Opinion Polls
Ever since the presidential election process got under way last year,
opinion polls have hit the internet in droves, papers and letters are full of them.
Answer this or that, who are you for today out of these limited choices, or what
ever else is trying to build credibility.
Of what value are opinion polls in the real world of creation and doing?

When I was a teenager, I happened to read a Mad Magazine issue.
The only thing I remember was one article.
I’ve dabbled in drawing over my life, even illustrated a book or two, so the
cartoon artwork really interested me.
But the thing about the piece that I found interesting then and still do,
is the one about Christopher Columbus and public opinion polls.
Would he have sailed had he conducted a poll first to see how popular
his idea was? The answer as set forth in the article was no.
Because in his world most people, even many in his crew thought it an
insane idea.
Many people will jump right in here with their opinion as to who first discovered
the Americas. This isn’t an opinion poll.
I’m trying to show that great things happen, not because of public
opinion but because there are people willing to do things regardless
of what the masses think.

Let’s see if an innovator in science, industry, manufactering looked to
public opinion before they did what they accomplished.

Frederick William Herschel was a musician-composer from Germany who
moved to England. What motivated a oboe, violin, harpsichord, organ player of
symphonies(he composed six) and church music come to constructing telescopes
and doing sky surveys?
I doubt that he asked his employers or fellow musicians of their opinion as to
how he should use his spare time.
An acquaintance, an amateur violinist, the Rev. John Michell of Thornhill,
a former leading Cambridge mathematics professor who was already noted
as England’s leading geologist and was developing groundbreaking views
on astronomy and the construction of telescopes.
This man sparked his interest in telescopes but he didn’t put out a poll to see
how many were in favor of his later endeavors.
Today Herschel is remembered not for his music but for his contributions to
science.

Now to industry and maufacturing , how about assembly line construction.
In 1913, Henry Ford installed the first moving assembly line for the mass
production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it
took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes.
Was Ford the first to use this method in making things?
No but he applied it to an area not yet using it.
What if he’d polled his peer auto makers? He’d have gotten responses like
“can’t be done”. “why sacrifice quailty?”, “it will deminish profits”, etc.

So you want to do something, anything, should you conduct a poll first?
Not if you want to accomplish your designs. The Naysayers always
out number those who say why not and will encourage your ideas.

Today (4/26/2016) Yahoo News put out an article about the 17th amendment
and the election of Senators.
There were numerous comments and replies to comments.
I even added my 2 cents worth to some.
People love to give their opinion. They love to spew their prejudices out..
The internet has allowed the waste of millions of hours of time talking about
things we know nothing about.
We could all postulate that and other issues from now until doomsday
and it wouldn’t change anything in the world.

Are opinion polls of value?
They do influence some decisions some make.
But should they?