On Aug 27, 2011, at 9:23 PM, Michael Allan wrote:
Dave Ketchum wrote:
Conditions surrounding elections vary but, picking on a simple
example, suppose that, without your vote, there are exactly nR and
nD votes. If that is the total vote you get to decide the election
by creating a majority with your vote.
What do nR and nD stand for?
ANY topic for which voters can choose among two goals.
Or, suppose a count of nPoor, 1Fair, and nGood and thus Fair being
the
median before you and a twin vote.
If such twins vote Poor, that and total count go up by 2, median goes
up by 1 and is now Poor.
If such twins vote Good, that and total count go up by 2, median goes
up by 1 and is now Good.
This example speaks of two votes, but the rules grant me only one. I
am interested in the effects of that vote, and any meaning we can
derive from them. I say there is none.
Ok, so you vote alone. To work with that, whenever median is not an
integer, subtract .5 to make it an integer.
If you vote Poor, that and total count go up by 1, median is
unchanged and is now Poor.
If you vote Good, that and total count go up by 1, median is
unchanged and remains Fair.
Note that single voters get no useful power in an election for
governor, but a majority voting together do have the power (by
combining their votes) to decide the election.
I believe that is true for all elections that are conducted by
conventional methods, regardless of the ballot used - Plurality,
Range, Condorcet or Approval. An individual's vote can have no useful
effect on the outcome of the election, or on anything else in the
objective world. Again it follows:
(a) What the individual voter thinks is of no importance; or
(b) The election method is flawed.
Which of these statements is true? I think it must be (b).
Agreed that a is not true though, as you point out, one voter, alone,
changing a vote cannot be certain of changing the results.
I do not see you proving that b is true. "Flawed" requires the method
failing to provide the results it promises.
Dave Ketchum
--
Michael Allan
Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/
On Aug 27, 2011, at 4:22 PM, Michael Allan wrote:
But not for voting. The voting system guarantees that my vote
will have no effect and I would look rather foolish to suppose
otherwise. This presents a serious problem. Do you agree?
Dave Ketchum wrote:
TRULY, this demonstrates lack of understanding of cause and effect.
IF the flask capacity is 32 oz then pouring in 1 oz will:
. Do nothing above filling if the flask starts with less than 31
oz.
. Cause overflow if flask already full.
In voting there is often a limit at which time one more would have
an effect. If the act were pouring sodas into the Atlantic the
limit would be far away.
Please relate this to an election. Take an election for a US state
governor, for example. Suppose I am eligible to vote. I say my
vote
cannot possibly affect the outcome of the election. You say it can,
under certain conditions. Under what conditions exactly?
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