Quote:
Originally Posted by Daithi
You sign up for a service like Amazon and they ask you half-a-dozen questions. Do you usually agree with the conservative or liberal viewpoints? On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, indicate if religion is a part of your life. Etc. Of course this survey is optional, but if you fill it out then Amazon could adjust the ratings you see on books based on how like minded individuals voted. So when some people click on Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand they would see a high rating if they were conservative and maybe a single star if they identified themselves as liberal.
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I am
deeply religious... and I generally despise everything offered in bookstores that's categorized as "religion."
My religion isn't Christian. Isn't Jewish, isn't Muslim, isn't Buddhist. That means when I see the label "religious" on a book, tv show, movie or other work of art, I brace myself for a meaning of "this was created in direct contrast to my religious beliefs." Sometimes, "this was created with the intention of suppressing and/or destroying my religion." Asking if I like "religious books" skews the survey; the books I read for spiritual growth are almost never labeled "religious," which common marketing demographics uses as a synonym for "Christian."
I think of myself as a liberal. I'm pretty extreme in my notions of personal liberty and individuality, and damn close to anarchistic in political leanings. I vote Democrat when I don't vote Wingnut. (The Wingnuts don't have a political party of their own; they're not that organized. However, they sometimes go either Green or Libertarian.)
I *adore* Rand's works. And George F. Will, whom I know I disagree with on many topics--but I at least understand that he
thinks about those topics, rather than repeating buzzwords he's absorbed through osmosis.
My reading tastes don't divide neatly into conservative vs liberal, religious vs atheist, urban vs rural, or modern vs historical. The way I label myself has very little to do with which works I will enjoy... while I seek out works by bipolykinkypagangamergeekfemales, because I know I'll have something in common with them, there's no guarantee I'll like their writing, even if it's in favor of a dozen things I'm in favor of. I might prefer to read something by a right-wing evangelical Christian... because it gives me more to think about.
Someone could design a survey that had a good chance of predicting what books a person would likely enjoy--but it won't be based on what political or social demographics they fall into.