[EM] Arrow's theorem and cardinal voting systems

[Forest Simmons]

> <snip>
>
> > Again the main point is that Arrow, and Gibbard-Satterthwaite are not
> > the "end of history" for election methods, just like the collapse of the
> > USSR was not the end of history as Fukuyama once proclaimed or
> > Thatcher's famous TINA "there is no alternative" (to capitalism).  Arrow
> > and G-S give very valuable insights and help us avoid cul-de-sacs, but
> > they are not the last word in election methods progress.  The "end of
> > history" and TINA slogans are an excuse for giving up prematurely for
> > lack of imagination.
>
> If anything, it's the other way around. If there were a perfect method,
> there would be no need for imagination: just find out what that perfect
> method is and settle on it, done. That there is no perfect method is
> what gives room for imagination.
>

Right on!  In other words, if we had a perfect method we really would have
"the end of history," and there really would be "no alternative."
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/attachments/20200124/1205a513/attachment.html>