1 Strong Opinion Vs. 100 Weak Ones

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Simple question, on any given topic would you trust the judgement of one person with a strong opinion or one hundred people with weak opinions.

By 'weak' I mean that they hold a definite opinion which they aren't likely to change, but they're not passionate about it.

― mei (mei), Saturday, 1 March 2003 12:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Can a 'one man one vote' democracy ever be fair when it doesn't take acount of how strongly people feel.

E.g. a lifetime model railway enthusiast has as much direct (legislated) influence on a subject such as the death sentence as someone who has, say, had a relative murdered and spent time working with inmates in prison, forming opinions along the way.

― mei (mei), Saturday, 1 March 2003 12:24 (twenty-two years ago)

And to bring this back on topic for ILM, with regards to music, are charts, where the strength of a purchasers opinion is not measured, fair or not?

Suggest a 'fair' music chart system. And a 'fair' political system while you're at it.

― mei (mei), Saturday, 1 March 2003 12:26 (twenty-two years ago)

a) 100 ppl you know personally?
b) Does the opinion concern something YOU have a def op about, or are you doubtful about the opinion and want or need to settle the question?
c) Is the strength of the first guy's opinion in keeping with how they are about other stuff, or is this a topic they are atypically passionate/vocal about?
d) Are the 'weak' opinions expressed freely [and if they are 'weak', why are they expressed?], and if not, to what lengths do you go ascertaining them, and are you certain you are not 'influencing the result' by asking leading questions about stuff about which they haven't yet arrived at a conclusion themselves?
e) Is the subject really this binary, that there won't be any overlap between some of the weak opinions and the strong ones, and that there won't be contradictory-but-weak opinions?

― dave q, Saturday, 1 March 2003 12:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Shit, cross-posted!

― dave q, Saturday, 1 March 2003 12:28 (twenty-two years ago)

'Can a 'one man one vote' democracy ever be fair when it doesn't take acount of how strongly people feel'

As 'how strongly people feel' = a)how strongly somebody SAYS they're feeling, b) how advantageous it is for them to appear somewhat incontinent in their management of public behavior, c) dependent on fluid cultural expectations re entitlement of given individuals to act on self-generated motives as opposed to externally-imposed ones, it seems as fair a system as any

― dave q, Saturday, 1 March 2003 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

on any given topic would you trust the judgement of one person with a strong opinion or one hundred people with weak opinions.

In general, I don't know if I would say "trust the judgment of", but I think (or would like to think) that the strong opinion would definitely make me do a double-take on whatever I was evaluating. Assuming we are defining a "strong" opinion as one that appears intelligent, fairly detailed and reasoned out, and "weak" as one that does not seem as much, or perhaps seems to be leaning heavily on previous observations without saying much else.

― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 1 March 2003 14:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the major effect of kazaa, napster etc is that the charts ARE a lot "fairer". I mean, obviously not perfectly, because internet access isn't universal yet, but buying a single is now a lot more about "I love, love, love and I love and I want to give them money" than it is about merely being able to hear the track at will. When you consider that there are a lot less tweenagers than adults, and that they have a lot less disposable income, it's pretty damning that the Keatings of this world get number ones.

Furthermore, I am wearing pimp jewelry.

― Gregory Henry (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 2 March 2003 04:10 (twenty-two years ago)

TS: Elitism vs Egalitarianism

― Stuart (Stuart), Sunday, 2 March 2003 06:10 (twenty-two years ago)

(did i kill it?)

― Stuart (Stuart), Sunday, 2 March 2003 22:45 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

I'm still right.

Or wrong, maybe.

― mei (mei), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

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