Originally posted by Gonzo
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That was the first thing that went through my mind, how was the survey conducted given who it was for?Originally posted by ThomasSoerensen View Post
There is a scene from Yes Prime Minister that illustrates the point well:
Survey One
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the rise in crime among teenagers?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think there is lack of discipline and vigorous training in our Comprehensive Schools?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think young people welcome some structure and leadership in their lives?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do they respond to a challenge?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Might you be in favour of reintroducing National Service?
Bernard Woolley: Er, I might be.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes or no?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Of course, after all you've said you can't say no to that. On the other hand, the surveys can reach opposite conclusions.
Survey Two
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the danger of war?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Are you unhappy about the growth of armaments?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think there's a danger in giving young people guns and teaching them how to kill?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think it's wrong to force people to take arms against their will?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Would you oppose the reintroduction of conscription?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: There you are, Bernard. The perfectly balanced sample.Leave a comment:
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No, it's just going to be less biased in favour of Christianity. They're changing the name to Songs of Allah.Originally posted by minestrone View PostLeave a comment:
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This, under the false assumption that this "survey" is correct, only shows what fools people are.
It seems Brown Gordon is a true representative of the people.Leave a comment:
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Anyway, Islam, Christianity and Judaism are pretty much abstract derivations of the same religion. Mostly we just disagree on how to kill each other.Leave a comment:
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Does that mean Songs of Praise gets moved to Friday?Originally posted by Troll View PostLeave a comment:
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Did you know the BBC is also about to give the post of Head of Religion & Ethics to a muslim - Aaqil Ahmed.... and that there are those who say that his attitude to Christianity is rather 'aggressive'
Seems strange that in a nation where 72% of the population describe themselves as 'Christian' the post should be given to someone from less than 2% of the population...
Still if we ridicule those 72% and marginalise their beliefs I don't suppose anyone here will give a jot if something less benign becomes acceptableLeave a comment:
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A survey of 2060 people does NOT equal "most Britons" - nonsense journalism at its best.
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I reckon if there is any ETI in our vicinity, it/they would consider humans very interesting objects of study, and would find it quite easy to store a complete human mind in some artificial medium, and replay it later at will, sort of bottling up souls like a biologist collecting specimens.
If anyone is skeptical, just consider the progress we have made in all that kind of technology in only a century or so and then extrapolate for a few million years.
Also, although many people take it for granted that advanced intelligences would be preoccupied with abstract issues beyond our understanding, and would consider humans about as interesting as woodlice, it may be there's only so much to know about fundamental laws and once they did even the smartest aliens in their search for novelty would have to fall back on studying nature's variety (such as us).
Imagine "waking up" in a dimly lit room (in reality a VR simulator) and being told that you had died. "So there *is* life after death," you might exclaim "well I'll be damned!", to which the doctor might reply "That's what we're here to decide"...Leave a comment:
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Most Britons 'believe in heaven'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7996187.stm
Most Britons 'believe in heaven'
The majority of Britons believe in heaven and life after death, new research suggests.
The survey of 2,060 people showed 55% believe in heaven, while 53% believe in life after death and 70% believe in the human soul.
The study was carried out between October and November last year for the public theology think tank Theos.
It also suggested that nearly four in 10 people, 39%, believe in ghosts and 27% believe in reincarnation.
A further 22% believe in astrology or horoscopes and 15% believe in fortune telling or Tarot.
The think tank said the findings were "especially striking" when compared to the 1950s.
Then only 10% of the public told Gallup that they believed in ghosts and just 2% thought they had seen one.
More sceptical
In 1951, only 7% of people said they believed in predicting the future by cards and 6% by stars.
But the latest research showed an increase in scepticism about certain aspects of the supernatural, the organisation said.
In a 1998 Mori poll, 18% of the public said they believed in fortune telling or tarot, and 38% in astrology. A further 40% said they believed in ghosts, and 15% said that they had personal experience of ghosts.
Theos director Paul Woolley said: "The enlightenment optimism in the ability of science and reason to explain everything ended decades ago.
"The extent of belief will probably surprise people, but the finding is consistent with other research we have undertaken.
"The results indicate that people have a very diverse and unorthodox set of beliefs. Our research may point to a slight increase in scepticism about aspects of the supernatural over the last 10 years."
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