Entry 561, on 2007-06-27 at 18:43:20 (Rating 3, News)
This morning I did something I told myself I would never do again: I listened to a talkback radio station! The shock! The horror! Oh the shame! OK, so I'm being a bit facetious here. It all happened because I forgot to recharge my iPod. That meant I had to listen to the radio instead, and while I was searching for the usual, fairly intelligent, station I listen to I found a talkback station instead.
It sort of reinforced to me how misinformed the average person is. The real problem is, that the certainty with which a person holds an opinion seems to be inversely proportional to their overall knowledge of the subject! Now I know that I could be accused of expressing a high degree of certainty in some subjects (for example in the veracity of evolution compared with creationism) but I readily admit the gaps in my knowledge and am always careful to point out that I accept the best theory, not one I pretend is absolutely true.
The debate was on various current issues regarding our police force (in New Zealand). Most people think we need more police because they think crime is getting worse. But to get more police the standard of person being accepted into the police has to drop. There are several different motivations people might have for joining the police, some positive and some worrying. One of the more worrying ones would be the opportunity to act in an aggressive and confrontational way.
There are claims that some of the new recruits are being given many opportunities to pass basic knowledge and intelligence tests. I don't know the exact nature of these tests, and I don't necessarily believe that tests can give a good indication of whether someone would be a good police force member or not anyway, but the fact that they really serve no purpose, because the recruit gets as many attempts as required, indicates to me that standards are really dropping.
According to other reports, confidence in the police is at an all time low. That's not surprising considering the rather unpleasant incidents involving police I have blogged about in the past. Also, the sort of answers being given by police management when they are interviewed about these topics aren't very convincing. There certainly seems to be an initial reaction to hide negative issues instead of dealing with them.
So, after more consideration, I might listen to talkback radio a bit more. It doesn't always provide a lot of reliable knowledge or intelligent debate but it does provide an interesting measure of current public opinion.
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