Kevin said:
I think, in short, that the "situation" (of odds distribution) is not relevant to FBC.
I reply:
Ok, now I know what Markus meant by "situation". He meant an outcome that is a lottery.
There are 2 answers to Markusīs question, depending on whether we call his lotteries the outcomes, or whether we call the single winner after the lotteries the outcomes. I prefer the latter definition of outcome.
If we define outcome in that latter way, then we donīt have to answer Markusīs question about which lottery the voter prefers to the other, because they arenīt outcomes, as I define outcomes.
I define an outcome as a single-winner. Markusīs lottery outcomes, are, by my definition, not outcomes, but only intermediate points in the methodīs selection.
K
evin continued:
I think the quoted definition answers the question this way: In neither situation 1 nor situation 2 (which I assume to be obtained by voting differently) could the voter obtain a "result" preferable to the best result in the other situation.
I reply:
I probably would agree, though Iīd have to take another look at Markusīs lotteries.
Kevin continued:
I have to interpret "result" to mean "the candidate who actually got the seat,"
I reply:
Yes, thatīs how I interpret that wordīs meaning.
Kevin continued:
Pretending Mike agrees with my interpretation (and that he clarifies FBC accordingly),
I reply:
I do agree with that interpretation of "outcome". An outcome is the candidate who is selected, after any lotteries, if the method includes lotteries, have been carried out.
We can call that a clarification of FBC, but I suggest that itīs also the presumptive default definition of "outcome". How can Markus say that thereīs an outcome, when people are waiting to find out who will be president? The lottery clearly is not an outcome. The selection process clearly is not over till the lottery has given a winner. Thatīs when thereīs an outcome. When it isnīt known who the president will be, thereīs no outcome, by any reasonable definition of "outcome".
If a method chooses lotteries such as Markus described, and the method stipulates that the lotteries be carried out, to find the single winner, then clearly the lotteries are part of the method, and not the outcome of the method.
Mike Ossipoff
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