Suppose I do a poll where I ask American voters whether they think climate change is real. Do I do this because American voters are experts on climate? Of course not, I ask scientists if I have questions about the science, but I ask the voters if I want to see how far the science has penetrated into the thick skulls of the voters, which is an important thing to know.
Suppose I do a poll where I ask American voters whether they think climate change is real. Do I do this because American voters are experts on climate? Of course not, I ask scientists if I have questions about the science, but I ask the voters if I want to see how far the science has penetrated into the thick skulls of the voters, which is an important thing to know.
You are right. The poll shows what has penetrated into the people’s minds. But that’s it. Which side has succeeded with its messaging/propaganda. It doesn’t mean that they are right in their opinions. Polls can show the depth of ignorance.
If you had told me on 10/8/2023 that less than a year later American voters would blame Israel and Hamas equally for the war, I would have thought you were crazy. It's really incredible, the turnaround in US public opinion engineered by one Benjamin Netanyahu.
I think you miss my point. I don’t disagree with the opinions on Netanyahu. I am simply making the point that polls of the general public don’t give validity to the correctness or incorrectness of public view.
Polls and elections can reveal bias and stupidity. They often show the success of propaganda and appealing to people’s worse instincts, such as fear. The worldwide success of right wing parties and fear of immigrants, the polls that show Americans believe crime is rising, etc. tell us what people think, but not what the reality is.
The result of polls is often as not more work on messaging, including putting out disinformation, than changes in policy.
Suppose I do a poll where I ask American voters whether they think climate change is real. Do I do this because American voters are experts on climate? Of course not, I ask scientists if I have questions about the science, but I ask the voters if I want to see how far the science has penetrated into the thick skulls of the voters, which is an important thing to know.
You are right. The poll shows what has penetrated into the people’s minds. But that’s it. Which side has succeeded with its messaging/propaganda. It doesn’t mean that they are right in their opinions. Polls can show the depth of ignorance.
If you had told me on 10/8/2023 that less than a year later American voters would blame Israel and Hamas equally for the war, I would have thought you were crazy. It's really incredible, the turnaround in US public opinion engineered by one Benjamin Netanyahu.
I think you miss my point. I don’t disagree with the opinions on Netanyahu. I am simply making the point that polls of the general public don’t give validity to the correctness or incorrectness of public view.
Polls and elections can reveal bias and stupidity. They often show the success of propaganda and appealing to people’s worse instincts, such as fear. The worldwide success of right wing parties and fear of immigrants, the polls that show Americans believe crime is rising, etc. tell us what people think, but not what the reality is.
The result of polls is often as not more work on messaging, including putting out disinformation, than changes in policy.
Well, it's not complicated, when the public agrees with me, they're right. When they disagree with me, they're wrong.