I've been thinking lately about how aware we are these
days of people's agendas. Suspicious, even. I think we're
on the hunt for "well what's in it for you" in a way we weren't
a few decades ago. For instance, I think management of a focus
group must be a lot tougher, because people are less capable of
giving you their "natural" responses; they're trying to think
ahead to why you're asking about whether pictures of puppies or
of playgrounds remind you more of childhood, if you're trying to
sell them cereal or whatever, rather than giving a simple answer.
Same with people who come up to you on the street smiling...if they
start talking, asking how your day is going, you know they're after
something, generally your precious attention.
Same thing happened during the "Clinton Scandals". His "Approval" rating was soaring during that time, since the pollsters weren't asking "do you think the impeachment is fair", and the Approval Rating was the main outlet the people had to send a message against the way the case was proceeding.
I got to thinking about this during a conversation about this
"Insanity Test", where the way it's setup influenced the naturalness of my reaction, even before the thing started...
Link of the Moment
Would your day be better with a
Bear That Poops Prime Numbers? Of course it would.
