[extropy-chat] survey on fringe ideas

[Damien Broderick]

Is there any reason to trust such survey? Dunno. Anyway:

<http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0>http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005480422,00.html

10-20-05


We Believe In Aliens

By PETE BELL
Sun Online

Science fiction staples like time travel and human teleportation
will be possible in the future...

At least that's what a large proportion of the British public
think, according to a new survey.

It found a third believed time travel - as seen on Dr Who -
would be possible in the future.

More than a quarter thought black holes could one day form the
gateway to another universe.

A fifth believed Star Trek-style teleportation might become a
reality.

And an amazing 12 per cent believed in the possibility that we
were living in a Matrix-type parallel world situated alongside
another. [!]

The survey, commissioned by UKTV Gold also discovered the
following beliefs:

- Some 19 per cent believed scientists would one day be able to
bring back bodies to life after freezing them in liquid nitrogen

- Almost two-thirds were convinced humans have the capacity for
ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) or a sixth sense enabling them to
see into the future

- A quarter believed in aliens

- 40 per cent thought tales of alien abduction held some truth

- 34 per cent thought the Government has hidden information
about extraterrestrial activity, scientific developments or UFO
sightings

UKTV Gold's channel editor Red Johnson said: "Before we scoff
too much, we must remember the 'factoids', the science fiction
myths, which have come true.

"It would be difficult now to imagine a world without the all-
pervasive internet, yet the concept of cyberspace was first
suggested in William Gibson?s 1984 novel Neuromancer.

"So it could be that in a few years we could all be like Dr Who
travelling through time."

The survey was carried out for the launch of Doctor Who week on
UKTV Gold starting on October 23.