The Wisdom Of Crowds?

[Kromovaracun]

Was interested to see the following article in The Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-public-wrong-about-nearly-everything-survey-shows-8697821.html

It seems that the British public actually tends to believe grossly inaccurate things about their society compared to the evidence available. These findings are supported by an earlier survey commissioned by the TUC and carried out by Ipsos-Mori:

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/01/04/benefits-those-who-know-least-oppose-them-the-most

//On average people think that 41% of the entire welfare budget goes on benefits to unemployed people, while the true figure is three per cent.

On average people think that 27% of the welfare budget is claimed fraudulently, while the government's own figure is 0.7%.

On average people think that almost half the people (48%) who claim Jobseeker's Allowance go on to claim it for more than a year, while the true figure is 27.8%.

On average people think that an unemployed couple with two school-age children would get £147 in Jobseeker's Allowance - more than 30% higher than the £111.45 they would actually receive - a £35 over-calculation.

Only 21% of people think that this family with two school-age children would be better off if one of the unemployed parents got a 30 hour a week minimum wage job, even though they would actually end up £138 a week better off. Even those who thought they would be better off only thought on average they would gain by £59.//


Do ABers believe this evidence, or should we continue to place more trust in the 'man on the street' than on evidence deriving from research?

[emmie]

post office established in 1660 according to our reliable source wiki, or did you take your information from someplace else.

[Gromit]

Groan, this could me a long day...

// According to the Office for National Statistics, based on the 2011 Census estimates, 59.8 per cent of the 8,173,941 inhabitants of London were White, with 44.9 per cent White British, 2.2 per cent White Irish, 0.1 per cent gypsy/Irish traveller and 12.1 per cent classified as Other White. //

[Sharingan]

^^^ Best answer, right there;-)

[emmie]

its about stats, and how many don't add up, no matter the subject matter.

[Gromit]

Groan, this could be a long day...

The Royal Mail is to be Privatised, not the Post Office. The Royal Mail was founded in 1516. The Post Office is a subsiduary of Royal Mail and was founded later, vecoming a limited company in 1986.

[emmie]

we are looking at the same data,

According to the 2011 Census, 44.9% of London's residents are White British. London is the only place in the United Kingdom in which White Britons comprise less than half of the total population. 37% of the population were born outside the UK.[2]

The censuses can underestimate ethnic groups with illegal immigrants not being accounted for and ethnic groups being less likely to take part.[citation needed]

so once you read that part, it is hard to say for sure the mix, because many are not counted..

[emmie]

groan, this is already a long day,

[emmie]

its the heat, some things don't add up, and hasn't the Royal Mail been ailing for some time.

http://news.sky.com/story/1113694/royal-mail-privatisation-plans-to-be-unveiled

[emmie]

not to mention that one associates the post offices with the Royal Mail,
at least i always have

[Gromit]

Em10

Are you deliberately trying to prove the General Ignorance part of this thread?

The pist office have just made £324million profit.

[Gromit]

Groan this could be a long day...

Em10. You wrote white people are in a minority, not White British. And if you were to add black British to the White British, there would be a healthy minority.

[jno]

anyway, to answer the OP, yes, the thread seems to be demonstrating the unwisdom of crowds quite well.

[emmie]

they have just gone into profit, or so the BBC report says.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18645548

[emmie]

unwise, wise, it's a matter of opinion, no matter the subject matter.

[jno]

whether white people are in a minority in London is NOT a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact. The facts are reaily available. Yet people persist in believing the opposite. That is what the thread is about.

[Quizmonster]

"Or the left wingers on here who bang on about how everything is hunky dory, and that nothing is wrong in Britain at all."

I know of course from personal experience, Em, that you don't have a good record of providing evidence for your claims, but I'll try again. Perhaps you could provide a link to any contribution - ever - from an AB left winger in which he/she claimed (never mind banged on about) "nothing is wrong in Britain at all".

[Gromit]

The Royal Mail have not JUST gone into profit.

2009 £255million profit

2010 £404million profit

2011 £187million profit

2012 £211million profit

2013 £324million profit

[emmie]

QM
if you do as well, your words,

This should be compulsory reading for the right-wingers here on AB who constantly propagate the utterly wrong views on benefits outlined above. However, I somehow doubt that they'll get the message.

[emmie]

I read that from the BBC link

Royal Mail has increased annual profits and said that its core postal business is also back in the black for the first time in four years.

The delivery service made a profit of £23m on revenues of £7.2bn, up from a loss of £120m last year.

[mikey4444]

There are people here on AB that play the racism card on a regular basis, by saying that we are being "swamped" by Muslims, despite the Census showing that Muslims make up less than 5% of the population.