But it's worse than that. Not only do the polls lie and mislead, and not only are they unreliable at the best of times, they influence people's thought and voting habits. Making it all a gambling game of popularity, second-guessing, and 'my poll is better than your poll'.
Undemocratic, I call it.
Hmmmpht.
Sometimes I think the world is ruled by sheer nonsense.
(But at least we're not dropping bombs on people to prove our manhood.)
Sigh. Government by deciding what is popular has always seemed unwise ... but the alternative is probably much worse. Winston Churchill said something about democracy in general that was much like this.
Government by deciding what is popular has always seemed unwise ... but the alternative is probably much worse.
I have heard this said (and not just by you and Winston Churchill) and I've always disbelieved it. It sounds defeatist to me - like saying 'things will never be better, so why try to make them improve?' This is why I often say I don't believe in democracy. Tyranny of the majority does not appeal - it just means that minorities will always be shafted. It also usually means that the 'alternatives' are being dismissed out of hand.
We have seen democracies in which women were disenfranchised, or blacks, or the poor - not all democracies are created alike. And democracy won't even begin to work unless we give it our best shot - believing, in the first place, that social justice and freedom are possible.
Is this the Churchill quote you mean? "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." I'm not sure who he thought said it, but he seemed to believe he was quoting someone else.
I don't believe a poll unless I see a) everything (including the other questions asked and the introductions to the questions) that the interviewees were asked b) the sample size and distribution c) the margin of error
and I'm satisfied that, having seen that, the poll wasn't overtly biased.
Frankly, it is so easy to ask questions in certain ways to promote certain points of view, that I really think no one should consider polls as more than advisory.
I really think no one should consider polls as more than advisory.
I don't think people should consider polls anyway: it encourages us to pay too much attention to what other people think, when we should all be thinking for ourselves.
Oh yeah, welcome to my last... 11 months prior to our election??? Ugh. I had to finally turn it off after the election. I couldn't handle it anymore. Polls all the time; people never talking sensibly!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-21 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-21 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-21 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:28 pm (UTC)Lies, damned lies and statistics. ;)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:54 pm (UTC)That's it.
But it's worse than that. Not only do the polls lie and mislead, and not only are they unreliable at the best of times, they influence people's thought and voting habits. Making it all a gambling game of popularity, second-guessing, and 'my poll is better than your poll'.
Undemocratic, I call it.
Hmmmpht.
Sometimes I think the world is ruled by sheer nonsense.
(But at least we're not dropping bombs on people to prove our manhood.)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 08:22 pm (UTC)Google is the oracle that Knows All.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 08:05 pm (UTC)I have heard this said (and not just by you and Winston Churchill) and I've always disbelieved it. It sounds defeatist to me - like saying 'things will never be better, so why try to make them improve?' This is why I often say I don't believe in democracy. Tyranny of the majority does not appeal - it just means that minorities will always be shafted. It also usually means that the 'alternatives' are being dismissed out of hand.
We have seen democracies in which women were disenfranchised, or blacks, or the poor - not all democracies are created alike. And democracy won't even begin to work unless we give it our best shot - believing, in the first place, that social justice and freedom are possible.
Is this the Churchill quote you mean? "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." I'm not sure who he thought said it, but he seemed to believe he was quoting someone else.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 03:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 03:30 am (UTC)a) everything (including the other questions asked and the introductions to the questions) that the interviewees were asked
b) the sample size and distribution
c) the margin of error
and I'm satisfied that, having seen that, the poll wasn't overtly biased.
Frankly, it is so easy to ask questions in certain ways to promote certain points of view, that I really think no one should consider polls as more than advisory.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 12:36 pm (UTC)I don't think people should consider polls anyway: it encourages us to pay too much attention to what other people think, when we should all be thinking for ourselves.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 04:25 pm (UTC)They make me care too much."
Oh yeah, welcome to my last... 11 months prior to our election??? Ugh. I had to finally turn it off after the election. I couldn't handle it anymore. Polls all the time; people never talking sensibly!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 08:07 pm (UTC)I just don't have the right temperament.