[EM] New voting system website. Comments sought.

[Blake Cretney]

On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, Markus Schulze wrote:
> Dear Mike,
> 
> you wrote (20 Aug 2000):
> > Some people might like or understand Tideman better. Some people
> > might like or understand SSD better. So why not include both,
> > to increase the number of people who like & understand at least
> > one of our top methods?
> >
> > Or does it seem really important to just include one? I don't
> want
> > to take a defensive tone, because we did ask for list members'
> > advice. Maybe you're right. But what about the consideration of
> > doubling the chance that a particular reader will find something
> > that he/she understands & likes?
> 
> I believe that the set of readers who understand PC and the set of
> readers who understand Tideman and the set of readers who
> understand
> SSD are almost congruent. Therefore I believe that by proposing
> three
> methods instead of only one method you cannot increase the number
> of
> readers significantly who understand at least one of the proposed
> methods.

I would guess that if you want to maximize the number of people who
understand at least one of the methods, it would make more sense to
spend twice as long on one of the methods, than to throw two methods
at them, and hope they understand one.

I also don't think that people are as likely to develop strong
preferences for particular methods as is suggested.  A reasonably
open-minded person is not going to be open to only one of Tideman or
SSD, based on some personal intuition.

The strong preferences on this list are a result of the fact that we
have been introduced to multiple methods, and have studied them in
some detail.  Also, I have noticed a high correlation between the
methods people favour and the methods they themselves have invented.

---
Blake Cretney