You hear a lot of stories about this public opinion polls thing. Much of them seem to be about politics and issues closely connected to politics. (There was this friend of mine who, when people say to him they don’t want to talk about politics he tells them; “But everything is about politics. The fact that you say you don’t want to talk about politics is about politics too!” Of course, he seldom convinces others with such statements. On the lighter part I recently heard someone joking that all Liverpool fans are oldies still clinging to old and worn-out political and social beliefs. In less confusing times one might have wondered at hearing such a statement, “What is wrong with this guy? Why should supporting Liverpool be a so old politics affair!
Just to fill in the gaps, this writer has always been a Red’s fan and it doesn’t seem he’ll have a change of heart any time soon when it comes to ‘minding other people’s business,’ like haggling over league matches being held oceans and seas away! What’s wrong with that? These days almost everybody everywhere on this planet of total chaos seem to be pocking their noses in the wrong places. “All noses are created equal!” Aren’t they? Ha!
So when you scan the net you don’t fail to notice in some places there seem to be some sort of public opinion poll almost every other day. Yes, it’s a lucrative business and also, people have to eat! That must be why there seem to be so many bodies collecting public opinion polls. But then are public opinion polls really that dependable? Recently I read an article someone wrote showering hell on the so-called public opinion poll gathers.
According to him the results are usually doctored to favor one side or the other. He says these days public opinion polls aren’t about public opinions but political blueprints. Well as tough talk as it is that makes sense. Otherwise how can you see two completely different results about public opinion gathering conducted in the same place and the same time too by multiple public opinion gatherers? Say a couple of them would say, “About 60% of the respondents say so-and-so party would carry the election in landslide.” Well, that’s good information.
But then wait a minute. What do the other results show? “More than 70% of the respondents say so-and-so party would lose heavily.” The margins are so wide you begin smelling fish without you being within a thousand kilometers of the nearest sea or river.
I don’t know much about how they do these things. There is one aspect that always bugs me. How is that claims are made of millions embracing some thought while only a couple of thousands took part in the survey? You might wonder, “How could any body be so stupid to ask such a stupid question which could come only from the most mangled up minds?” Well looking at what’s happening and what’s not happening in these world; being aware of the fact that pole everywhere flip 1800 and that rational thinking is becoming a thing of the past that is the kind of question we could ask. The middle ground has slipped away so much that the ‘extremes’ have become the realities of the day. In the old days maybe, just maybe, a few thousand carefully selected people could more or less represent the opinions of millions. It wouldn’t be jumping to conclusions soon to say “That doesn’t seem to work anymore!”
Here is a joke about a certain country somewhere in the world. “The election system in (country’s name) used to be that people would vote “Yes” or “No” to the current president to determine whether election were going to happen or not. The day before the polls everyone would hang signs saying “Yes” to the president. But one man decides to vote “No.”
Later that night the man cannot sleep and fears he might have made the wrong decision. The next day he goes to the poll workers. “I believe I voted for the wrong options yesterday,” he says. “I want to change my vote to a “Yes.”
The poll worker smiles at him and says:
“No problem; we corrected it for you. But don’t do it again.” Hmm….
Look, public opinion polls are about numbers aren’t they? It’s about how many people or what percentage of the population ascribes to your thoughts and beliefs on political, social or other topics throw numbers to any height without any second thoughts. Numbers and these phrases of “Everybody thinks so.” “Everybody does it.” “It’s the opinion of everybody.”
“You know they say that a new law is about to be issued.”
“About what?”
“About repaying your loan; they say for every month you fail to pay you’d be fined 50% of the total loan.”
“What! Where did you hear such and outrageous story?”
“Everyone is talking about it.”
That seems to be the magic word for many of us, “Everybody.” You don’t mess with ‘everybody’ do you? If everybody is for it you should be too. It is the same with numbers. If five million are for some idea and only half a million oppose it you should fall in line with the five million!
“Who do you think you are something supported by five million people!”
Say a really frustrated wife whose husband seems to give her every ache in the medical books tells him. “I married you while there were hundreds of people begging for my hand. Our house was always people who came to ask for my hand in marriage. Do you hear me? I’m saying I have to dump hundreds to marry you!”
Hundreds! Really? I meant, the husband might be the wrong guy to any seeking to build a good family. But hundreds of prospective hubbies turned down is a little too much to digest.
Any ways talking about public opinion polls, these days it is hard to separate the grain from the chaff and you can’t believe any of them. It’s that bad. Look at polls about forthcoming elections in some western nations. The disparity in the actual results and the numbers that go with them are so much so you’d think, “I never thought mankind’s brains have been mangled up so terribly!” Maybe the AI thing would sort out things. We’ve too many ‘maybe’s’ these days, haven’t we?
Ephrem Endale Contributer
The Ethiopian Herald January 14/2024