According to the Newsweek of August 26, Americans (mistakenly) believe 10 things as follows:
Obama and Muslim
Recently Pew poll found that nearly one fifth of Americans (mistakenly) believe that President Obama is a Muslim. The portion of poll respondents who believe Obama is a Muslim has risen recently。
Evolution
To mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, Gallup thought it might be a good idea to poll Americans on their beliefs of the British naturalist's theory. But the results must have had Darwin spinning in his grave, since only 39 percent of Americans believed in the theory. The good news: only a quarter said they didn't believe it; the remaining portion either didn't have an opinion or didn't answer。
Witchcraft
It turns out that 21 percent of Americans believe there are real sorcerors, conjurers, and warlocks out there。
Death panels
On Facebook, Sarah Palin wrote in August 2009 that Obama would institute a "death panel" as part of health-care reform. Soon pundits and politicians were demagoguing the issue into common currency. Even in August 2010, one year after the initial burst and five months after health reform was signed into law, four in 10 Americans mistakenly believe it。
Saddam's WMDs
Even years after claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or had links to the September 11 attacks had been debunked, not all Americans were convinced. In a June 2007 Newsweek poll, four years after the invasion of Iraq, 41 percent believed Saddam was involved in 9/11.
Heliocentrism
Didn't we clear this one up in the 16th century? Copernicus be damned, 20 percent of Americans were still sure in 1999 that the sun revolved around the Earth。
History of religion
If mutual understanding is the key to tolerance, we're in trouble. According to Newsweek's 2007 What You Need to Know poll, barely half of Americans were correctly able to state that Judaism was older than both Christianity and Islam。
Supreme Court vs. Seven Dwarfs
In a 2006 poll, more than three quarters of Americans could name at least two of the seven dwarfs, while not quite a quarter could name two members of the Supreme Court。
World geography
Lost? Don't ask an American. Sixty-three percent of young Americans can't find Iraq on a map, despite the ongoing U.S involvement there. Nine out of 10 can't find Afghanistan - even if you give them the advantage of a map limited to Asia。
Three Stooges vs. Three Branches
According to Zogby, the majority of Americans - three in four - can correctly identify Larry, Curly, and Moe as the Three Stooges. Only two out of five respondents, however, can correctly identify the executive, legislative, and judicial branches as the three wings of government。
美國《新聞周刊》8月26日評出美國人的十大無知之處：
奧巴馬是不是穆斯林
近日皮尤民調(diào)發(fā)現(xiàn)，近二成的美國受訪者錯(cuò)誤地認(rèn)為奧巴馬是穆斯林。而且該比例最近呈上升趨勢。
相不相信進(jìn)化論
為了紀(jì)念達(dá)爾文誕辰200周年，蓋洛普進(jìn)行了自認(rèn)為有意義的調(diào)查：美國人對這個(gè)英國自然學(xué)家理論的相信程度。結(jié)果定能讓達(dá)爾文從墳?zāi)估锾鰜�，因�(yàn)橹挥?9%的美國人相信達(dá)爾文的進(jìn)化論。當(dāng)然好消息是：只有25%的美國人稱他們不相信進(jìn)化論，剩下的受訪者要么沒主意要么沒有作答。
巫術(shù)存在與否
一項(xiàng)民調(diào)顯示，21%的美國人相信獸人、魔靈、巫師是真實(shí)存在的。
“死亡委員會”
佩林曾于去年8月在Facebook上稱，作為醫(yī)療改革方案的一部分，奧巴馬將組建一個(gè)“死亡委員會”。不久專家和政客將此謠言炒至白熱化。一年之后，也就是今年8月，同時(shí)也是醫(yī)療改革被寫進(jìn)法律之后5個(gè)月，還有四成的美國人相信這一謠言。
薩達(dá)姆的大規(guī)模殺傷性武器
薩達(dá)姆擁有大規(guī)模殺傷性武器、薩達(dá)姆同“9.11”事件有關(guān)均不屬實(shí)，盡管真相暴露于天下已有幾年，但并不是所有美國人都買這個(gè)帳�！缎侣勚芸�2007年6月進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)民調(diào)顯示，伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭4年后，仍有41%的美國人認(rèn)為薩達(dá)姆與“9-11”恐怖襲擊事件有關(guān)。
不知日心說
我們不是在16世紀(jì)就把這件事搞清楚了嗎？然而哥白尼會吃驚的，因?yàn)?999年進(jìn)行的民調(diào)顯示，仍有20%的美國人認(rèn)為太陽圍繞地球轉(zhuǎn)。
宗教歷史盲
如相互理解彼此寬容對待的基礎(chǔ)，那么我們有麻煩了。據(jù)《新聞周刊》2007年一項(xiàng)名為“你不可不知的事情”的民調(diào)顯示，只有半數(shù)的美國人能正確地說出猶太教的歷史要比基督教和伊斯蘭教更悠久。
最高法院 vs. 七個(gè)小矮人
2006年的民調(diào)顯示，超過75%的美國人可以說出至少兩個(gè)小矮人的姓名，但只有25%的美國人可以說出兩位美國最高法院大法官的名字。
世界地理盲
迷路了？千萬別問美國人怎么走。盡管美國和伊拉克“互動(dòng)頻繁”，還是有63%的美國年輕人無法在地圖上找到伊拉克。而即使你給他限定在亞洲地圖上找，九成美國年輕人還是無法找到阿富汗。
《活寶三人組》vs. 三權(quán)分立
Zogby民調(diào)稱，大部分美國人——四分之三——可以說出《活寶三人組》三位主人公的名字——Larry、Curly以及Moe，但只有四成美國
