Wouldn't Life Be Easier if We Could Just Base our Decisions on Surveys?

Surveys could make life simpler. Why don't we use them?

There are times when I get so sick and tired of marketers and politicians asking me to participate in polls and surveys.  They are constantly asking for my opinions but my opinions always seem to be in the minority.  What is the point?  Do businesses and politicians really make decisions on the basis of surveys?  That is just the scariest thought.

A good survey might teach us something new about ourselves.  I sometimes enjoy reading poll results about how Americans view certain topics, but usually when I am bored and want something new to think about.  I just think major decisions should not be influenced by what 1,000 randomly chosen people have to say on the subject.  How much do they really know?

That's the problem with surveys, isn't it?  They are supposed to reflect the views of the whole population.  Well, maybe that's good if you want to know how many kids are smoking marijuana but when it comes to deciding what should be done in the name of national defense I would just like to see more informed opinions in the polls.

I am not saying I know better.  I just mean they should be surveying the people who are actually responsible for our national defense: the soldiers and other military service personnel.  I bet they would have some interesting things to say.

Maybe we could all open up our lives to ask people where we should buy a house or what kind of car to buy.  We already ask our friends and families about these kinds of decisions anyway.  But to me friends and families are better informed about us than total, random strangers.

When you are looking for answers you want well-informed answers, not random strangers' wacky ideas.  If public surveys were really a great idea wouldn't we have changed our way of government by now to let them have more influence in decision-making?