4 ms·

Much of advertising is emotional appeal.

M_Grey 10y ago
Plenty of advertising, car sales, consumer financial products, lotteries, etc... rely on people not having an innate understanding of math, and especially probabilities. Hell, if people understood those issues, they might even have something to say about Gerrymandering and the electoral college!
- wolfgke 10y ago
  > Hell, if people understood those issues, they might even have something to say about Gerrymandering and the electoral college! It's not obvious whether this is good or bad (too many cooks spoil the broth).
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    The cooks are in the kitchen with their votes already, how could it be worse to have them actually know what the hell they're doing there?
    - wolfgke 10y ago
      Perhaps I am a little bit biased by the situation in Germany. In the past years there was an increasing number of non-voters in elections (typically people who are dissatisfied with the political system). Now in the last years a rather right-wing populist party (AfD) appeared that convinced many of these non-voters to vote for them. Compare this a little bit to the fictional situation as if Donald Trump would bring many people who did not vote in the last presidential elections back to the ballot boxes to vote for him.
      - M_Grey 10y ago
        That's an interesting perspective, and a good point.
      - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
        >In the past years there was an increasing number of non-voters in elections (typically people who are dissatisfied with the political system). Now in the last years a rather right-wing populist party (AfD) appeared that convinced many of these non-voters to vote for them. Well, maybe the Left should try actually appealing to the interests of the working class instead of the SDP going quietly along with the austerity measures. >Compare this a little bit to the fictional situation as if Donald Trump would bring many people who did not vote in the last presidential elections back to the ballot boxes to vote for him. That's not fiction.

Plenty of advertising, car sales, consumer financial products, lotteries, etc... rely on people not having an innate understanding of math, and especially probabilities. Hell, if people understood those issues, they might even have something to say about Gerrymandering and the electoral college!

wolfgke 10y ago
> Hell, if people understood those issues, they might even have something to say about Gerrymandering and the electoral college! It's not obvious whether this is good or bad (too many cooks spoil the broth).
- M_Grey 10y ago
  The cooks are in the kitchen with their votes already, how could it be worse to have them actually know what the hell they're doing there?
  - wolfgke 10y ago
    Perhaps I am a little bit biased by the situation in Germany. In the past years there was an increasing number of non-voters in elections (typically people who are dissatisfied with the political system). Now in the last years a rather right-wing populist party (AfD) appeared that convinced many of these non-voters to vote for them. Compare this a little bit to the fictional situation as if Donald Trump would bring many people who did not vote in the last presidential elections back to the ballot boxes to vote for him.
    - M_Grey 10y ago
      That's an interesting perspective, and a good point.
    - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      >In the past years there was an increasing number of non-voters in elections (typically people who are dissatisfied with the political system). Now in the last years a rather right-wing populist party (AfD) appeared that convinced many of these non-voters to vote for them. Well, maybe the Left should try actually appealing to the interests of the working class instead of the SDP going quietly along with the austerity measures. >Compare this a little bit to the fictional situation as if Donald Trump would bring many people who did not vote in the last presidential elections back to the ballot boxes to vote for him. That's not fiction.