After backing Trump, low-income voters hope he doesn't slash their benefits

[CrispyQ]

34. Did you catch this article posted a few weeks ago, regarding cognitive bias? Wow!

This article needs to go viral.

Americans Have One Very Strange Cognitive Bias
Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love The People.

Jonathan V. Last
Nov 22, 2024

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/americans-have-one-very-strange-cognitive

snip...

YouGov asked a series of questions on “What percentage of Americans do you think are (fill in the blank)?” with the (blank) being all sorts of qualities: black, gay, Christian, left-handed, own a passport, etc.

The results were hilarious. Here are some of the percentages that Americans (on average) think their fellow citizens are:

> Transgender: 21%
> Muslim: 27%
> Jewish: 30%
> Black: 41%
> Live in New York City: 30%
> Gay or lesbian: 30%

more...

These perceptions do not square with any version of observable reality. Here the numbers as they actually exist in the real world:

> Transgender: 1%
> Muslim: 1%
> Jewish: 2%
> Black: 12%
> Live in New York City: 2%
> Gay or lesbian: 3%

We are talking about errors of perception measured by orders of magnitude. On the trans population, the average American’s estimation is off by 2,000 percent.

If Americans really think 1/3 of the country lives in NYC then we're too dumb for democracy.