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If polling is an art, not a science, the folks at Quinnipiac University use crayons.

Criminy, they weren't even close, missing Ohio by 13 points.

As of this typing, it looks like Biden is going to win the election, but polling as science, art, or even an educated guess is dead. I'd rather consult tarot cards.


I'm one of those curmudgeons who still bristles at the term "social sciences." That's like "beef vegetarian" diet. You can't make a science out of society any more than you can make a vegetarian diet out of beef.

The whole concept of "social science" is one of the conceits of the Enlightenment, pre-Frankenstein, which thought smart men could make rules to guide the rest of society to heaven on earth.

On top of that, it seems pretty obvious that the university polling centers are more interested in promoting their preferred candidate than coming up with objective results. Marketing 101 says, "Keep an upbeat image. Be positive. You'll get more sales (the desired result)" By presenting the image and result they want, the pollsters are more likely to get more sales (desired result).

Oh well. It's been a wild ride so far and today doesn't portend much stability.

Me? I'm gonna keep my head down and work. If I feel particularly motivated, I'll pull down my copy of de Lubac's Drama of Atheist Humanism and re-read his thoughts on August Comte and social sciences. If memory serves, Fr. de Lubac savaged the whole concept pretty effectively.

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