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[Trab]

And know you know why we don't have a chance of enlightened thinking. Flintstone mentality

[Cole Parker]

You were expecting enlightened thinking? They polled Texans, for heavens sake!

C

[Camy]

Frightening but true - the earth is flat.

[DesDownunder]

The best that this kind of poll can achieve is to show the percentages of the population that believe one thing or another.

You can't take a poll on what people think, and then argue that the majority view is factually correct, which is what happens so many times with these polls.

Just because the majority of a population think something is correct does not somehow magically make it so.

Too often, a conclusion is drawn from these polls, that something must be correct, real or factual, because so many people believe that it is.

Democracy can't be used as an indication of what is fact, it can be used however, to show the extent of a belief in the population. The belief itself may be justifiable by other argument, or it may be quite erroneous and unsupportable. In such cases, without verifiable facts, majority belief cannot be used as proof of fact, and any attempt to do so is a logical fallacy.

When I was in my teens discovering my aptitude for sexual exchange with other orangutans of similar gender to my own, it was pointed out to me that most people thought it was an evil thing to be doing. Happily I was able to assert that just because most people thought something was wrong, didn't mean it was wrong.

Sadly, many arguments (and laws) are based on this appeal to what the majority believe, rather than examining concepts whose truth can be supported with factual evidence.

[Trab]

That is one of the dangers of the democratic system; majority misunderstanding creating unfair laws. On the other hand, at least it requires a lot of people to be misinformed, and not just the ruling dictator or monarch.

[The Pecman]

F'in' morons. Remind me not to vacation in Texas.

[JamesSavik]

Texas can be nice- Just go to Austin or Dallas.

[DesDownunder]

Texas can be nice- Just go to Austin or Dallas.

Is Debbie still in Dallas, then?

Personally I'd rather be in Austin, if he has no objections.

[Merkin]

I am eagerly awaiting the next stage of human evolution to assert itself.

James

[JamesSavik]

I am eagerly awaiting the next stage of human evolution to assert itself.

James

Mutants... where might we find a mutant I wonder?