With whom we share a vote (!)

Posted by Marc Hodak on May 27, 2008 under Irrationality | Be the First to Comment

This gem comes from Henry Stern, New York City’s living institutional memory:

When James Wechsler was editor and Dorothy Schiff was the owner of the New York Post, there was a dispute over whose articles were more popular, Wechsler’s editorials or the paper’s regular columns. At the time the Post had two magnificent columnists, Murray Kempton on public affairs and Jimmy Cannon on sports. These men were great writers and if you can find any of their books in print or articles about them on the web, you should read them.

At any rate, Ms. Schiff was persuaded (which was not easy) to spend some of her money on a survey to find out the most popular column in the Post. The study discovered that it was the daily horoscope that most people read. That is understandable, the rest of the paper tells you what is happening in the present, or what took place in the past. Only the horoscope will tell you the future.

Stern, a stickler for facts, doesn’t assure us this is true (he heard this second-hand). Unfortunately, it sounds plausible. You can’t find this on Snopes.