[EM] Mathematics is not just aesthetic

[Anthony Simmons]

>> From: MIKE OSSIPOFF <nkklrp at hotmail.com>
>> Subject: [EM] Answering a relevance question

>> Anthony (or was it Martin?) replied:

>> I see.  So when you discuss WDSC and FBC, etc., you consider
>> them relevant because they are at the forefront of the
>> voters' minds?

>> I reply:

>> By George, I do believe he's got it. Yes, those criteria relate
>> directly & obviously to the lesser-of-2-evils problem, the problem
>> that dominates the voting of millions of voters, making them afraid
>> to do other than vote a compromise over their favorite.

Plenty of voters have had a chance to spell out what they
want, and they have overwhelmingly chosen IRV.  Therefore, by
your criterion, that is what matters, and if you really
believed your own criterion, you would support IRV.

But you have gone off on a side issue.  What I was talking
about was this:

   >> Richard has written about how one thing he likes about
   >> margins is that it looks nice on a certain diagram.

It had nothing to do with what voters want, which is a
distraction.  It is simply incorrect.