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My opinion is that IT literacy is increasing fast enough that in the near future a significant percentage would understand enough about electronic ballots as pe

My opinion is that IT literacy is increasing fast enough that in the near future a significant percentage would understand enough about electronic ballots as people understand now about the paper ballots. And I think you're over estimating how many people "understand" paper ballots. Yes, they know the basics, but the details on how votes are counted, validated and secured might be a bit too much for a random Joe.

rayiner 2y ago
IT literacy is not increasing; if anything it's going down. My wife's Gen Z siblings grew up with iPads and think computers are magic.
- mariusor 2y ago
  OK, fair. I meant it in the sense of the younger generation has more exposure to concepts like encrypted communication and peer to peer communication and encrypted ledgers, etc. They might not know how exactly they work, but they know they exist and have an inkling of their attributes as they pertain to data secrecy, auditability, etc...
  - throwaway48476 2y ago
    I'm far more familiar with cryptography concepts than the average person but I wouldn't trust myself to audit a crypto system or implementation.
    - dmurray 2y ago
      You might trust yourself to read a bunch of blog posts on technical deep dives into the system and make up your mind based on that, though. (Whether that's a good thing or not I don't know - perhaps you'd end up agreeing with whichever side has the most believable technological shibboleths, which isn't that much different from the current best practice of listening to the side with the better attack ads).
      - throwaway48476 2y ago
        No, I'm aware of my limitations. Reading about how the system 'should' work does nothing to instill confidence that the implementation is correct or that there are no design flaws.
    - mariusor 2y ago
      Do you feel the need to audit the ballot process when casting a vote? Do you wait until the station is closed and watch the people count the votes? Do you know what to look for in regards to ballot tampering? Do you know who is allowed to count the votes? I think that the details of the vote will indeed be opaque to most voters, but I think that's the case right now for most of us. As a voter you must have some trust in the process and in the fact that the correct auditors have vetted it. Hopefully it's going to get there for electronic voting some day.
      - throwaway48476 2y ago
        Not really. I know the voting process is 'fortified'
- Terr_ 2y ago
  I believe that when Grandma laments/boasts that "kids these days just know technology", it's often a confusion of confidence with competence. The elder generation grew up with stuff where you had to be more cautious of damaging it, while the younger generation is far more confident with "randomly mess around until it works", because they grew up with products that were designed to be more forgiving.
denton-scratch 2y ago
"Voter literacy" is obviously a good thing; but blockchain and encryption are not part of that. Very few software developers, for example, are qualified to evaluate a crypto scheme.

rayiner 2y ago

IT literacy is not increasing; if anything it's going down. My wife's Gen Z siblings grew up with iPads and think computers are magic.

mariusor 2y ago
OK, fair. I meant it in the sense of the younger generation has more exposure to concepts like encrypted communication and peer to peer communication and encrypted ledgers, etc. They might not know how exactly they work, but they know they exist and have an inkling of their attributes as they pertain to data secrecy, auditability, etc...
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  I'm far more familiar with cryptography concepts than the average person but I wouldn't trust myself to audit a crypto system or implementation.
  - dmurray 2y ago
    You might trust yourself to read a bunch of blog posts on technical deep dives into the system and make up your mind based on that, though. (Whether that's a good thing or not I don't know - perhaps you'd end up agreeing with whichever side has the most believable technological shibboleths, which isn't that much different from the current best practice of listening to the side with the better attack ads).
    - throwaway48476 2y ago
      No, I'm aware of my limitations. Reading about how the system 'should' work does nothing to instill confidence that the implementation is correct or that there are no design flaws.
  - mariusor 2y ago
    Do you feel the need to audit the ballot process when casting a vote? Do you wait until the station is closed and watch the people count the votes? Do you know what to look for in regards to ballot tampering? Do you know who is allowed to count the votes? I think that the details of the vote will indeed be opaque to most voters, but I think that's the case right now for most of us. As a voter you must have some trust in the process and in the fact that the correct auditors have vetted it. Hopefully it's going to get there for electronic voting some day.
    - throwaway48476 2y ago
      Not really. I know the voting process is 'fortified'
Terr_ 2y ago
I believe that when Grandma laments/boasts that "kids these days just know technology", it's often a confusion of confidence with competence. The elder generation grew up with stuff where you had to be more cautious of damaging it, while the younger generation is far more confident with "randomly mess around until it works", because they grew up with products that were designed to be more forgiving.

denton-scratch 2y ago

"Voter literacy" is obviously a good thing; but blockchain and encryption are not part of that. Very few software developers, for example, are qualified to evaluate a crypto scheme.