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