I should clarify that there were two parts to my answer: first was answering your question "on behalf of" the parent poster. It seemed their position was to "l

I should clarify that there were two parts to my answer: first was answering your question "on behalf of" the parent poster. It seemed their position was to "let people vote on it". I was somewhat defending that position, but more just clarifying that democracy wasn't necessarily in conflict with using science to make decisions. The second part of my response was to your framing of "science vs. gut-instinct". My point is that sometimes ignorance is thrust upon us by the complexity of the circumstances. In that case, my point was that decentralized policy making (separate from any notion of voting) was essential to reducing the worst case. In other words, I am not claiming that democratization "results in minimax optimal decisions". I am claiming that decentralized governance structures do "result in minimax optimal decisions". Does that change your question? edit: fixed spelling