• ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        Lizardman’s constant, an interesting short essay on this topic.

        Public Policy Polling’s recent poll on conspiracy theories mostly showed up on my Facebook feed as “Four percent of Americans believe lizardmen are running the Earth”.

        (of note, an additional 7% of Americans are “not sure” whether lizardmen are running the Earth or not.)


        The lesson from all three of the cases in this post seems clear. When we’re talking about very unpopular beliefs, polls can only give a weak signal. Any possible source of noise – jokesters, cognitive biases, or deliberate misbehavior – can easily overwhelm the signal. Therefore, polls that rely on detecting very weak signals should be taken with a grain of salt.

    • rockerface 🇺🇦@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      The copium levels in here are very high. Also, a lot of people are right wing because communism and socialism associate with Soviets around here, so not the best memories.

      • fluxion@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Amazing how a little political rebranding is enough to have people inadvertently vote authoritarian fascists right back into office to rat fuck the world all over again.