Thanks for the comments, and don't be a stranger...
Kristina Newhouse — February 25, 2011
Would love to be able to post this on Facebook!
Paul Botts — February 25, 2011
In fact I just did so, and also forwarded the link to members of the two theater boards that I'm on as well as some others who will find it interesting. Good stuff.
Laura Grace — February 28, 2011
Peter,
I definitely agree. I worry that some quantitative research methods are skewed by the sense of power that subjects feel when given the opportunity to rate things. I tend to research and follow political studies and (cringe) polls. Polling methods seem to give people the same judgement power of the Romans in the Colosseum. We would rather give the proverbial thumbs up because of the sense of self-satisfaction we get from negative judgment.
However, I am definitely guilty of something similar. When I am sorting through product ratings I always search out the worst ones to see what people are saying, even if a bad rating is only 1 in 100. Maybe I am looking to give the issue a fair and balanced approach. ;) This seems somewhat similar to OK Cupid in that the consumer pays more mind to the lowest ratings than the second highest.
Thanks Peter, this was definitely an interesting article, and I have found myself following Rob Long.
-Laura
Janis — February 28, 2011
This is interesting -- it's underlined an opinion I've had for some time that if you want to get people's attention, you will have to get their attention ... one way or another. And by doing that, just by being unusual enough to get noticed, you will get up someone's nose somehow. I've heard that Sophia Loren was repeatedly told by directors when she was a girl that she was frankly ugly. One said, "There is no way to photograph this girl and make her look good." And I don't doubt it would work for men, too. I know as many women who think Steve Perry is unattractive as think he's the second coming, and the same oddly shaped mouth that makes a lot of women like Ioan Gruffudd turns a lot of other ones off.
Being one thing powerfully will arouse strong feelings one way or another -- the only thing that won't accomplish this is a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
I can't remember who it was said that all great beauty has some strangeness in the proportion. Beauty IS an exaggeration, after all. And I'm sure that's why a lot of classical music is ... well, bland anymore. If you want to make one competition judge hit the ceiling with joy, you'll probably make another one hate you.
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Bu Dates from Amazon and TripAdvisor to singles sites, we're asked to pick a number far more often than we're asked to reflect and discuss. With predictable results.