6 ms·

In the same poll, only 31% said they would feel safe saying the same views in private. My take: this was a partisan political poll of an extremely paranoid grou

In the same poll, only 31% said they would feel safe saying the same views in private. My take: this was a partisan political poll of an extremely paranoid group of people.

MikeUt 5y ago
Or they're worried things said in private would leak. If there's a large cost to saying something publicly, the risk carries over to saying it privately too.
- boredprograming 5y ago
  What's said in private is a classic "they said, I said". It's not a legal danger. This article implies the danger is legal liability, which wouldn't explain so little willing to voice their views in private. The only reasonable explanation is the poll is done on a very private or paranoid group
  - grumple 5y ago
    When gossip, public shaming, and excommunication are commonplace, what's said in private matters a lot. Heresy - questioning the orthodoxy of today's doctrines - carries a high punishment these days.
    - boredprograming 5y ago
      They used to hang people for heresy, and they still do in some countries. I think "people will be upset with me" is pretty mild viewed in a historical lens
  - MikeUt 5y ago
    > What's said in private is a classic "they said, I said". It's not a legal danger. This is false, even if we limit ourselves to only legal danger. If you say something to two people, and one of them repeats your words to the police, the police can easily ask the second person for confirmation. Add a few vague "lying to the police is very serious" threats, and there's a good chance the second person will betray you.
    - boredprograming 5y ago
      This kind of evidence is the weakest there is in court. I doubt it would go anywhere
  - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
    Yeah, the blog post, from a biased writer, makes the implication. The poll itself was quite neutral IMO. I wrote in another comment [1] why people might be wary about voicing their opinions, TL;DR: polarizing topics with staunch opinions from both sides (and about the other side) would lead to heated debates. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27514258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27514258
amadeuspagel 5y ago
It's a representative study, done by a major institute for opinion research[1][2], comissioned by a major newspaper[3][4]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allensbach_Institute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allensbach_Institute [2]: https://www.ifd-allensbach.de/fileadmin/user_upload/FAZ_Mai2019_Meinungsfreiheit.pdf https://www.ifd-allensbach.de/fileadmin/user_upload/FAZ_Mai2... [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Allgemeine_Zeitung https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Allgemeine_Zeitung [4]: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/allensbach-umfrage-ueber-meinungsfreiheit-und-kritische-themen-16200724.html https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/allensbach-umfrag...
- Draken93 5y ago
  It is a renowned institute but I am not sure if 1283 people are enough for being representative. But most importantly you have to read the question carefully. It includes people not stating a controversial opinion to avoid an argument. Therefore the poll is vulnerable for misterpretation.

In the same poll, only 31% said they would feel safe saying the same views in private. My take: this was a partisan political poll of an extremely paranoid group of people.

MikeUt 5y ago

Or they're worried things said in private would leak. If there's a large cost to saying something publicly, the risk carries over to saying it privately too.

boredprograming 5y ago
What's said in private is a classic "they said, I said". It's not a legal danger. This article implies the danger is legal liability, which wouldn't explain so little willing to voice their views in private. The only reasonable explanation is the poll is done on a very private or paranoid group
- grumple 5y ago
  When gossip, public shaming, and excommunication are commonplace, what's said in private matters a lot. Heresy - questioning the orthodoxy of today's doctrines - carries a high punishment these days.
  - boredprograming 5y ago
    They used to hang people for heresy, and they still do in some countries. I think "people will be upset with me" is pretty mild viewed in a historical lens
- MikeUt 5y ago
  > What's said in private is a classic "they said, I said". It's not a legal danger. This is false, even if we limit ourselves to only legal danger. If you say something to two people, and one of them repeats your words to the police, the police can easily ask the second person for confirmation. Add a few vague "lying to the police is very serious" threats, and there's a good chance the second person will betray you.
  - boredprograming 5y ago
    This kind of evidence is the weakest there is in court. I doubt it would go anywhere
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  Yeah, the blog post, from a biased writer, makes the implication. The poll itself was quite neutral IMO. I wrote in another comment [1] why people might be wary about voicing their opinions, TL;DR: polarizing topics with staunch opinions from both sides (and about the other side) would lead to heated debates. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27514258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27514258

amadeuspagel 5y ago

It's a representative study, done by a major institute for opinion research[1][2], comissioned by a major newspaper[3][4]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allensbach_Institute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allensbach_Institute [2]: https://www.ifd-allensbach.de/fileadmin/user_upload/FAZ_Mai2019_Meinungsfreiheit.pdf https://www.ifd-allensbach.de/fileadmin/user_upload/FAZ_Mai2... [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Allgemeine_Zeitung https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Allgemeine_Zeitung [4]: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/allensbach-umfrage-ueber-meinungsfreiheit-und-kritische-themen-16200724.html https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/allensbach-umfrag...

Draken93 5y ago
It is a renowned institute but I am not sure if 1283 people are enough for being representative. But most importantly you have to read the question carefully. It includes people not stating a controversial opinion to avoid an argument. Therefore the poll is vulnerable for misterpretation.