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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=081542802-10092005>These are just some
thoughts I had as I have been reading recent posts. Apologies if they are of no
value...</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=081542802-10092005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=081542802-10092005>Regarding formal
usage of "consensus", there is a significant mini-industry in US commerce built
around consulting on how to "facilitate" meetings and the instructions
facilitators give include a possibly useful notion of "consensus." They are
quite specific that consensus is NOT the same as "majority vote". Rather,
consensus is achieved when "almost all" of a group considering an issue finds a
resolution that each member "can live with." It seems to me that in formal sense
that means in EM terms "consensus" is more about minimizing regret regarding an
outcome than on maximizing "having our way". (Someone else will have to
formalize the notion, but I can give examples).</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=081542802-10092005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=081542802-10092005>On the use of the
term "sincere", we had a discussion about that awhile back. I still consider it
an unfortunate term, because sincerity is normally an attribute of voters, not
methods. As a distinction between my ballot in a strategy-immune method (which I
think is what is meant) and my ballot in a method that requires or permits
strategies that make the outcome less "pure" in some way it isn't very helpful,
because I can vote differently and still accomplish my "sincere" objective. The
word "sincere", though, switches us English-as-primary-language thinkers into
"analyzing voter behaviour" mode instead of "analyzing method" mode. So here I'd
recommend when we're talking about methods we use "true preferences" to indicate
a ballot the voter would use if no strategies were available. The opposite - a
"false ballot" might be needed in some methods to achive one's sincerely-desired
result.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=081542802-10092005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=081542802-10092005>Sorry if that's more
confusing than the previous discussions....</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DT class=tqpQuote><!--StartFragment -->
<DT class=tqpQuote>
<DD><FONT size=-1><A class=tqpAuthor
href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Thomas_H._Huxley"
target=_blank></A></FONT></DD><FONT size=2></FONT></DT>
<DT class=tqpQuote><FONT size=2>----------------------</FONT> </DT></DIV>
<DT class=tqpQuote><FONT size=2>Paul Kislanko</FONT></DT>
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