6.25.20: Ranking & voting
Plus rallies, NASA and mental health in quarantine
June 25, 2020.
Good Thursday Morning. My least favorite part of the comments section is that I can rarely respond to your questions and comments directly. (Maybe it’s time for another weekend mailbag.)
My most favorite part, though, is when anonymous users send comments to other anonymous users and I can be the intermediary and deliver the message. So from one Tina user to another, in response to yesterday’s post:
National parks on our currency is an excellent idea! Thanks Tina contributor! It is one of our country's best ideas... just ask Ken Burns :)
It’s also hard to argue with the majesty of the American bison.
(This is also as good a time as any to mention my favorite sentence in the English language: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo”.)
Click on the Let’s Talk button to get started on today’s questions.
Share Tina
Help grow our community and give more people a chance to be heard.
Subscribe
If someone else invited you to this party and it’s your first time here, why don’t you add your name (or email address) to the guest list and we’ll make sure you get the invite every day.
Results from June 24, 2020
Question 1: Would you support or oppose having ranked choice voting for federal elections?
Some of you really like the idea of ranked choice voting.
Rank choice voting is WONDERFUL! I have been saying this for years! It would revolutionize our entire system and people would actually be encouraged to vote for who they WANT rather than who they *think* can win. It would also give us the ability to have the most popular candidate overall rather than someone who only got a small portion of the vote. Why should someone with 35% of the vote win just because other votes were split across different candidates? 35% is nowhere near a majority! This would give power back to the PEOPLE! So, 100% YES! Let's DO IT! Rank Choice FOR AMERICA!!!!
In ranked choice voting, you (as the name suggests) rank your choices. The specifics can vary, but essentially, it means if your favorite doesn’t make it to the top two, you can still influence the outcome by your second or even third ranked choices.
But what happens if you have ranked choice voting… about ranked choice voting… and it’s a run-off between supporting ranked choice voting and not being sure?
Question 2: Do you think it's a good idea or bad idea for presidential campaigns to hold large political rallies and events right now?
Question 3: NASA has said that it plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024 -- and it plans to eventually send astronauts to Mars. Is that project...
Interested to see what folks think about NASA. Even if you could care less about the moon or mars, NASA and NASA sponsored research has provided immense contributions on innovation to society-and will continue to.
A cool infographic here shows some examples. The innovation and scientific research we should drive towards often produces serendipitous results. That said-much of NASA's actual objectives and accomplishments with respect to space are going to continue to be essential for fields from IT to security to environmental sciences.
We dig a little bit deeper into NASA in today’s questions too.
We'll go to Mars eventually. Why wait?
Question 4: One of our anonymous users asked, "I am curious about how people are dealing with their mental health during all of this. What started as a few weeks in quarantine has turned into a few months, and for some that doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. How many users have reached out to therapists (social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists) for help during this time? Or for users who already see a professional, have they increased their frequency of visits?"
Though the quarantine hasn’t inspired many of our users to seek mental health help, it has catalyzed some consideration, reflection and self-care:
Worth noting: haven’t been looking for professional mental help, although I did notice I was in quite a rut and was being mentally drained in a lot of ways. Definitely have been making a very concerted effort to do enjoyable things and take time to, “live” - more deliberate approach than usual.
I feel like I’m one of the few people whose mental health has improved during lockdown. Although I’m now back at work (in-person), the two months I spent furloughed and receiving unemployment were very fulfilling, as I had plenty of time to focus on my hobbies, household chores, and general well-being.
And a recommendation for those who may be struggling.
"Unwinding Anxiety" is a great app for anyone experiencing anxiety during the pandemic, or in general. It offers tips on mindfulness through guided meditation.
Make it all the way through but forget to answer today’s questions?
After a one day hiatus, the bottom Let’s Talk button is back by popular demand!