One poll question shows the extent of our Orwellian nightmare
Stephen H. Provost
Just for fun, I decided to take the Pew Research Center’s political typology poll the other day.
No, I’m not going to tell you my results. There are 16 questions on the poll, and I just want to discuss one of them. No. 3 stopped me in my tracks: It asks whether experts who’ve studied a subject for many years are better, worse, or about the same when it comes to making good policy decisions (presumably about the subject in question).
I did a double-take.
They couldn’t be serious. Were they REALLY asking whether experts were more qualified to make decisions than a novice? In ANY field?
There was only one possible answer: Of course, they are!
If they weren’t, I’d be qualified to perform brain surgery. No problem! I could be a small forward for the Golden State Warriors. I could run a Wall Street brokerage firm. I could be an astronaut. I could compete in the Olympic decathlon. I could star in the next Hollywood blockbuster. So what if I’m not an expert at any of these things? It doesn’t matter!
In the Orwellian mind of some people, it seems, knowing nothing at all should qualify you to do any of these things. It doesn’t matter if policymakers don’t know anything about the policies they’re making! In fact, it’s better that way. They can decide everything by playing “eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” musical chairs, or pin the tail on the donkey. Or better yet, find out what the experts think and do the exact opposite!
Anything’s better than studying the facts objectively and making rational decisions based on expert analysis.
Heaven forbid!
It’s better to believe a philandering narcissist with multiple bankruptcies who SAYS he knows everything than to trust someone who’s studied a subject extensively, has an advanced degree to show for it and real-world experience in the field. Just take the narcissist’s word for it. Don’t pay any attention to his actions or (lack of) achievements. And don’t pay any attention to the experts’ achievements! They don’t brag about them, so that must mean they aren’t worth bragging about, right?
This is what we’ve come to. I can’t imagine having seen that kind of question on a poll 20 or even 10 years ago. People taking the poll would have thought the folks at Pew had lost their minds. But in the era of misinformation, disinformation, doublespeak, and propaganda, I understand why they’re asking.
Still, poll questions are supposed to measure opinions. They’re not supposed to have clear right or wrong answers. No pollster would ask a question like: “Do you believe the sun rises in the east all the time, sometimes, or never?” Or “Do you believe A is the first letter of the English alphabet all the time, sometimes, or never?” Asking whether experts are more qualified to make decisions than people with no experience in the field falls into the same category. It’s not a matter of opinion. The only right answer is yes.
The fact that the question even needs to be asked is hard for a rational human being to swallow. But it shows how much of something else — Orwellian Kool-Aid — a lot of not-so-rational people have swallowed.
Stephen H. Provost is a former journalist and the author of 40 books. All of his works are available on Amazon.