At 11:05 AM 5/1/98 -0500, Bill Lear wrote: >On Wed, April 29, 1998 at 19:44:11 (-0400) Doug Henwood writes: >>... >>Hmm, really? My own recent tours of campuses, and conversations with >>academics, combine to present a less pretty picture of the U.S. college >>population. They seem, for the most part, poorly educated and don't seem to >>give a fuck about much of anything. Am I just being too gloomy once again? > >I heard on Pacifica just yesterday the results of a poll which >indicated that the things college students worry about most are >something like 28% not getting a good job; 11% not having enough >money; 6% were concerned about another aspect of work --- can't >remember exactly what; and 3% were most worried about the environment. > >So, they do give a fuck. About half worried about how well they will >do playing in the capitalist shit-pit, and 3% are worried about the >rising tide of shit spilling all over the world. Their scatological >sophistication is quite impressive... I would not put too much faith in opinion polls -- they are, in fact, an exercise in selecting different canned phrases, or fast food for thought if you will. They usually reflect nothing more than the saturation of the 'public mind' by media propaganda. My favourite example is a MD referendum on abortion legislation a few years ago. The referendum was called by pro-lifers who believed in opinion polls saying that the public opposes abortion. To everyone's surprise, the initiative was defeated by a wide margin, 2:1 if I remember correctly. The only logical explanation is that people voted differently than they recorded their opinions in the polls. That is hardly surpising, if we consider how questionnaires are constructed. They are basically canned phrases that are supposed to reflect different positions as researchers view them. The respondents are supposed to pick one that best represents their views. The problem is that those canned phrases are seldom reflective of what the respondents actually think on the subject - which is highly depended on specific empirical context rather than abstract expositions. Consequently, the Rs tend to pick the phrase that sounds most familiar to them or seems most 'politically correct' (i.e. heard most often on tee-vee). In the same vein, they select a McDonalds estbalishment over the local variety whne they travel -- they recognize it as familiar, even though they do not like the food. I tend to agree with Doug's perception of student attitudes nowadays - they tend not to give a fuck about anything but their own self. But isn't that individualism cum the cult of the scripture, the love for hierarchy as the epitome of rationality, and 'networking opportunities', the main goal of what passes for 'higher education' today? regards, Wojtek Sokolowski
