[EM] Retiring from voting systems, quitting EM

[robert bristow-johnson]

On 7/22/14 7:11 PM, Forest Simmons wrote:
> Like Chris Benham, Kevin Venzke, and others I owe a lot to Mike Ossipoff.
>
> He patiently explained difficult concepts by repeating the same 
> concepts in different words until reaching the simplest formulation.  
> This was a tremendous help for me when I didn't see the point of 
> "winning votes" versus "margins" fourteen years ago (for example).

i still don't see the point.  a vote for your guy is +1, a vote for the 
other guy is -1, and a vote for neither counts for 0.

whether is Schulze or Tideman or Kemeny–Young or Simpson-Kramer the 
disappointment of the losing voter counts as much (but in the other 
direction) as the satisfaction of the winning voter.  vote margins are 
the product of the percent decisiveness times the vote turnout.  an 
pairwise election that's virtually tied with a huge turnout might not be 
as indicative of voter intent with a slightly lower turnout but a very 
decisive, creating a larger margin.

> By asking the right questions and looking at political realities 
> (especially recently) he got us moving in the right direction.
>
> I always appreciated his passionate approach that might have seemed 
> overly combative to some people.

it wasn't combative that was annoying.  if was being dismissive and 
patronizing.

sorry to be a curmudgeon.

-- 

r b-j                  rbj at audioimagination.com

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."