Democracy May Depend on the Ignorant

www.livescience.com...

Strongly opinionated members can determine a group's consensus decision, even when they make up only a small minority. New research of animal behavior shows, however, that adding ignorant or uninformed members to the group can counteract the minority’s powerful influence and promote a more democratic outcome.

Apparently, encouraging apathy is now considered a good force for democratic governments. Well now, I'm glad to know that all this Tyranny of the Bland is for my society's benefit and part of a greater good.

Or course, this article might also be suggesting that in order to counteract any given opinionated person you need a pile of apathetic.

I wonder how many people you need to counteract me? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A billion?

I believe for democracy to work properly then the people have to be educated and informed enough to make intelligent decisions when voting.

Instead, we have an educational system that's more geared towards wasting 12 years of a child's life instead of teaching them much that's useful or applicable. Then, if that isn't enough, people get brainwashed by the idiot box on a daily basis by media that tries (successfully) to influence how people think.

But this study suggests that the opposite is true. Informed opinion is a problem in democratic systems, and it is uninformed opinion that allows democracy to thrive.

All the uninformed are the bread and butter of democracy. They are far more reliable than the informed.

Informed opinion is a very bad thing if you want to maintain a status quo., especially if if its very harmful.

Ever seen Idiocracy? I really think that could be a possibility one day. We live in a culture that seems to idolize ignorance and most people seem content to go with the flow. On that note, if I was a corrupt government, then I'd love to have a voting population like Idiocracy, then you could run whatever candidates you wanted and it wouldn't really matter how qualified they were so long as they looked pleasant and out-mud sling his opponents.

Have you seen most of who is being fielded? They aren't our best and brightest.

They make one wish for a Stateman/woman who has a public checkered past, a foul mouth, and an actual opinion that hasn't been crafted.

Originally posted by JayTaylor
I believe for democracy to work properly then the people have to be educated and informed enough to make intelligent decisions when voting.

Instead, we have an educational system that's more geared towards wasting 12 years of a child's life instead of teaching them much that's useful or applicable. Then, if that isn't enough, people get brainwashed by the idiot box on a daily basis by media that tries (successfully) to influence how people think.

You're right but unfortunately most folks don't want to be"educated and informed". They prefer to decide to vote for the the person that seems most likable, or promises THEM the most, or is most celebrity like, or belongs to the party they ALWAYS vote for, or whatever. Sheesh

reply to post by Aeons


Yeah that's all we need, Applied Apathy.

Now if they had said group choices may be influenced by unique individuals.

Cosmic..

Originally posted by Cosmic4life
reply to post by Aeons

 

Yeah that's all we need, Applied Apathy.

Now if they had said group choices may be influenced by unique individuals.

Cosmic..

Actually, that is what it says. Usefully, habitually "extreme" or "trained" individuals who are displaying those traits have an impact on the untrained, apathetic.

They just didn't write it down that way.

I believe for the most part is not the need for uncaring and apathetic individuals, but the need for a stronger opposing force to go against the pre-existing force. The best thing we can do is take those ignorant and uniformed people and educate them. I know a lot of us on here do spend quite a bit of time educating ourselves and passing information to each other, but how many of us actually take time to pass information that we have learned to people outside these forums? The biggest problem we face is not doing anything in light of strong opinions of the minority (in which I am inserting the 1% here). If the people of the 1% vote for certain things to come into effect and no one of the ignorant/uninformed vote, it tends to be an extra victory. Knowledge is important, but we must not forget to package the information is non-threatening and easy to digest way. Most, of the American people at least, is too used to being spoon-fed information, so we have to remember to keep things simple and wet their appetite when it comes to trying to bring them to their "awakening". And I just wanted to say that I have been reading these forums for about 6 months now (and yes, I have finally posted today ), and I have come to believe this site is the best of the sites out there. This site has enough people to generate different perspectives and moderators seem to be somewhat under control.

Originally posted by clarkness
I believe for the most part is not the need for uncaring and apathetic individuals, but the need for a stronger opposing force to go against the pre-existing force.

The best thing we can do is take those ignorant and uniformed people and educate them. I know a lot of us on here do spend quite a bit of time educating ourselves and passing information to each other, but how many of us actually take time to pass information that we have learned to people outside these forums?

The biggest problem we face is not doing anything in light of strong opinions of the minority (in which I am inserting the 1% here). If the people of the 1% vote for certain things to come into effect and no one of the ignorant/uninformed vote, it tends to be an extra victory.

Knowledge is important, but we must not forget to package the information is non-threatening and easy to digest way.

Most, of the American people at least, is too used to being spoon-fed information, so we have to remember to keep things simple and wet their appetite when it comes to trying to bring them to their "awakening".

And I just wanted to say that I have been reading these forums for about 6 months now (and yes, I have finally posted today

), and I have come to believe this site is the best of the sites out there. This site has enough people to generate different perspectives and moderators seem to be somewhat under control.

Welcome and well said for a first post!

Democracy will never work alone. It is meant for societies to co-exists in peace, function, deal with issues and progress to evolve. And societies are made up of you, your family, relatives and friends, and mine. It is never enough for one to know. Information must be shared, beginning with those closest to us, compellingly. If ignored, just move on to the next. Help change others or be changed, so that our society's aims can be acheived, leaving none behind.

Only communism, totalitarianism and dictatorships are fully dependent on the ignorant and the apathetic for survival. But then, it's still one's free will to choose - to live free responsibly in a society, or to be enchained as a slave with illusions of security.

I think our democracy would be so much better if we actually used it. Personally, I believe the current form of legislation is defunct and obsolete. I believe it would probably be fruitful to pick our congressmen via lottery rather than election.

I do believe that we have come a long way in technology since this country was first started. Why is it that American Idol can have a voting system that seems to work, but the government can't. Imagine if every single one of us were our own representatitive. Everyday, every American citizen over the age of 18 recieves a message concerning upcoming legislation or situation. By the end of the day, every citizen is "required" to vote yay or nay or undecided. To pass or be indefinitely denied, the bill would require over certain percentage that descibes the likely majority of Americans. We wouldn't have to waste money on the bags of fat in Congress right now.