Why are polls so hypnotic?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

I know as well as anyone that polls at this stage are essentially meaningless, and that swings in them are even more so than general trends, and yet I keep finding myself looking at articles about them.

[metroins]

1. Because we're bored

Nothing new will happen until September.

Gotta find something shiny to look at.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

4. Aren't there conferences in July?

[metroins]

5. Nothing new

We know who's going to win the conventions. We know the platforms.

Still bored.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. We don't know how much GOP resistance to Trump there will be.

Or how Sanders and his supporters will behave.

I think the conferences might be eventful (although they may well not be, I admit).

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. For the same reason, any score board attracts eyes ...

if they are favorable, it gives you reason to feel good (knowing the game is far from over) ... if they are not favorable, it gives you reason to be angry (knowing that the game is far from over).

[drray23]

3. i am not sure they are meaningless.

I view them as an assessment at a particular time of what the situation is. In this sense, they are not meaningless. Now, of course, as you point out, things can change and they can swing widely over time so using them to extrapolate all the way to november may be a little bit iffy. Still, since they are taken often, you can use them to gauge the reaction of the voters to particular events since usually a big swing can be tied to something that happened in the campaign.

I also think that if polls consistently swing in one direction time after time, it is an interesting signal that something is going on. As such, I am not so fixated on the actual numbers, rather on the general trend. Right now, the general trend is that Trump is sinking and Hillary soaring. Let us hope this stays this way all the way to November.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. They show a trend and we need something to talk about

[Proud Public Servant]

8. People like to have their ambiguous reality quantified

Coincidentally, I was just reading an article about credit score obsessions that makes this same point.