Why do people take the Political Compass seriously?

[they don't love you like i love you]

It's not only one of the most objectively idiotic sites on the internet it has ZERO citing or backing up of its awful charts. Why do people actually cite that crap?

[Illiniwek]

Because it looks good, feels thorough, is easy to take and gives you a label to call yourself. It takes a little more education to understand how looney it is.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Because it looks good, feels thorough, is easy to take and gives you a label to call yourself. It takes a little more education to understand how looney it is.

Not really. Like anyone with even rudimentary understanding of British politics would instantly realize how f[inks]ing insane this is:

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

It's a great mystery to me why such an obviously moronic source became so popular on the internet.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I don't.  Most political quizzes can't account for the wide diversity of viewpoints there are out there, so I don't trust their accuracy all that much.

[Devout Centrist]

It's a great mystery to me why such an obviously moronic source became so popular on the internet.

Hint: Snowflake hipster Lefties

[Santander]

At least they didn't give you your own subforum.

[Goldwater]

Honestly, I don't think the Political Compass is completely useless for comparing different quiz takers to each other. Their placement of actual political parties and politicians is obviously complete garbage, though.

[OneJ]

I don't.  Most political quizzes can't account for the wide diversity of viewpoints there are out there, so I don't trust their accuracy all that much.

[angus]

I generally score more to the left on the political compass test than on the political matrix test.  They're both for entertainment purposes only, BRTD.  Just for fun.  You should try not to take these things too seriously.

Here's what I got today on political compass:

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -2.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.69



Pretty close to Gandhi. 

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

It's not only one of the most objectively idiotic sites on the internet it has ZERO citing or backing up of its awful charts. Why do people actually cite that crap?

Because most leftists want to believe that the parties are corporate hacks who don't represent them. People who take the test will overwhelmingly score to the far left. Social signalling.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I think the last time I took the political compass I was like -8, -9 which is obviously much farther to the left of my political matrix score. The Political Compass is hilarious, though. Every chart where they rank politicians has most Democrats in the uppermost righthand quadrant next to like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. It's always a good laugh.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Because it looks good, feels thorough, is easy to take and gives you a label to call yourself. It takes a little more education to understand how looney it is.

Not really. Like anyone with even rudimentary understanding of British politics would instantly realize how f[inks]ing insane this is:

Labour Right wing hahhahahahahahahaha

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

"Look, see, I'm not just a latte librul!"

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It's not only one of the most objectively idiotic sites on the internet it has ZERO citing or backing up of its awful charts. Why do people actually cite that crap?

Because most leftists want to believe that the parties are corporate hacks who don't represent them. People who take the test will overwhelmingly score to the far left. Social signalling.

Concise, intelligent, yes, this.

[Xing]

Same reason people take Myers-Briggs seriously. You answer a few quick questions, and you get a neat little label you can put on yourself. Oversimplifying the human mind and thought process has never been easier!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Because it looks good, feels thorough, is easy to take and gives you a label to call yourself. It takes a little more education to understand how looney it is.

Not really. Like anyone with even rudimentary understanding of British politics would instantly realize how f[inks]ing insane this is:

Jesus wept...

[RINO Tom]

Because sometimes it's useful, if really, really oversimplified.  A bunch of people who like analyzing politics are eventually going to try (and fail) to come up with a way to analyze ideology, right?

[they don't love you like i love you]

I don't mind the test itself so much, it's that people actually post those dumb f[inks]ing charts for any reason other than laughs and sheer amusement.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

The test has stupid questions (astrology? really? Plus a decent amount of poorly worded statements that don't leave room for the average person (ideologically) to not implicitly agree with them).

[Intell]

If I had to put UK parties as socially leftist (not libertarian) vs economically leftist.

[Intell]

Same with the US.

[angus]

The test has stupid questions (astrology? really?

religion too.  It's really not so stupid, though.  I think it probably takes astrology, religion, etc., into its algorithm on the vertical axis.  I'd imagine that they correlate authority with the the idea that stars or gods or other mystical forces control our fate, and they correlate liberty with those who are less into religion, astrology, etc.  That'd be my guess.  It's probably not necessarily a valid proposition, because there are many people who are into religion or astrology or metaphysics who are quite libertarian.  

Just for fun, I picked Strongly Disagree on every question to see what happens.  I scored exactly in the middle:  

Economic Left/Right: 0.0
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.36

This makes me think that their questions were written in an attempt not to favor the left or the right.  If Strongly Disagree had given me a +10 or a -10 on the left/right axis, then I think some of the arguments here might be justified.  

I really don't think it's a conspiracy, and I think it's important not to take the political compass, the political matrix, SmartSelect, the Harvard political quiz, or any of the other little ideology quizzes too seriously.  They really are just for entertainment purposes.  It's somewhat ironic that the OP asks why people take them seriously.  Indeed, the creation of this thread evidences the fact that its author is taking it all very seriously.    

There are political tests that actually give you a label rather than a number.  Political matrix and political compass studiously attempt to avoid labels, preferring numbers.  (They are pretty consistent, you must admit.  I think it's hard to fault them in that regard.  Then again, it's just a mathematical algorithm so that's not surprising.)  Some of them give you a nifty label such as NeoLiberal or Anarcho-Capitalist or Nihilist or Marxist.  Those are fun as well.  I think there are links to many political quizzes in a thread on this forum in the Individual Politics board.  None are really better than any of the others.  They all follow pre-determined algorithms to match your answers up with a set of numbers or a label.  Well, the political matrix does have the advantage of allowing you to display your score under your username so you can advertise that you're a quiz nerd, but other than that they're all pretty similar:  gross oversimplifications of reality based on someone's brand of philosophical reductionism.  

[Devout Centrist]

The test has stupid questions (astrology? really? Plus a decent amount of poorly worded statements that don't leave room for the average person (ideologically) to not implicitly agree with them).

Also, if you don't believe Astrology is accurate, your authoritarian score goes up.

And if you don't like abstract art, then it goes up too.

All the questions are phrased so poorly, that it makes me want to slam my head into a wall.

[they don't love you like i love you]

The astrology question is probably because Hitler and many authoritarian Latin American dictators believed in astrology. It's also a fundamentally "authoritarian" belief in that it holds that there are things that are preset and that you can not change or have any control over. However it's still a stupid question for a POLITICAL quiz.