On 11/5/2012 12:51 PM, Stephen P. King wrote:
On 11/5/2012 1:19 PM, Roger Clough wrote:
Hi Stephen P. King
In the end, we must accept a truth, so in the end,
all truth is pragmatic. We must cast our own vote.
Dear Roger,
Are you familiar with Kenneth Arrow's impossibility theorem
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow%27s_impossibility_theorem> and the voting paradox ?
http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/02/12/game-theory-tuesdays-someone-is-going-to-be-unhappy-an-illustration-of-the-voting-paradox/
"The executive summary is that whenever there are at least 2 people and at least 3
options, it's impossible to aggregate individual preferences without violating some
desired conditions, like Pareto efficiency. You either have to accept that society will
not act rationally like an individual would, or you have to accept that society's
preferences will exactly mimic one person's preferences. In a sense, that makes the
individual a dictator."
Which is why science is successful in reaching agreements. It seeks to persuade people by
evidence instead of just aggregating opinions.
Brent
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