There's probably also a strong correlation between people with the wherewithal to join the Whitney FB group (or a forum like this) and "prudent" behavior such as leaving early. Would be interesting to compare this to the actual spread of start times of all hikers, if someone were to hypothetically measure them at the trailhead.
This is very true. When you join any kind of group, there is a tendency to (1) base your decision to join on how ‘like minded’ you are, and (2) feel like you need to agree with the general thoughts and beliefs of the group (even if you don’t follow them in real life). I, for instance, know that I am not the only one to start hikes late. I have seen this PLENTY of times in the real world. But if you go by what you HEAR, you would think NOBODY does it.
Of course, you also need to take into consideration the fact that people tend to answer polls in a way that they think they should. It’s kind of similar to the way that it seems like there are a whole lot more smokers than statistics suggest. People don’t want to admit that they do something that is generally frowned upon.
