And isn't class warfare being driven by the 1% versus the 99%? If numbers don't matter, then the desired person to be is the 1% - filthy rich and having more than you could ever possibly spend or use in one lifetime.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

The number of people owning guns should be a NON issue. Who cares? Sports teams that LOSE the most games should actually be called the winners and those we aspire to be like. A CEO should not be paid any more than a minimum wage employee. Failure would be more desirable than success or victory. Statistics or trends in anything would be meaningless. History itself would be of no purpose. How many people attend a movie and make it a blockbuster or how many people purchase a CD to make it go platinum would be meaningless. There would be no point in recalls, because who cares if several million vehicles have defects? Voting would be pointless and of no value. Do polls and surveys would get axed, as how many people feel or believe a certain way is not important. There would not be any use for protests, demonstrations, rallies, sit ins, strikes, or boycotts. Who cares if several million people don't like something. If one does, that is the important thing to remember. It is simply ludicrous for any intelligent human being to say that numbers do not matter or are meaningless. I actually had a user 2 days ago tell me that life experiences did not matter either! It is mind numbing to think that "the herd" mentality is ruling today's youth and they can't even see it.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Numbers don't matter <> those in the minority are always right.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Hahaha*,, don't like numbers sO would say it doesn't matter just like age and the rest of the numbers... Also money isn't everything for exsample money can't bring back something but is also important because it brings you somewhere in life ... Meaning numbers does and doesn't matter I guess*

by Anonymous 10 years ago

What doesn't matter is anecdotal evidence or personal experience. Your personal experiences don't matter when it comes to facts because your personal experiences are never going to be the same as the other 7 billion people in the world. Sorry but unless you can get those "personal" experiences peer reviewed (you know like scientists have to do every time they do something) they only mean something to you and nobody else. If your personal experiences mattered, then everybody should believe in ghosts because some people have "experienced" it, and everybody should believe in God, and Allah, and Zeus, and Thor because there's always been somebody who's had "personal" experiences with something. Once again, you have failed to realize the full extent of what factual information actually means.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

As have you. Scientists in any field rarely agree within their fields of expertise. Since you know everything, you should have figured that one out. Your comments always shoot mine down, but you never provide any "facts" of your own. For you to say personal experience does not matter shows your complete lack of understanding about life.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

You're totally missing the point of that comment, and once again are making more logical leaps. It's of course true that your personal experience matters to YOU and helps form your opinions, but as sober points out, they have little meaning in the grand scheme of things, unless you discover some more comprehensive consensus among your peers. When it comes to discussing objectivity, it's hard to accept that the personal experience of a handful of people will define what is objectively true. You seem to think that we should be swayed on this based entirely on your personal experience, verification of which we have absolutely no way of getting. You don't supply ANY precise example of detail, and just use general terms to sweep the argument across. Would YOU be convinced by such ramblings?

by Anonymous 10 years ago

It's also not usually a good idea to cite statistics on opinions as hard facts. If 70% of people like blue more than red, does that mean that people who like blue are more 'right?' When people say that numbers aren't always important, it doesn't mean minority views are always right, it means majority ones aren't necessarily true either.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

you're making a huge leap of logic by assuming that when someone says "numbers don't matter" that the minority is therefore correct. The point of the numbers don't matter argument is mainly to protect against a utilitarian oppression where the rights of minorities are stamped all over because there's technically a majority of another opinion. When we say "numbers don't matter" it is just saying that a majority doesn't necessarily make something right, not that it therefore makes the minority right.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

The high majority of people think vegetables are healthy. However, I genuinely think they are highly toxic. Therefore, if you eat them you die. OP's logic seems pretty flawless to me...

by Anonymous 10 years ago

Guess you have never heard of exaggeration and sarcasm. My point was that every time I cite numbers to support anything, those who disagree say numbers DO NOT matter. However, anyone knows better. If they fail to admit that, then they are not being intellectually responsible. At times a minority view may be correct, but generally more times than not, they are not correct. Your kind have absolutely NO problem citing numbers on an issue when it suits your views or position. If I said at least half of Americans are against abortion, you would say a woman has the choice to decide that. If I said over half of Americans are against Obamacare, you would say that it does not matter. If I said at least half of Americans still believe in God, Bible, and Creationism, you would say it is not valid because there are more scientists who don't. You see, the numbers are used any way any group or individual DECIDES to use them to support their issue. And there is no right or wrong when people alone are the determining factor. If we are all equal, then what I believe is right is right. Nobody can challenge or change that when no absolutes or deity exists. And if you think the numbers of people don't matter, then you are willing to turn over all rights, laws, and control to those who are in charge or positions of authority. On that grounds, only the elected or those having enough money to buy their control get to decide for the rest of us. Personally, that is not what I want in my world.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

I think a healthy skepticism towards numbers that are presented on the Internet is a good thing. A lot of people pull numbers out of absolutely nowhere, or just get them from a single online source thinking they must be gospel truth. There's a scene in the classic Brit-Com "Yes, Prime Minister" where it is revealed just how easy it is to guarantee numbers to support a cause or belief if the questions in surveys or other research are phrased in such a way as to lead the interviewee to the desired view. You quoting numbers on the Internet and having people automatically believe you because of them would be more worrying to me. I also don't think you put yourself in a very strong position by creating this idea of "your kind" and a "me and them" situation. Who are you referring to when you say "your kind has no problem citing numbers"? I don't think you do yourself any favours when you assume that you are in one camp and the rest of the world is in another.

by Anonymous 10 years ago

My own damn government is making up the numbers as they go, and you would question my or the scientific community's making up numbers? EVERYONE makes up numbers, and intellectually honest people KNOW that! You act as if it does not exist or that one group is more pure and true than another. The activist groups make up numbers to sway their groups. There are media organizations that fudge numbers to make things appear as they wish it to be. Poll organizations play with the numbers to sway the views of others. And yes, scientists, colleges, companies, etc. ALL play with numbers to make their cases and positions. I never assume anything, and I am NOT trying to win you over to my side. If you jump in on my comments and take them to issue, I will defend my position. I don't give a rat's ass what your views are or what you believe. That is your choice and decision. If you can defend what you hold dear as opinions or beliefs to YOUR satisfaction, really that is all anyone can expect of another person. My job in life is not to convince everyone I come in contact with to be like me!

by Anonymous 10 years ago

it's also true that consensus is no guarantee of accuracy or justness. there was a general consensus that the bible shouldn't be translated into English; a view that shifted over time. you'd probably find a consensus in a country like Saudi Arabia that Christianity is bollocks, and yet a majority of Americans would disagree - so who is right?

by Anonymous 10 years ago

- Do you think that anyone here genuinely believe that the minority is *always* right? - If yes, do you really expect your post to make those people—obviously lacking elementary logic—realise they were wrong? - Based on that, how useful do you think your post is?

by Anonymous 10 years ago

As useful as the majority of comments and opinions by everyone else on this site.

by Anonymous 10 years ago