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Most Americans romantic, don't lie about age

Updated: 2011-06-02 06:44

(Agencies)

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NEW YORK - Most Americans have never lied about their age, would find it easier to live without air travel than the Internet and in matters of the heart are romantics, according to a new survey.

Nearly half of the 848 adults questioned in the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll also said they think Islam is as peaceful as most other religions and 81 percent think the ache of a broken heart is similar to physical pain.

"It appears that the vast majority of Americans are romantics," CBS said on its website. "As Shakespeare said 'the course of true love never runs smooth' and so it appears that most people can empathize with both the joys of a full heart and the pain of a broken one."

Nearly 9 out of 10 women and three-quarters of men agreed with the sentiment, the poll, which questioned Americans about topics ranging from religion and politics to celebrities and sports, showed.

Seventy three percent said they have never lied about their age and if it came down to a choice between flying and the Internet, 61 percent said it would be easier to live without air travel, compared to 32 percent who would give up the Internet.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans also said prosecuting professional athletes for cheating, such as baseball player Barry Bonds whose trial cost a reported $6 million, was a waste of taxpayers' money, while only 21 percent thought it was worthwhile.

On the divisive issue of Guantanamo Bay issue, political leanings played a factor in determining whether detainees suspected of being supporters or members of al Qaeda could be safely held in maximum security US prisons. Sixty percent of self-identified liberals thought it was safe, while nearly half of conservatives disagreed.

The poll also covered pop-culture topics such as whether or not hard-living Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards or Hollywood bad-girl Lindsay Lohan would outlive actor and recent tabloid king Charlie Sheen.

Thirty three percent thought rock legend Richards would live the longest, followed by frequent rehab resident Lohan at 21 percent and Sheen at 16 percent.

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