Barber Ism

You either are forced to vote (ala BelgiumEurope) or you feel some guilty urge that compels you to vote. Either way, you are stuck in the voting booth and have to make a decision. The trouble is, you don't have enough information to make a decision that separates one candidate from another. This could be because you either have no information at one extreme, to having lots of information which tells you both candidates are similar.

As a result, you're stuck.

Therefore, choose the candidate with the best haircut. Heck, if he's so impeccably dressed, he's probably suited for the slick world of politics. Besides, who wants to stare at a troll for the next n years, anyway?

Don't forget his/her mug may end up on a coin!

There's no ethical dilemma, because it doesn't matter. The candidates are equivalent (to you anyway), so there's no net difference except television will be slightly more aesthetically pleasing.

In this way, you're voting for the candidates' barbers. So, the barbers have the most power in this election. Barberism.

Whether it's haircuts or the font you choose on the brochure, whenever you make a voting decision based solely on aesthetics of presentation versus actual information, you're committing barberism.

There are some cases where this is important. Say, selecting a graphic designer, but there the information is the presentation. Also, it is important in politics to be slick because it is a social phenomenon. Having a crude and gruff advocate will be deadly to your cause. However, barberism implies that you're not voting based on any so-called cause at all.

Contributors: SunirShah

See: VotingPatterns

CategoryAntiPattern