Not if readers were “encouraged” to answer. If there were some way of knowing the population was representative (i.e. we selected at random and got back responses from everyone selected)… hm, possibly. I know that what people say at local LW gatherings has a stronger influence on me than what I hear online, but that could be for ‘improper’ reasons of face-to-face contact or greater personal familiarity.
I know that what people say at local LW gatherings has a stronger influence on me than what I hear online, but that could be for ‘improper’ reasons of face-to-face contact or greater personal familiarity.
The Bay Area meetup is most definitely not-representative of LW in general. Heck, the Bay Area is an extreme outlier even by California, not to mention US or World, standards.
Not if readers were “encouraged” to answer. If there were some way of knowing the population was representative (i.e. we selected at random and got back responses from everyone selected)… hm, possibly. I know that what people say at local LW gatherings has a stronger influence on me than what I hear online, but that could be for ‘improper’ reasons of face-to-face contact or greater personal familiarity.
The Bay Area meetup is most definitely not-representative of LW in general. Heck, the Bay Area is an extreme outlier even by California, not to mention US or World, standards.