I don't think it would defeat the purpose at all. Even if you have a winner, decentralization ensures there will always be a quick, nearly-equivalent alternativ

I don't think it would defeat the purpose at all. Even if you have a winner, decentralization ensures there will always be a quick, nearly-equivalent alternative waiting in the wings. And as my sibling poster stated, a winning instance (or a handful of them) is/are necessary for public buy-in.