On 4/11/2013 12:16 AM, Michael Allan wrote:
> I think there is a general williness to *consider* a consensus, but
> not a general willingness to follow it blindly. ...
Yes, as Michael Allan says below, an iterative process is needed to
bridge the gap between a calculated consensus and the final official
decision. During that iterative process there is head-scratching to
figure out if anything better can be arranged.
Richard Fobes
On 4/11/2013 12:16 AM, Michael Allan wrote:
The psychological value of this method is that it appeals to our
natural community spirit which includes a willingness to go along
with the group consensus when the consensus is strong enough, as
long as there is no hope for a better consensus, and as long as it
isn't a candidate that we would rate at zero.
Comments?
I think there is a general williness to *consider* a consensus, but
not a general willingness to follow it blindly. The popularity of a
candidate is a recommendation to look more closely at that candidate
given the fact of his/her popularity. Here popularity directly serves
only to arouse my curiosity, "Why is this candidate more popular?
What do others know that I don't know?"
On learning the answer, I decide whether to follow the consensus.
The proposed method differs in asking me to make the same decision,
but without knowing the reason for the candidate's popularity. It
invites me to act irrationally and enshrines that action as normal
human behaviour.
As a counter-proposal, consider a broader rationalization of the
electoral design. Rather than overloading a single election with
expectations it cannot fulfil, factor it into two elections: (1) a
continuous, advisory primary to flush out consensus and dissensus, to
give people time to talk things over, and decide what to do; followed
by (2) a decisive election in which they express the decision. This
solves the problem of systematic irrationality by allowing for a real
consensus in the primary, one with reasons behind it, the validity of
which can be discussed and debated before making a decision.
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