Re:[EM] The Allure of IRV

[Alex Small]

Joe wrote:
>>Alex writes, "Once you support ranking, unless you've heard of
>>Condorcet the runoff idea makes intuitive sense, since plenty of places
>>in the US use 2-stage runoff..".
>
>All sorts of unnecessary complications can make 'intuitive sense'. All one
>needs is a mental commitment to be (gratuitously) complex and arcane.
>That's what IRV is all about.

I agree that the complications of IRV serve no purpose after a careful
analysis.  However, whereas some bad ideas require selling, other bad ideas
are at first sight quite good.  IRV certainly solves the spoiler problem,
if you define spoilers to be candidates outside the Smith set with
relatively low levels of support (less than 25% first place in 3-way races,
less than 20% first-place support in 4-way races, etc.).  My definition
makes sure that spoilers don't "deserve" victory (not in Smith set) and are
weakly supported.

Also, IRV is merely the automation of 2-stage runoff, a method usd in many
parts of the US.  It seems to make so much sense.

Joe continues:
>There's no answering people, however allegedly 'intelligent', who are
>committed to gratuitous complexity and are unwilling to ponder
>counterarguments.

I should make it clear that my fellow student (who is quite intelligent,
not just "allegedly" intelligent) is NOT a CVD member, or IRV activist, or
anything of the sort.  She's hardly looked into the issue, and she doesn't
harbor any strong feelings on it.  She is merely a smart person who heard a
few things and thinks it's a good idea.

Although her views aren't strongly held in the sense of being committed or
passionate, it was hard to dissuade her because on casual inspection IRV
looks good, and the counter-arguments require some careful thought.  I
liked IRV until (a) I learned there were other methods and (b) I went to a
talk by Saari and also read a book by Nurmi.  Both required more than a
brochure or short conversation.

My point in all of this is that my fellow student seems to be a fairly
normal smart person, the type we need to win over.  Once the seed of IRV
has been planted it's hard to uproot.  We need to think carefully about
this.  Even if by some miracle we brought about the conversion of Donald
Saari and Rob Ritchie, there's still the rest of the population to think
about.

Alex

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