The paper is devoted to the problem of deformation of the world picture in the Russian and English cultures for the last fi ve years. The author reveals the main concepts and reasons for the change in the conceptual sphere. As a result of the analysis, the author reveals similarities and differences in the Russian and English-speaking world picture and the infl uence of the media on the deformation. The main attention is paid to the infl uence of the сentaur idea, which emerged in the political picture of the world, and its role in distorting the world picture of the Russian-speaking and Englishspeaking population.