Polls Are Dangerous

[arwalden]

Do poll results invite public apathy? Are people less likely to feel a call to action and less likely to get involved if the latest poll shows favorable numbers for their cause?

Or do polls influence the folks who are incapable of critical thinking, and who subconsciously allow the poll results to influence their opinions to match what's "correct" or most popular?

Not only do I believe that polls are complete bullshit... I think that they are dangerous. Online polls are absolutely bogus! Even the more respected name-brand "scientific" poll results are questionable when almost identical questions produce WILDLY varying results between different polling organizations.

-- Allen

P.S. Oh... by the way... I see the candidate I like isn't polling very well. So... I guess I won't bother to send in a contribution after all. It would be WASTED MONEY, right?

[Brucey]

1. All information is dangerous.

Especially information that people don't understand, can easily be manipulated and spun, and the vast majority don't know how it was determined.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. Shit you're right! Let's shut all libraries down! NOW!!!

this 'information age' is volatile! It is KILLING US!!!! :eyes:

I think you meant it is dangerous sans critical thinking.

[deutsey]

2. Ever since the 2000 election,

when most polls had Bush winning the popular vote even up to election day, I've not put a lot of faith in polls.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Some polls are more dangerous than others.

I see the latest national polls as an obvious attempt to control the debate. Keep your head down and keep working for the candidate that best suits you. That's where your true power lies.



edit- sp

[kentuck]

4. The Baghdad poll is a dangerous one....

...primarily to promote the Bush agenda in Iraq...

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Yeah.

It hasn't passed my notice that there has been a ton of the "Rummy talking points" going around lately. "Things are so much better than they are reported as being." That poll is just the latest in a long line.

Half the battle is spotting the bullshit before you step in it.

[kentuck]

11. Right on!

The media just needs to report more of the good news. The schools that were open before the invasion have now opened again, for example. But it could argued that they are already putting the happy face on the war. It has been reported several times that there is an average of 20-25 attacks per day on Amerian GIs. We only hear about the ones with casualties or seriously wounded...sometimes.

[Drifter]

6. The whole concept of a ...

swing voter is that they have not made up their own mind, and are waiting to "see what everyone else does".

No one wants to be on the losing side. If you have not decided which side of the issue you are on, there is a good chance you are going to stand with the majority.

Sad but True.

Cheers
Drifter

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. all good points and true true true

No matter. I'm voting for my guy no matter what those stinking primary polls say! :)

[im4edwards]

8. all information is good if given the proper weight and consideration

polls are just an indication as of a specific point in time. They are ONLY an indication, not fact. There are outright lies, others want to provide a 'joke' answer others still could change their minds two minutes later.

Take polls for what they are worth. I sense that they serve mostly as a means to see where you need to work harder.

But the point of the poster is well taken. Many will turn off given unpalpable results and thats terrible.

[kentuck]

9. And even that is suspect....

Because it can be manipulated. And why should we think it would not be manipulated, just like the polls in Baghdad?