Everybody cares about my opinion.

"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man."

Image and quote from The Big Lebowski (1998).

Okay, so not everybody cares about my opinion. However, when I go into restaurants and am accosted by researchers, or browse the internet and am swamped by survey requests, or when I read any newspaper and am encouraged to "talk back" to the author, or when I'm stuck behind a truck that wants me to "tell us how we're doing", you can forgive me for feeling that humble, thoughtful people are begging for my wise counsel and that very soon, the universe around us will change for the better thanks in no small part to a thorough airing of my views. After all, we're told endlessly, "your opinion matters".

I'm weary of this growing obsession with surveys, polls, and feedback. Not surprisingly, it appears to result primarily in banal uniformity and a shameless pandering to people with little imagination. While "my opinion" may matter to the people who are hired to farm it, it's simultaneously obvious that "I" do not. If I mattered in this process, here are a few things that would be different:

• The study would follow a recognized standard and methodology. Most surveys and intake methods appear to have been formulated by Marxist dictators after a full day of drinking. ("Which of the following three adjectives best describes your boss?  Brilliant, outstanding, or wonderful.")  Please don't waste my time with poor surveys.
  
• I would be given an assurance that my name and personal information (like my address) will never be associated with the data I provide.
  
• I would be given the opportunity to comment on related topics into which the study did not inquire. If you really want my opinion, make sure that I can give it to you.
  
• I would be given the results of the study, and not merely my personal data and the summary data, but the researcher's statement of interpretation, too.
  
• At some point in the future, I would be told how the data I provided changed something. This guideline is to prevent what is increasingly commonplace: the organization that sets out to give every indication that they listen to all viewpoints (but don't) and are responsive to their customers or employees (but aren't). Show me how my input was used, or why it was ignored. Otherwise, don't ask.
  

(Political opinion polls are political instruments best seen as weapons, and are not to be confused with other types of research. For this reason, I simply refuse to take them.  I vote.)

We all have a right to our personal views. The current trend toward polls, surveys and feedback seems to downplay the fact that some opinions are not based in reality, are held by individuals who are unreflective and uninformed, or perhaps are even misrepresented for some other reason.  What I dislike is knowing that my world is being shaped by just these opinions.  It's a trend that will one day fade. I hope.