I think that people make up their minds about serious problems like Brexit far too quickly. I am well aware than a quick intuitive decision is SOMETIMES better than a long-distorted grapple with debating points. I do not think it is in any way helpful to keep saying” Just Get on with it”. As time goes on it becomes more important to get it right as a method of shortening the time we have to deal with this. A constant drip of utterances calling for examination of bias is also not helpful. Things which are called Project Fear ’ are no more than the normal precautionary talk which any person aiming to make a balanced judgement would do. Using the term ' Project Fear ’ is an indication that the person saying it has NOT worked their way through the thousands of consequences for anyone else but themselves. It has become a debate about personal preferences. It is certainly NOT about one nation Conservatism
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I remember when the whole brexit debate started, I spent more than a year saying "I don't know enough about this to say one way or the other and, despite much attempted research, I can't find anything that suggests anyone else knows enough. I see no semblance of a plan for how to actually do it, I see no research on the potential consequences... so why are so many other people so sure of how they will vote? We need to stop, think and figure it out."
Then there was that televised debate, where the Remain people mostly talked about the benefits of being in the EU and the challenges that we would face in leaving. Then Boris the brexit clown stood up and, instead of offering a plan and a way to make things better, basically just labelled them "Project Fear" and made an appeal to the Little Englander "we had an empire" mentality among white van men. At that point, I concluded there was no plan for how to make it work, they just wanted to get rid of the legislation that keeps them from stamping on us, so I decided in that moment that I'd be voting (and campaigning) to remain. So far, history has proved me entirely right and yet oh, so far short of the mark regarding how bad the brexiteers' plan was.
Jalnor
Level 6
Sep 14, 2019
1
I think we go wrong when we tell people who are uneducated on such matters that they have an obligation to go out and vote one way or the other. Of course everyone (of voting age, and not currently in prison) is entitled to vote, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they should, if they don't understand the consequences of what they're voting for. The Brexit referendum is pretty much proof of this incarnate, with most people voting as they were choosing what to have for dinner.
But yes, people are also prone to making a decision and refusing to question it. The one time I've done jury duty, I was rather alarmed that most of my fellow jurors seemed to be swung by the case for the prosecution to the point where their minds were already made up by the time we heard anything from the defence, and weren't about to be changed.
NicoleCadmium
Level 7
Sep 14, 2019
1
Indeed, this is a serious problem with a lot of folk. I wish I could figure out a root cause that could be eliminated, some way to stop people from making snap judgments on complex issues.
Fortunately, I know a number of people who don't make such mistakes - at least, not often. I really enjoy their company. Glad to see someone else recognising the problem 
Should we persuade them to abstain after admitting they do not want to do any research?
@Hebert54 they should make some agreed mark to admit that the decision is beyond them i.e. to show they have co-operated . At least they are honest. It might be a way of dealing with popularism . I agree it could be thought of as patronising so please don't judge my intellect until my suggestion works.
It's not patronising to say "if you know you don't have a clue, you shouldn't fucking vote." It's patronising to say "yes, Tommy, of course your uninformed opinion is important, don't worry about the facts. Go with your gut." If people stopped thinking that their ignorance was just as good as the next person's knowledge, maybe they would go out and find some knowledge instead of being the guy in the pub that thinks it's all Jeremy Corbyn's fault because the Daily Fail said he went to see a terrorist's grave - and then refuses to accept that the terrorist in question wasn't even buried in the country where the photo was taken.
@Jalnor This post highlights the difficulty - not unexpected - of trying to get people to accept and know how science can benefit everyone on earth personally especially about how to make decisions. Science education should alter direction with the aim of getting everyone not only to use science but personally benefit from it in their everyday life
@Hebert54 that wasn't how it was meant, and re-reading it, I don't think that's how it came across. All I've said is that if someone's attitude is genuinely "Don't know, don't care" then just leave them to it. But there seems to be a movement to guilt trip people into voting on the basis that if you don't vote, you forfeit your right to have any political opinions.
I don't claim to fully understand European politics, yet I could see a mile off that trying to extricate ourselves from the EU at this point would be an extremely painful exercise, and I voted on that basis. Others either believed it would be less painful, or thought it was worth it, and voted on that basis. But the undecideds who were told to just go out and vote with their gut or on a whim (because voting was more important than what you actually voted for) probably swung the result the way it went. It flew in the face of what Cameron and even Farage were expecting on the night.
I can't see him either; he's either blocked us all or left the site LOL
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