I'm bored to death of people crying about how Wikipedia, and similar efforts, shouldn't work, because there's not enough structure. Well guess what? It works. Yes, people could be dicks and fill it with lies, but they generally don't. If they do they generally get noticed. And even if they don't, it still comes out as-accurate as good 'ol well-structured EB ever was.
The whole world is, if you dig deep enough, based on trust. If you can align the incentives right--and what's the incentive for lying on a Wikipedia article in a clever-enough way that it won't get noticed and quickly reverted?--then you don't need a structure to get a good result.
And never mind that Wikimedia has actually instituted lots of (some would say too much) structure as it's grown. Chaos, chaos, they still cry! Embrace it.
Actually, the alternative vote (AKA instant runoff voting AKA ranked choice voting AKA the preferential vote) is also a really crappy method that leads to the same two-party dominated government as plurality voting.
I have a whole blog on this very topic, The Least of All Evils:
I contacted CGPGrey, to see if I could get him to do a piece on approval voting, but no luck yet (and he's since reorganized his site and lost many of his old comments, including mine, so maybe I should try again...)
Why have the been so successful? One big reason is the different voting system used in Germany.
In the US, these 51 seats would be decided by having 51 distinct election in 51 distinct districts, and with 9% of the vote, the Pirate Party would have won zero percent of those seats.
But in Germany, the election is handled via proportional representation, so if your party gets at least 5% of the vote, then you're guaranteed to get at least a few seats (through a somewhat involved "overhang" system whose details I won't go into here, but look up "mixed member proportional" in Wikipedia.)
To be serious for a moment: Yes, Techdirt discusses violence and pornography all the time. So often, that you find it useful to have tags for these topics (and the porn tag misses all the stories about Perfect 10's ongoing legal adventures.)
Ironically, these tags are almost always used in the context of censorship: either censorship of violent video games, or the prevention of pornography as an excuse for censorship provisions in overly-burdensome copyright laws.
It would be idiotic to claim that Techdirt doesn't discuss violence and porn; so don't be an idiot. Instead, use this as a teachable moment, about how filters can't distinguish between ACTUAL violence and porn and public DISCUSSION about the issues of violence and porn, making their use a dangerous assault on free and open speech.
Whether or not you're published, and how well-established the publication is, factors into whether or not you get tenure. So if you want tenure, you publish through these established journals. Once you've got tenure, you get to sit on tenure committees, at which point you need some way to judge applicants... so you look at where they got published.
Everyone in the system _knows_ the publishers are no longer necessary, that now it's just a viscous cycle that needs to be broken. But that takes time. You need something to replace the established publications with. Those things are happening now though; give it time.
The right never did (something about facts having a liberal bias?) but since the "Lie of the Year" and their State of the Union thought-lie, neither does the left.
To bad Politifact burned most of it's credibility with the half of the political spectrum that used to still trusted it; because otherwise I could have used this claim as something meaningful.
You make me want to move to Oregon, just so I can say "I voted for that guy!"
If you have more time, I think it would be great if you would do something like a Slashdot interview (although I hear the kids these days are doing reddit AMAs instead? Either or.)
On the post: Author Discovers Assassin's Creed Uses Same Cliche'd SciFi Trope As His Book... Sues For Infringement
Re: Re: That's all you could find?
On the post: Author Discovers Assassin's Creed Uses Same Cliche'd SciFi Trope As His Book... Sues For Infringement
That's all you could find?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeneticMemory
On the post: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Civility In The Face Of Adversity
Chaos
I'm bored to death of people crying about how Wikipedia, and similar efforts, shouldn't work, because there's not enough structure. Well guess what? It works. Yes, people could be dicks and fill it with lies, but they generally don't. If they do they generally get noticed. And even if they don't, it still comes out as-accurate as good 'ol well-structured EB ever was.
The whole world is, if you dig deep enough, based on trust. If you can align the incentives right--and what's the incentive for lying on a Wikipedia article in a clever-enough way that it won't get noticed and quickly reverted?--then you don't need a structure to get a good result.
And never mind that Wikimedia has actually instituted lots of (some would say too much) structure as it's grown. Chaos, chaos, they still cry! Embrace it.
On the post: German Pirate Party Scores Another Electoral Victory: Gets 4 Seats In State Parliament
Re: Re: Reasons for Success
I have a whole blog on this very topic, The Least of All Evils:
http://leastevil.blogspot.com
I contacted CGPGrey, to see if I could get him to do a piece on approval voting, but no luck yet (and he's since reorganized his site and lost many of his old comments, including mine, so maybe I should try again...)
On the post: German Pirate Party Scores Another Electoral Victory: Gets 4 Seats In State Parliament
Reasons for Success
In the US, these 51 seats would be decided by having 51 distinct election in 51 distinct districts, and with 9% of the vote, the Pirate Party would have won zero percent of those seats.
But in Germany, the election is handled via proportional representation, so if your party gets at least 5% of the vote, then you're guaranteed to get at least a few seats (through a somewhat involved "overhang" system whose details I won't go into here, but look up "mixed member proportional" in Wikipedia.)
On the post: NYT Pays Former CEO $24 Million To Go Away; The Paper Made $3 Million Total Over The Last 4 Years
On the post: DailyDirt: Who's That Kid With The Oreo Cookie?
On the post: Techdirt Deemed Harmful To Minors In Germany
Re: Lost!
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=violence
On the post: Techdirt Deemed Harmful To Minors In Germany
It's All True
Ironically, these tags are almost always used in the context of censorship: either censorship of violent video games, or the prevention of pornography as an excuse for censorship provisions in overly-burdensome copyright laws.
It would be idiotic to claim that Techdirt doesn't discuss violence and porn; so don't be an idiot. Instead, use this as a teachable moment, about how filters can't distinguish between ACTUAL violence and porn and public DISCUSSION about the issues of violence and porn, making their use a dangerous assault on free and open speech.
On the post: Rep. Doyle Introduces Bill To Provide Public Access To Publicly Funded Research
Re:
Everyone in the system _knows_ the publishers are no longer necessary, that now it's just a viscous cycle that needs to be broken. But that takes time. You need something to replace the established publications with. Those things are happening now though; give it time.
On the post: Rep. Doyle Introduces Bill To Provide Public Access To Publicly Funded Research
Take Two!
You make me want to move to Pittsburgh, just so I can say "I...
No, wait, hang on. In 2010, I WAS living in Pittsburgh, and I DID vote for that guy.
Keep up the good work, Mike! Sorry I won't be there this November.
On the post: PolitiFact Trashes Lamar Smith: Says His Claims About Economic Impact Of Piracy Are Flat Out False
Re: Re:
The right never did (something about facts having a liberal bias?) but since the "Lie of the Year" and their State of the Union thought-lie, neither does the left.
On the post: Lamar Smith: Enemy Of The Internet? Defends Internet Snooping Bill
Re: Re: Sad Thing Is...
Best of luck to him, but he better get his paper work in order.
On the post: PolitiFact Trashes Lamar Smith: Says His Claims About Economic Impact Of Piracy Are Flat Out False
On the post: Lamar Smith: Enemy Of The Internet? Defends Internet Snooping Bill
Sad Thing Is...
Barring a redistricting miracle, there is basically a 100% chance that Smith with be reelected in November.
So get used to complaining about this guy.
On the post: Senator Ron Wyden's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
If you have more time, I think it would be great if you would do something like a Slashdot interview (although I hear the kids these days are doing reddit AMAs instead? Either or.)
Thank you for your efforts.
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