Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 18th Dec 2012 14:31 UTC
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Member since:
2007-04-18
Do you dispute that the human psyche is rife with cognitive biases and faults of various sorts?
I never said that. I said that, on average, most people are easily manipulated - it's the only reason why things such as cold reading, channelling and yes, even religion, work. That being said, I have never advocated for changing the voting system. I was speaking hypothetically (that's why I started with "Perhaps") in an attempt to point out a problem and that it needs solving.
I can dismiss arguments once I provide reasons for doing so. My reason is that your points 1 and 3 have been shown to be factually false. Traffic regulation and control of hazardous substances has, in all instances, resulted in a safer environment and fewer casualties. Please note the difference between "control/regulation" and "banning".
So for not taking the extreme view that these things can only be best decided by democratic vote I am considered not balanced? Uh huh...
My dislike of juries stems from my knowledge and experience of how easily people are manipulated. I would be all for juries with a certain number of modifications to the judicial process.
As for voting, it's more complicated than that. On paper, democracy is great, but it expects the electorate to have a certain educational level. I support a general right to vote simply because all alternatives are worse. In theory an enlightened monarch would probably be best, but then, those are pretty hard to come by (read: impossible, I don't want a monarchy).
Can you support this claim? Because I don't think it's true. From what I can recall, most dictatorships have been established in sudden popular uprisings or military coups with the notable exception being Nazi Germany. The PRC, USSR, Iran (under the Shah), Iraq, etc. were all established as dictatorships without ever consulting the people.