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From: JNugent on 27 Dec 2009 08:31 johnwright > wrote: > MasonS(a)BP.com wrote: >> JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: >>> Right... >>> So the poll was totally meaningless, because based only on the >>> irrational belief of some that people shouldn't be allowed to >>> drive their children to school, drive a van for a living, drive >>> a taxi for living, etc.- >> One wonders how these 70000 people could have all gathered these >> "irrational beliefs" en bloc. >> Either they all lied in the survey, or gained their opinions out on >> real roads and I don't think they ever stated that they "shouldn't be >> allowed" to use the roads, they were merely asked who were the "worst >> drivers" in their opinion based on their experience. > The whole thing is too subjective - its easy enough to design a poll > from which you can estimate a population behaviour - basic statistics > this - but you do need a transferable parameter to measure. One that you > understand as well as me and in the same terms. You may have a totally > different understanding of "Worst" from me. What does it mean? Precisely. In this context, a "belief" that school-run drivers (ie, parents taking their children and/or other children to school in a car) are among "the worst" drivers can only be an expression of utter irrationality. After all, it is possible - perhaps even probable - that The Very Best Driver In the UK (whoever it happens to be) has run their child to school at least once.
From: MasonS on 27 Dec 2009 12:58 On 27 Dec, 13:31, JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: After all, it is > possible - perhaps even probable - that The Very Best Driver In the UK > (whoever it happens to be) has run their child to school at least once. Indeed, but one driver on one trip is hardly representative of a whole genre of school run drivers, otherwise the stereotype would not persist. -- Simon Mason
From: JNugent on 27 Dec 2009 18:46 MasonS(a)BP.com wrote: > JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: >> After all, it is >> possible - perhaps even probable - that The Very Best Driver In the UK >> (whoever it happens to be) has run their child to school at least once. > Indeed, but one driver on one trip is hardly representative of a whole > genre of school run drivers, otherwise the stereotype would not > persist. So what - assuming you know - is "bad" about the driving of drivers on "the school run"? What is "bad" about the driving of taxi-drivers? What is "bad" about the driving of white-van-drivers? What is "bad" about the driving of drivers of BMW cars? I expect that you will be the very model of your usually-rational self and will not be relying on the School of Everybody Knows That.
From: MasonS on 28 Dec 2009 04:59 On 27 Dec, 23:46, JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: > Mas...(a)BP.com wrote: > > JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: > >> After all, it is > >> possible - perhaps even probable - that The Very Best Driver In the UK > >> (whoever it happens to be) has run their child to school at least once. > > Indeed, but one driver on one trip is hardly representative of a whole > > genre of school run drivers, otherwise the stereotype would not > > persist. > > So what - assuming you know - is "bad" about the driving of drivers on "the > school run"? > > What is "bad" about the driving of taxi-drivers? > > What is "bad" about the driving of white-van-drivers? > > What is "bad" about the driving of drivers of BMW cars? > > I expect that you will be the very model of your usually-rational self and > will not be relying on the School of Everybody Knows That. You would have to ask the 70,000 people polled and ask *them* why they voted the way they did and how they came to assess the stereotypes from the observed behaviours of the representative groups on the road. I was not polled. -- Simon Mason
From: JNugent on 28 Dec 2009 07:21
MasonS(a)BP.com wrote: > JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: >> Mas...(a)BP.com wrote: >>> JNugent <J...(a)noparticularplacetogo.com> wrote: >>>> After all, it is >>>> possible - perhaps even probable - that The Very Best Driver In the UK >>>> (whoever it happens to be) has run their child to school at least once. >>> Indeed, but one driver on one trip is hardly representative of a whole >>> genre of school run drivers, otherwise the stereotype would not >>> persist. >> So what - assuming you know - is "bad" about the driving of drivers on "the >> school run"? >> What is "bad" about the driving of taxi-drivers? >> What is "bad" about the driving of white-van-drivers? >> What is "bad" about the driving of drivers of BMW cars? >> I expect that you will be the very model of your usually-rational self and >> will not be relying on the School of Everybody Knows That. > You would have to ask the 70,000 people polled and ask *them* why they > voted the way they did and how they came to assess the stereotypes > from the observed behaviours of the representative groups on the road. > I was not polled. I dare say that you weren't, though one has to wonder whether you would have voted any differently. But even so, even you (unless you are determined to cling to the obvious irrationality and total lack of objectivity displayed in the "result") must be able to clearly see the flaws in it. Do you actually *believe* that drivers on the school run (to take just one of the categories mentioned) are among the worst drivers on the road? If so, why? If you don't believe it, don't you rather agree that those who voted that way were reacting out of bigotry and prejudice? |