As the internet has become essential to our daily lives, I believe I've developed considerable internet-browsing prowess. I can automatically close ads and popups with ninja-like reflexes, allowing me to focus on the truly important matters at hand, like finding more videos of animals using tools.
So, one day, as I was browsing—I don't remember the exact site, but let's say it was about the intersection of religion and Star Wars, just so I can see what DALL·E 2 comes up with—a popup emerged. True to form, I clicked the "No" button immediately. But for some reason, this popup decided to fade slowly, providing me ample time to read the question to which I had just responded "No."
I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like this:
Do you recognize any of the following names:
Joe Biden
Nancy Pelosi
Mitch McConnell
Ted Cruz
(I can't recall the exact names, but they were all well-known political figures on the national stage.)
I had already clicked "No," but in reality, I wasn't responding to the question they had posed. Rather, I was addressing something more along the lines of:
"Do I want to spend a moment of my day participating in this poll?"
Answer: No.
Or, even more accurately:
"Which button should I click to dismiss this pop-up as quickly as possible?"
Answer: No
Although it happened a while ago, it’s stuck with me. I can't help but ponder the fate of the data. I don't know who conducted the poll or what they intended to do with the results; presumably, someone wanted to do something with it. But it’s something to think about next time you see a headline like "30% of Americans Don't Know Who Joe Biden Is—and They're Voting!" I'm a 30-percenter, a statistic forever etched into the annals of … wherever the poll goes.
Will this “data” be published in scientific research, sparking heated debates about the dismal state of political awareness in the country? How long will it live on? That paper could be cited for years to come, the false information propagating through the academic literature. Future historians might even point to this poll result as evidence that early 21st-century Americans were idiots.
I’ll probably forget I ever clicked on such a survey. You’ll probably forget about this post. But at some point when we run across the resulting numbers in the wild, we’ll both be appalled about the poor state of knowledge in the country.
Just something to keep in mind.