when it comes to British history is appalling. One didn't know what side Nazi Germany was on during WW2! I have to wonder how these people get by in real world jobs and how they are capable of social interaction without constantly making a fool of themselves.
..Jobs? What jobs? These are the types who would be at home all day watching Gold in the first place!
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1/4 of UK Gold's viewership perhaps, but considering it's a non terrestrial repeats channel and one that doesn't have all that many viewers to begin with.... Somehow i think these results are skewed. Damn Lies, statistics etc.
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Sea Skimmer wrote:My understand has always been that Churchill is far more popular outside of the UK then within, in part because people in the UK had to deal with his domestic politics and in part because reality is, he just wasn’t that great and had hoards of really stupid ideas. Still, even with that in mind people thinking him a myth is pretty absurd.
That's unlikely since he won the "Greatest Britons of all (previous) time" poll. He's much more remembered for leading the country in WW2 than any stupid ideas he had. I strongly doubt most people would even be able to remember what he did other than WW2. That said, I refuse to believe the 1/4 think he's purely mythical, that's just fucking stupid and Churchill appreciation is pretty standard.
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Phantasee wrote:I think it's bogus. Does anyone think Washington was a myth? Franklin? What about Canadians? Have you ever heard of anyone saying Diefenbaker was a myth? Trudeau has the best chance of being the source of myths (he did do a lot of crazy shit compared to other PMs), but I doubt anyone will consider him a myth.
I think that more than a few American's already believe Reagan to be an ascended demi-God. Does that count?
