I came up with this one because I've always been annoyed by newspapers that write "Mr XYZ today bowed to public opinion and etc etc.." when what they really mean is that they bowed to the opinion of the newspaper editors.

What I propose is that whenever you express an opinion on any subject whatever it is registered on a central database and nobody can claim to be representing public opinion without referring back to the database for proof.

Obviously there are a number of options on how the data is collected e.g. automatic recorders on every wall or perhaps the normal government spies who check up on people every day can be made to work a bit harder.

Clearly such a database could be open to misuse, I don't think you have to imagine too hard for examples, so opinions expressed would have to be registered anonymously.
-- DrBob, Jul 04 2000

Rather, I think we should poll a lot less. Let candidates state what they think, and then the election serve as the poll.
-- Vance, Jan 29 2001


DrBob, what you propose is technically impossible and has major privacy problems, but I understand and echo the sentiment.

For starters, I would like every article citing surveys to actually *cite* the survey, that is, give me a way of finding out the details of the survey - who asked how many people, selected how, interviewed how, and what were the actual questions. All these factors can influence the outcome; without them, I cannot judge the results.
-- jutta, Jan 29 2001



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