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Interestingly, in situations where a bad roll of the monarchy dice isn't a big deal because people can just leave, dictatorship tends to become the preferred fo

Interestingly, in situations where a bad roll of the monarchy dice isn't a big deal because people can just leave, dictatorship tends to become the preferred form of government. See for example open source projects with their BDFL; if you have a bad BDFL the project gets forked with new leadership. Another example are small to medium sized businesses, where customers and employees can just go elsewhere if the CEO turns bad. Notably once a company reaches a critical size it tends to become more like a democracy, with both investors and employees demanding a seat on the table, because "just go somewhere else" becomes less of an option.

rajamaka 4y ago
Could you explain what you mean by "people can just leave". Because this isn't really a realistic option for a majority of people.
- andreareina 4y ago
  When people can just leave (small businesses etc) dictatorship isn't a big deal. No-one's claiming that people can just leave their country.
- seanw444 4y ago
  It's really annoying that HN has resorted to the same hivemind behaviour as Reddit. You're asking a reasonable question, because you didn't follow, and you're greyed-out from downvotes. If someone has a bad take, downvote them. If someone doesn't understand, but wants to, either upvote or don't vote. It's really that simple.
  - edgyquant 4y ago
    That person should actually read a comment instead of pushing back against a point that was articulated already. /that/ is Reddit hive mind behavior, not downvoting irrelevant or bad comments
  - JPws_Prntr_Fngr 4y ago
    > If someone has a bad take, downvote them. Ironically, this is the most reddit sentence I’ve ever read. To add more substance and avoid be-redditting this thread even further: I think the crucial difference in a good forum culture is that “bad takes” aren’t reflexively buried - they’re dismantled, disproven, and alternatives are submitted. That way anyone else with similar “bad takes” is guided to a better POV. This is actually productive. Downvotes are for irrelevant material, which isn’t productive.
  - fknorangesite 4y ago
    > If someone doesn't understand, but wants to Then they can actually read the comment they are responding to.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
godtoldmetodoit 4y ago
I saw this effect directly in Eve Online. In the early days there was a lot of experimenting with how exactly to organize these large groups of players. Some groups tried democracy of some flavor or another, others dictatorship. Dictatorship easily won out in the end. Most "dictators" in Eve actually end up being pretty good at their job, because it is a cutthroat market, and the most precious currency is players willing to fly for you and they can easily leave to join another group should you piss them off and not take care of them.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  Ironically enough considering the dispositions of the people who EVE was originally marketed to.
- MountainHoliday 4y ago
  These systems only work with freedom of movement. You get global rules and law that'll remove any correcting mechanism

rajamaka 4y ago

Could you explain what you mean by "people can just leave". Because this isn't really a realistic option for a majority of people.

andreareina 4y ago
When people can just leave (small businesses etc) dictatorship isn't a big deal. No-one's claiming that people can just leave their country.
seanw444 4y ago
It's really annoying that HN has resorted to the same hivemind behaviour as Reddit. You're asking a reasonable question, because you didn't follow, and you're greyed-out from downvotes. If someone has a bad take, downvote them. If someone doesn't understand, but wants to, either upvote or don't vote. It's really that simple.
- edgyquant 4y ago
  That person should actually read a comment instead of pushing back against a point that was articulated already. /that/ is Reddit hive mind behavior, not downvoting irrelevant or bad comments
- JPws_Prntr_Fngr 4y ago
  > If someone has a bad take, downvote them. Ironically, this is the most reddit sentence I’ve ever read. To add more substance and avoid be-redditting this thread even further: I think the crucial difference in a good forum culture is that “bad takes” aren’t reflexively buried - they’re dismantled, disproven, and alternatives are submitted. That way anyone else with similar “bad takes” is guided to a better POV. This is actually productive. Downvotes are for irrelevant material, which isn’t productive.
- fknorangesite 4y ago
  > If someone doesn't understand, but wants to Then they can actually read the comment they are responding to.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

godtoldmetodoit 4y ago

I saw this effect directly in Eve Online. In the early days there was a lot of experimenting with how exactly to organize these large groups of players. Some groups tried democracy of some flavor or another, others dictatorship. Dictatorship easily won out in the end. Most "dictators" in Eve actually end up being pretty good at their job, because it is a cutthroat market, and the most precious currency is players willing to fly for you and they can easily leave to join another group should you piss them off and not take care of them.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
Ironically enough considering the dispositions of the people who EVE was originally marketed to.
MountainHoliday 4y ago
These systems only work with freedom of movement. You get global rules and law that'll remove any correcting mechanism