4 ms·

I don't think I like this. It is missing a lot of the subtlety of the real thing, in ways that I think are important: 1) In real life, anyone can use the peopl

by gwillen 15y ago

I don't think I like this. It is missing a lot of the subtlety of the real thing, in ways that I think are important: 1) In real life, anyone can use the people's mic. If you implement it with a centralized conference call, only the "leader" can use it. This is supposed to be a leaderless movement. 2) In real life, GAs don't vote, they operate with complex consensus processes, and there are several different kinds out there. You can't summarize them all with a simple yes/no. I like the general idea of this app, but I truly hope the authors spend some time with a GA and adapt it to the people's real needs, rather than pushing their own model.

jrbaldwin 15y ago
I developed the app, working closely with the movement at Zuccotti Park. I am very aware of technology that tries to "fix" something that is deemed wrong, but I was intent on simply augmenting systems already in place. I just noticed a problem when these systems scaled up, during larger rallies, so I felt that some minimal technology could help. As far as the voting, it's really not about hard number voting as much as it is a general "temperature check" like the hand signals that work well in smaller occupy rallies do – this is just giving a rough estimate of the consensus of the crowd...nobody is counting each hand wriggling in the air, but in large rallies the speaker can't see all those hands to get that general perspective. I imagined that speakers could pass the phone onto others, but a new mic can be easily created by calling the number and starting as a new speaker.
jxcole 15y ago
Could you clarify GA for me? The only thing that comes to mind are "Genetic Algorithm" and "Google Analytics".
- andylei 15y ago
  general assemly
leot 15y ago
The GAs bug me. I've always found it curious that a movement that aims to mitigate the undue influence of a minority has chosen to operate based on consensus decision making. If the goal is to restore the power of the majority, then just use Robert's Rules of Order and get on with it.

by gwillen 15y ago

jrbaldwin 15y ago

I developed the app, working closely with the movement at Zuccotti Park. I am very aware of technology that tries to "fix" something that is deemed wrong, but I was intent on simply augmenting systems already in place. I just noticed a problem when these systems scaled up, during larger rallies, so I felt that some minimal technology could help. As far as the voting, it's really not about hard number voting as much as it is a general "temperature check" like the hand signals that work well in smaller occupy rallies do – this is just giving a rough estimate of the consensus of the crowd...nobody is counting each hand wriggling in the air, but in large rallies the speaker can't see all those hands to get that general perspective. I imagined that speakers could pass the phone onto others, but a new mic can be easily created by calling the number and starting as a new speaker.

jxcole 15y ago

Could you clarify GA for me? The only thing that comes to mind are "Genetic Algorithm" and "Google Analytics".

andylei 15y ago
general assemly

leot 15y ago

The GAs bug me. I've always found it curious that a movement that aims to mitigate the undue influence of a minority has chosen to operate based on consensus decision making. If the goal is to restore the power of the majority, then just use Robert's Rules of Order and get on with it.