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My point still applies: people don't usually base their opinions on data. They base them on what they perceive directly (e.g. seeing a crime) or indirectly (e.g
by rahimnathwani 4y ago
My point still applies: people don't usually base their opinions on data. They base them on what they perceive directly (e.g. seeing a crime) or indirectly (e.g. hearing about a scary crime).
Even if confronted with data, people will interpret it based on their opinion.
Crime report data is up? That could mean:
A) law enforcement has been doing a better job, so people feel it's more worthwhile to report crimes, or
B) law enforcement has been doing a worse job, so people don't bother reporting crimes
Whether someone interprets the data as meaning A or B depends on their opinion more than it informs their opinion.
- kodah 4y agoThe data, to me, is mostly reality. I rephrased it so that it reflects peoples perceptions on reality. I did that specifically because there's debate on how much crime there actually is. I do agree that data is fallable and manipulatable, but I do still think the data is good enough for a baseline.
- rahimnathwani 4y agoI'm not suggesting the data aren't useful, that they don't reflect reality, or that they don't inform your opinion of what policies we should pursue. I'm just disagreeing that the data (trend in # of incidents of crime) are what drives most people's opinions about what policies we should pursue.