You are probably wrong about almost everything

[Raising Heel]

No, your wife hasn't started posting here.

Interesting article from the Guardian. It's aimed at Brits, naturally, but Americans end up looking pretty bad in the responses. Almost every one of these questions involves some sort of value judgment, and when it's something many people might deem "bad" (teenage pregnancy, immigrants, unemployment) we grossly overestimate the numbers.

How did we get like this? (<--- a semi-rhetorical question)

You are probably wrong about almost everything

 

[UNC71-00]

No, your wife hasn't started posting here.

Interesting article from the Guardian. It's aimed at Brits, naturally, but Americans end up looking pretty bad in the responses. Almost every one of these questions involves some sort of value judgment, and when it's something many people might deem "bad" (teenage pregnancy, immigrants, unemployment) we grossly overestimate the numbers.

How did we get like this? (<--- a semi-rhetorical question)

You are probably wrong about almost everything

Yeah- I'm throwing the flag on this quiz. The answer choices are similar enough that you can miss it and still be right.

For instance, I said England was 7.5% mooslim and it was actually 5. So I got it wrong for the purposes of the test, but well within the acceptable margin of error.

This is one of those white guilt quizzes and I ain't falling for it.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

I thought I was wrong once......I was wrong.

 

[Raising Heel]

Yeah- I'm throwing the flag on this quiz. The answer choices are similar enough that you can miss it and still be right.

Not sure I follow. There are no answer choices, other than naming a percentage between 1 and 100. And you might be good at guessing, but the point is that the respondents as a whole were not.

 

[UNC71-00]

Not sure I follow. There are no answer choices, other than naming a percentage between 1 and 100. And you might be good at guessing, but the point is that the respondents as a whole were not.

Yes, but I got 3/10, with several answers off by scant amount. So I Would therefore be lumped in with the people who didnt know if the country was 5% or 25% mooslim

 

[gunslingerdick]

Perception is everything. Reality is less important. Because it's perception that drives behavior.

 

[Raising Heel]

Yes, but I got 3/10, with several answers off by scant amount. So I Would therefore be lumped in with the people who didnt know if the country was 5% or 25% mooslim

Look at the charts again. They don't measure what percent of people were wrong. They measure the degree of wrongness.

Having an average guess of 3 when the answer is 5 isn't bad. But guessing 23 when it's 5 is pretty awful.

 

[Raising Heel]

Perception is everything. Reality is less important. Because it's perception that drives behavior.

Agreed. That's why I thought it was an interesting social commentary. Our perceptions in general seem to be wildly inaccurate from reality, which makes you wonder just how ill-guided our behaviors are.

I promise I'm not trying to be political here. Just fascinated by the psychological and social implications.

 

[uncboy10]

Perception is everything. Reality is less important. Because it's perception that drives behavior.

Aligning perception with reality = enlightenment. Not something us human beings are very good at