BOATY MCBOATFACE and Snot; why voting is a bad idea

It was decided, in some lost sense which ended in the 1990s,  to put the choice of a name for a $287 million dollar polar research ship to the public and let them pick a name.    If this was the 1990s one would expect intelligent names, names which touched on something to do with polar exploration.

Those who saw the request and participated in the voting, decided that R.R.S. Boaty McBoatface was a good name.

There had been a number of names suggested by the Natural Environment Research Council (the NERC). Many were quite intelligent.

But these were kicked aside for the plunge into stupidity.

The name Boaty McBoatface won the online poll.   Won by a large majority.  The NERC overruled the vote, tossed it into the trash.   They named the ship the Sir David Attenborough.

Although there was some outcry, no one lost sleep over it.    This was another proof of  what happens when the public is allowed to ‘vote’.

The giddy giggles the name  Boaty McBoatface  overrode the reality of a vessel of such significance being given such a stupid name.

The fact all the morons voted for it was trumped (to coin a phrase) by those with fully operational brains who said no.

As a sop to the complaints the stupid name was slapped on a small underwater vehicle.   Those who have to operate it probably use another name because they are a bit too intelligent to lower their minds into the playpen.

I am familiar with this kind of gross idiocy.

Some years ago, there was a new drink coming on the market.  The public was given free tastes and invited to select a name. They would type it into a computer and push ‘enter’.

I thought it was a very bad idea.

The names went up and people could vote for the one they liked the best. The name which got the most votes was Snot.

Ha Ha, right?

The C.E.O. of the company which was sponsoring the drink,  a man not known for humour said, “We will not name a drink Snot. Erase that name and all other such names.”

The geeks got to work.   They went down the list deleting.   Soon there were ten respectable names for the public to vote on.

The public voted, a sensible name was chosen, and ‘Snot’ was buried.

When people are intelligent and they appreciate consequences, they don’t make stupid choices.   They may laugh and run jokes ‘off line’ but when it comes to reality, they come down in favour of sense.

When people are stupid they don’t understand consequences so make stupid decisions without the slightest reference to what comes next.   The joke and the laugh completely conquer their brains and they go for dumbness.

Fortunately, when there is some kind of overriding mentality, the stupid ideas are not practiced.