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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medic" data-source="post: 8615265" data-attributes="member: 7035835">While I actually agree with the premise and assertion that this post conveys, I can't help but feel that using idioms to qualify one's arguments is just a little bit disingenuous. I guess what I'm offering isn't so much a refutation of this post as it is a commentary on it.True, you can't judge a book by its cover. But a picture is worth a thousand words. Beauty is only skin-deep, but the garments make the man. All that glitters is not gold, but fine feathers make fine fowl. You can do this for any proverb. Better to be safe than sorry, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. No man is an island, though good fences make good neighbors. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but did you know that silence is golden? Such truisms are simply vague enough to give the impression that there is an inner wisdom to them.You are correct in that an informed opinion is strictly superior to an opinion formed in ignorance, though the ice cream comparison (what is it with the internet and food analogies?) neglects the fact that one does not actually need to consume any ice cream to discern its flavor. One single binary question is all that is required to gain the knowledge required to make a 100% informed purchase.If I read the package or ask the vendor, and they inform me that the flavor is "bubblegum," then I can know with certainty that I will dislike it and keep my money. If I instead learn that it is "strawberry," then my purchase is only predicated on whether or not I happen to be craving strawberry ice cream at that moment.The same is not true for a book, however. The best equivalent would be to listen to marketing and hearsay from other consumers to get a feel for it, and even that is a mixed bag. Now, one could explore the substance of a book if they can sample it in the store, borrow it from an acquaintance, or obtain a digital copy that happened to fall off of a truck, this much is undeniable. In fact, one's opinion would be better formed for it. But... why should I, unless I'm actually on the fence about a purchase or just want to shoot spitballs at other EN World users?It's perfectly sufficient for a casual consumer to flip through a book, see a few quirky pictures, catch an odd pop culture reference, skim a small quest hook that they don't much care for, and decide that they'd rather buy a Call of Cthulhu adventure instead.Dungeons & Dragons made me into a Satanic acolyte, actually!</blockquote>

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