Paul Goble
Staunton,
November 14 – In a delicious example of what philosophers refer to as the logical
paradox manifested by Epimenides the Cretan who famously declared that “all Cretans
are liars;” but since he too is one, that means that he is a liar as well, over
half of all Russians now tell pollsters that they don’t trust poll results.
According
to a VTsIOM poll just reported, 53 percent of Russians say that poll results are
“fabricated” and that they are published in the media in order to manipulate
society. Thirty-seven percent say the results do not reflect the opinions of
those surveyed, up from 22 percent who said that in 2016 (rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5bebefb29a7947ceb2084bf4).
Analysts
suggested that, polls were still needed even though ever fewer Russians believe
in the results, almost certainly yet another indication of the declining faith
ever more Russians have in any kind of official statements whatsoever (thinktanks.by/publication/2018/11/15/vtsiom-u-rossiyan-rastet-nedoverie-k-sotsiologam.html
and ruskline.ru/news_rl/2018/11/14/valerij_fyodorov_oprosy_nuzhny_no_ih_rezultatam_my_verim_slabo/).
But such skepticism should also
serve as a guide for outside observers who are remarkably quick to fasten on to
any poll result they think significant, even if the people standing behind the
reported numbers don’t believe them.
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