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Results like this always make me wonder what the minority think, how they justify it. My guess is "I don't care" but it may be more nuanced than that, or somet

Results like this always make me wonder what the minority think, how they justify it. My guess is "I don't care" but it may be more nuanced than that, or something entirely else. I'd like to know if anyone can comment.

pessimizer 7y ago
Just wait a few minutes. On HN I bet the number is closer to 60/40 in favor. As for the 13%, my guess is that they think "Important people say that it will help us to apply computers to NHS data, so they should have at it and advance civilization. Even better that it will be based on UK data, because they might pay us directly and they might be able to find current NHS inefficiencies, which may counter the austerity cuts that lengthened wait times and made our cancer statistics worse than US statistics. Finally, the UK will be thought of as the leading edge of this tech advance, and that might bring investments, employment, and tax receipts." There could also be the realistic/fatalistic perspective that public opinion has little or no effect on government decision-making so you might as well think positively about it, because it's happening whenever they can sneak it through.
- bogle 7y ago
  Older family members of mine, who are conservative, have this knee-jerk response that it's valuable but there's no downside. As they lack critical thinking skills when they are challenged to suggest the value of this data to bad actors they will brush it off with an, "I can't think of any." Then if pushed they will really not be able to think of the possible consequences. They all have the vote. They believe what they are told by people like them. They're uneducatable. I think they may be more that 13%!
SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
The NHS has had data leaks in the past and their IT is supposedly fairly outdated (if our tabloid press is to be believed) so perhaps they genuinely believe that a specialised company would be able to do a better job?

pessimizer 7y ago

Just wait a few minutes. On HN I bet the number is closer to 60/40 in favor. As for the 13%, my guess is that they think "Important people say that it will help us to apply computers to NHS data, so they should have at it and advance civilization. Even better that it will be based on UK data, because they might pay us directly and they might be able to find current NHS inefficiencies, which may counter the austerity cuts that lengthened wait times and made our cancer statistics worse than US statistics. Finally, the UK will be thought of as the leading edge of this tech advance, and that might bring investments, employment, and tax receipts." There could also be the realistic/fatalistic perspective that public opinion has little or no effect on government decision-making so you might as well think positively about it, because it's happening whenever they can sneak it through.

bogle 7y ago
Older family members of mine, who are conservative, have this knee-jerk response that it's valuable but there's no downside. As they lack critical thinking skills when they are challenged to suggest the value of this data to bad actors they will brush it off with an, "I can't think of any." Then if pushed they will really not be able to think of the possible consequences. They all have the vote. They believe what they are told by people like them. They're uneducatable. I think they may be more that 13%!

SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago

The NHS has had data leaks in the past and their IT is supposedly fairly outdated (if our tabloid press is to be believed) so perhaps they genuinely believe that a specialised company would be able to do a better job?