It was funny when Jonah Ryan said it. Turns out, though, it’s not funny at all, because it’s true.

If you’re not a Veep fan, I’m sorry. It is hilarious. In the seventh season, all-around chucklehead Jonah Ryan wins surprising support for taking a staunch anti-math position. Yes, that’s right, anti-math. He does it because he found out that modern mathematics derived from medieval Muslim scholars.

Funny, right? Well, not so much, because real-life recent poll results indicate that truth is scarier than fiction. A recent poll of some 3,600+ American adults find that a slim majority (56%) oppose–wait for it–oppose the teaching of Arabic numerals in schools. I’m flabbergasted. I can’t believe that so many people mix their stupid with their ugly.