About me
- spent ~ 18 months with a sharing focused software project
- nomadic, living almost without money
- now a project network
About me
- spent last year building a common house coop
- built in what I'd learned previously
- it's called Kanthaus
Decision-making: as selection
We often think of deciding as selecting...
Decision-making: as cutting
... but it's clearer to think of it as eliminating.
"decide (v.) ... from Latin decidere ... literally "to cut off""
Decision-making: in detail
A basic model for the sub-processes during collective decision-making
- forming opinions (outwith process scope)
- compressing opinions (a.k.a. voting (yes, there is voting in consensus))
- combining opinions
Decision-making: in context
Antecedes option creation, precedes decision implementation.
Dunbar's estimate
Study on front-brain vs group size suggests a cognitive limit to social relations
--> limit to shared perception
--> limit on consensus.
Cooperation: autonomy
a.k.a. Freedom, self-determination, Liberté
Regarding decision-making:
- people determine outcome (vs. chance, lottery)
- people can participate honestly (i.e. don't have to lie)
Cooperation: equivalence
a.k.a. Equality of worth, Égalité
Regarding decision-making:
- 'one person, one vote'
- vs. one-£-one vote, dictatorship, racism, etc
Cooperation: mutual-interest
a.k.a. Care for others, mutual-aid, Fraternité
Regarding decision-making:
- ?
Utilitarianism
"... it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."
—Jeremy Bentham, 1776. A fragment on Government
- increasing happiness = reducing suffering
- would you give a cake to:
- starving person (reduce suffering)
- person who just ate dinner (increase happiness)
Asymmetric utilitarianism
"... the promotion of happiness is in any case much less urgent than the rendering of help to those who suffer, and the attempt to prevent suffering."
—Karl Popper, 1945. The Open Society and Its Enemies
- increasing happiness < reducing suffering
- would you give a cake to:
- starving person
person who just ate dinner
Cooperation: mutual-interest
a.k.a. Care for others, mutual-aid, Fraternité
Regarding decision-making:
- select the most acceptable, achievable option
- vs. majority preference
Decision-making in detail
Examination of how each element can support cooperation.
- options
- voting
- combining
Options: you need at least two
Otherwise there is nothing to 'decide' on.
Options: something or nothing
One option must be to change something (a specific proposal, 𝝙).
There is always the option to change nothing (the current status quo, 0).
(The counter-proposal in consensus is what happens if proposal fails, usually further discussion.)
Options: wait, binary is bad
You probably want more than two.
Options: wait, binary is bad
You probably want more than two.
- Vague proposals lead to conflict if selected
- Specific proposals are polarizing
Options: more, but not too many
Having more options increases the likelihood of acceptable option for all...
...and participant overload.
Options: revote on other options
Having "Revote on other options" ensures an acceptable option for all without overloading.
Should outline:
- arrangements for adding new options, and
- arrangements for next vote
Voting: independent, not secret
In rock-paper-scissors the play is independent, not secret.
Voting: independent, not secret
In rock-paper-scissors the play is independent, not secret.
independent voting forces people to think for themselves
- avoids anchoring (first person influences rest)
- avoids groupthink (desire for harmony over-rides honesty)
- avoids pluralistic ignorance (falsely assumed norms)
Voting: independent, not secret
In rock-paper-scissors the play is independent, not secret.
independent voting forces people to think for themselves
- avoids anchoring (first person influences rest)
- avoids groupthink (desire for harmony over-rides honesty)
- avoids pluralistic ignorance (falsely assumed norms)
cooperative groups need not vote in secret (most cases)
- encourages people to address issues
- reveals the people likely to do the work
(N.b. It's possible to use voting within consensus simply to combat biases.)
Voting type: majority
Vote for favorite.
- problems: vote splitting, wasted votes, lesser evil, etc.
- can't express positive/negative opinion
Voting type: ranking
Rank options best to worst.
Better than majority, but...
Voting type: ranking
Unavoidable paradoxes and manipulation strategies present whenever there are more than 3 options, as shown by Arrows Impossibility Theorem then Gibbard-Satterthwaite Theorem.
- and participants still can't express positive/negative opinion
Voting type: scoring
Give each option a rating.
- numeric representation: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- can (ambiguously) express positive/negative opinion
Voting type: scoring
Give each option a rating.
- numeric representation: -2, -1, 0, 1, 2
- can unambiguously express positive/negative opinion
- scoring range 'breaks down' after 11 points (i.e. -5 to +5)
(Consensus essentially allows you to score, but just the proposal.)
Combining: addition is OK
Simulation shows scoring results in best utility outcome, even with non-cooperative participants. (Note: 'Range' = 'Score')
Combining: re mutual-interest
However, direct addition equates positive and negative scores...
- e.g. 'negative two' plus 'two' equals zero
Combining: negative score multiplication
Multiplying negative scores elevates acceptable over preferable. (e.g. "multiply negative scores by 3 before totalling")
- greater than 1
- less than ∞ (otherwise not enough motivation to do it)
- factor group dependent
(Consensus essentially has a -∞ factor for the veto, again, just for the proposal!)
Thanks for listening/reading!
License: cc0
- please use my work*; use it as you please
- don't ask for permission
- attribution is nice, not necessary
- *not my work: Brexit, Arrows Theorem, Dunbar and Bayesian Regret images; all quoted text.
Contact: questions, corrections, feedback...
- site: dougwebb.site
douginamug.gitlab.io - @douginamug for Mastodon/ActivityPub,
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