rwsh@hound.UUCP (R.STUBBLEFIELD) (01/28/84)
The following are the results of the poll on the decline of Western Civ: Results are usually shown as three numbers: A,D,V where A is the number of respondents who think Western Civ is advancing or stable, D is the number who think it is declining or collapsing, and V is the number who think the issue is too vague. Total Responses: 34 1. The potential decline of Western Civilization is uninteresting 1,2,1 (plus 1 who answered no other questions) moderately interesting 3,2,2 very interesting 1,14,5 no answer: 1,, 2. Western Civilization is collapsing 3 declining 15 stable advancing 6 Issue too vague 9 (plus 2 who also say it's declining) 3. Mark with "D" "S" or "A" as evidence for decline(D), stability(S), or advance(A) for the following areas: A S D A S D A S D standard of living life span environment 5,6,6 ,1,2 ,10, 4,14,7 ,1, ,3, ,,1 3,3,1 1,14,6 taxes law science 2,3, 2,4,2 ,9,5 1,,1 2,,3 1,16,3 4,12,8 ,2,1 ,4, books movies art 2,2,1 1,4,4 1,9,2 ,2,3 2,4,4 1,8,1 3,3,2 2,1,3 ,12,2 technology media education 4,10,8 ,2, ,5,1 3,2,2 ,4,2 ,13,2 2,1,2 1,,1 1,17,6 government culture economics 1,, 2,3,1 1,16,7 ,1,1 2,2,5 1,13,1 3,,2 1,3,2 ,12,3 morality religion philosophy 2,1,1 1,1,3 1,10,3 ,1, 1,1,2 3,13,3 1,1,1 3,2,2 ,11,3 4. How do you feel about the general trend of Western Civilization? sad ,11,3 indifferent ,1,2 elated ,1, fearful 2,7,3 contented 1,,1 optimistic 6,2,3 other A: curious D: angry,disappointed,helpless?,pessimistic,concerned,frustrated,depressed V: crisis,hopeful?,helpless,disappointed 5. Which of the following are the fundamental reasons for the general trend? A. Conspiracy ,,1 B. Communists ,, C. Too much government 1,10,5 D. Education 3,13,4 E. Laws 2,8,5 F. Too little government ,,1 G. Economics 3,6,4 H. Politics 2,11,5 I. Morality 1,11,5 J. Religion 1,10,4 K. Philosophy ,9,3 L. Other A: technology,general good intentions D: nuclear proliferation,military,Luddite revolt,entropy,ennui V: kept illusions,statism,subjectivism,science,technology,shortsightedness resistance to change 6. Changes to which of the above (A - L) would be the most effective way to change the general trend of Western Civilization? A: 2D,2G,2H,C,L,technology D: 10D,~J,J,4K,~military,2 eliminate nukes,2E,3I,3C,3G,3H,L,F Why bother? V: Government, 3K,2L, science,A-L,C,D,E,J 7. If you don't think Western Civilization is declining, why do you think others do? They lack historical perspective 3,1,4 They are just being pretentious ,,3 Their method of thinking is to prefer simplistic views 2,1,2 They improperly generalize from some personally interesting areas 1,1,4 Other A: People Don't like change,exaggeration,fear of future and risk D: uneven progress;e.g. war technology vs. peace philosophy V: call "decline" what the don't like they are swayed by a vocal minority Western Civ is a floating abstraction to them Pessimism is (or was) fashionable They may be right, and I may be wrong 8. Are your views on the general trend correlated with your political views? A. I am not at all(N), somewhat(S), or very (V) sympathetic with the political views of N S V N S V N S V communists socialists totalitarians 6,12,5 ,5,1 ,, 4,9,2 2,8,4 ,,1 6,14,7 ,4, ,, democrats republicans conservatives 2,5,1 4,11,5 ,,1 2,6,4 4,10,3 ,, 3,10,4 2,7,3 1,, liberals marxists independents 1,6,1 5,10,5 1,,1 5,13,4 ,3,3 ,, 1,3, 2,7,3 ,3,1 libertarians anarchists 1,1,2 4,11,4 1,5,1 5,9,5 1,4,2 ,4,1 other A: utilitarians D: techno_S,fascists,theocrats,nihilists,objectivists V: objectivists B. I think the proper function of a government is to protect individual rights 5,15,7 to provide the greatest good for the greatest number 3,3,4 to provide for the welfare of its citizens 5,7,5 to promote equality of results as well as of opportunity 1,3,4 unsolicited others to keep its cotton picking hands off my business ,,1 to serve as a model to the individual of proper behavior ,,1 I can't bring myself to answer what is proper for a government to do ,1, to promote conformity to standards such as driving on right of road to provide standards, opportunity, and encouragement of competition, research, and capital investment ,1, 9. Is your view correlated with your wealth? I am on welfare(_), as poor as a typical grad student 1,1,2 struggling ,2,3 between struggling and comfortable ,3, comfortable 5,11,6 wealthy ,1, 10. With age? I am < 20 ,1,1 in my twenties 5,7,5 in my thirties 1,8,2 older than 40 ,2,1 21. With sex? I am M 5,16,8 F ,1,1 No Answer 1,1, 12. With belief in God? I believe God is important in my daily life ,1,3 I often ,,2 sometimes ,1, rarely 1,4,2 go to church (or other religious services. I am an agnostic 3,4, I am an atheist 1,9,4 buddhist ,,1 pagan ,1, hodge-podge 13. With profession? engineer 3,4,4 scientist 1,2,1 teacher ,,1 mathematician ,2,1 lawyer 1,, journalist(_) artist ,,1 homemaker(_) programmer 2,10,5 student ,3,2 other A: D: technician,ex-anthropologist V: administrator 14. With philosophical views? None 1,2,2 Aristotelian Existentialist ,3.5,2 Kantian 1.5,, Platonist ,1, Linguistic Analyst ,1, Pragmatist .5,1,1 Objectivist ,5.5,1 Logical Positivist A: utilitarian,scientific realist,my ass and alligators don't mix D: personal responsibility, anthropological training, situational ethics, rational anarchism, evolutionist, humanist V: I believe man is basically good, buddhist No Answer 2,3,1 I thank you all--especially those who were uninterested but took the time to respond anyway. Send comments or questions to ihnp4!hound!rwsh Bob Stubblefield HO2J611, AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel,NJ 07733 201-949-2846 Thank you.