| Date: | November 4, 2013 / year-entry #294 |
| Tags: | non-computer |
| Orig Link: | https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20131104-01/?p=2743 |
| Comments: | 8 |
| Summary: | I dreamed that I arrived at my polling station just before it closed, but the ballot was not what I expected. Instead of voting on political candidates or referenda, I was voting on music from the 1980's. I ended up voting for an Anne Murray song because it was the only one I recognized, and... |
I dreamed that I arrived at my polling station just before it closed, but the ballot was not what I expected. Instead of voting on political candidates or referenda, I was voting on music from the 1980's. I ended up voting for an Anne Murray song because it was the only one I recognized, and it wasn't a bad song. |
Comments (8)
Comments are closed. |
This seems similar to the way many voters choose one candidate over the other: it's the only name they recognize. (Whether or not the candidate is a "bad one" is entirely another matter).
Thus demonstrating again that people assume that "more popular" is "better". :p
@EnaiSiaion, voting contests, be it political or entertainment, have shown time after time that it's all just about popularity.
The vast majority of the voting people can't assess the (lack of) qualities of the ones they're judging, so we're left with the common base of popularity, sensation, etc.
I refrain from voting on things I'm totally ignorant about. On the other hand, I don't feel like I have to be an expert to vote.
People may not know a candidate to vote FOR but often remember which ones to vote AGAINST. This is why negative political ads work so well.
Of course after a campaign season filled with negative ads I often vote Libertarian or wish to write in None Of The Above because I am sick of all of them.
At least nowadays you can vote on your favorite 80s pop songs from the comfort of your own kitchen table.
Well, as long as you have a stamp.
Part of the problem is that there's a long line of people waiting to vote and many people haven't seen the ballot until stepping into the booth. So, they feel pressured to be quick and the quickest way to vote is going by name recognition. To me, voting always felt like a school test. I felt weird bringing reference materials into the booth with me.
Making the ballot available online helps. I like vote by mail. Then I can do all the research I want and take as long as I need without inconveniencing anyone else.
@Marc K: if there were one voting booth at the polling place, then I can understand what you're saying, but I haven't seen anything like that in any election. The olling places that I typically see have upwards of ten booths, so even if a few people take their time, there are enough booths available to keep the line moving. There's also the time factor to consider. Voting takes time out of one's day, and perhaps people just want to get it over with and back to their regular lives quickly.
In my area, ballots are provided online generally a few weeks before the actual voting day. Sometimes the problem is actually finding the ballot (though search engines and local newspapers should help minimize that issue). More likely people may not even be aware that the ballot is online in the first place.
I like to do research, too, though since the voting date is generally known well in advance of the day, I do my reasearch in advance, and thus when I get to the booth I already know which way I'm going to vote.
I'm just curious about the songs you didn't recognise, Raymond. Did the 'director' of your dream put real songs on the list (so you don't think you remember the songs, but they are embedded in your subconscious) or just make up song titles to fit the narrative?
To me dreams are a weird window into the weirdest organ of the body – the brain. I generally don't recall a thing about my dreams, which is good since the post-dream analysis would do the rest of my head in.