Polls as gaslighting

There’s this odd feeling sometimes when I hear reports on polls. It’s this odd sensation that makes me feel detached from reality, and makes me doubt myself. I feel I have a fairly firm grasp of the issues that are reported, because there’s the mainstream version of events and there’s the events as reported by partisan media.

I form my conclusions after taking in all information. These conclusions might be counter to what others see, but that’s perfectly fine.

The problem, I feel, arises when the supposedly “impartial and fair” media has been seen to be partisan to one side that I cannot help but feel that poll reporting is done as a method to make people doubt themselves. Make them feel like they are in the minority. Make them feel alone.

Humans are social creatures, and loneliness is scary. The feeling to join others and belong is strong.

I am sure that powerful people know this, so I cannot help but feel that this self-doubt is why reports from clearly partisan outlets are designed to demoralise opponents. It is also why the polls got things absurdly wrong in 2016, by which every poll suggested that Hillary would merrily stroll into the White House.

Not to suggest that polls are wrong this time, either. They could be correct. I don’t know.

But when the media has a vested interest in the results of an election, and if their aim is to influence others to their side, then I am seriously sceptical of any polling reports.

Believe yourself. Believe your understanding of the facts and news and if you are going to be influenced, make sure you bake in the motivations of the people from whom you’re receiving the information.

Being easily influenced is what powerful people want from you. And they’re laughing at you.

Media traps

I always get wary whenever I see the media and even politicians pushing for response to a question. It often devolves into this insistent pressing on the subject to “answer the question; yes or no”.

It’s a play on appearing forthright and no-nonsense, and holding the subject’s feet to the fire. However, I cannot escape the thought that these lines of questioning are there to bully the subject into providing an answer that is absent any qualifying context, particularly on an issue that requires accuracy or some background information.

The recent furore over President Trump’s apparent softness on racism and white supremacy did remind me of this kind of pressing that the media can do, and Trump’s attempts to obtain more information (ie “Name the group”) so that he could precisely pinpoint his condemnation was an indicator that he knew their game.

This is the nature of the traps that media lay, though. Heads, I win. Tails, you lose.

I didn’t want to write a blog post to explain the point I was making in the comic – as that’s a sign that I couldn’t properly deliver the message, but I think sometimes some extra explanation helps with clarity.