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Voting is a solved problem. I’m not saying that the idea of using bitcoin technology to solve problems beside monetary systems is a bad idea (in fact, I think i

Voting is a solved problem. I’m not saying that the idea of using bitcoin technology to solve problems beside monetary systems is a bad idea (in fact, I think it’s a very interesting concept), but really, democracies around the world already have established and efficient voting systems that work well enough.

aaren 13y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_v._Gore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_v._Gore (Admittedly over a decade old now) I think the point is that our current voting systems require a measure of trust, where a blockchain based system could be trustless.
- SectioAurea 13y ago
  This is the key point where the public blockchain seems to be of use for voting: transparency, which we have zero of in current machine systems.
greyman 13y ago
Yes, but you need a trusted authority. But I probably didn't explain it well enough. I didn't mean that you would vote which politicians will rule, you would vote on concrete decisions state such make. Nowadays, you vote politicians and they make decisions, and with blockchain network, you would directly vote for such decisions, making the politicians an unnecessary layer. ;-)
- d23 13y ago
  I hire politicians for the exact reason that I cannot possibly become informed and make intelligent decisions on all of the issues that affect me.
  - Rhapso 13y ago
    And you expect them to be able to?
    - wpietri 13y ago
      I expect them and their staffs to do it, yes. Some do it better than others.
  - finnw 13y ago
    You could solve that problem by reading your politician's blog (and donating of course) then voting the way they recommend on each issue.
    - d23 13y ago
      Fair enough, but isn't it just a matter of granularity at that point? How many things do I want to be voting on every day? 1 thing? 10 things? 100?
baddox 13y ago
It's extremely easy to debate whether voting is a solved problem or whether it works well enough.
goodcanadian 13y ago
I would argue that money is also a solved problem.
lectrick 13y ago
If what you're saying is true, then I'd like to know why Instant Runoff Voting seems so superior to binary voting schemes (like "democratic" or "republican" with the occasional "green" candidate acting usually as "democratic spoiler") and yet hasn't been widely implemented. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

aaren 13y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_v._Gore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_v._Gore (Admittedly over a decade old now) I think the point is that our current voting systems require a measure of trust, where a blockchain based system could be trustless.

SectioAurea 13y ago
This is the key point where the public blockchain seems to be of use for voting: transparency, which we have zero of in current machine systems.

greyman 13y ago

Yes, but you need a trusted authority. But I probably didn't explain it well enough. I didn't mean that you would vote which politicians will rule, you would vote on concrete decisions state such make. Nowadays, you vote politicians and they make decisions, and with blockchain network, you would directly vote for such decisions, making the politicians an unnecessary layer. ;-)

d23 13y ago
I hire politicians for the exact reason that I cannot possibly become informed and make intelligent decisions on all of the issues that affect me.
- Rhapso 13y ago
  And you expect them to be able to?
  - wpietri 13y ago
    I expect them and their staffs to do it, yes. Some do it better than others.
- finnw 13y ago
  You could solve that problem by reading your politician's blog (and donating of course) then voting the way they recommend on each issue.
  - d23 13y ago
    Fair enough, but isn't it just a matter of granularity at that point? How many things do I want to be voting on every day? 1 thing? 10 things? 100?

baddox 13y ago

It's extremely easy to debate whether voting is a solved problem or whether it works well enough.

goodcanadian 13y ago

I would argue that money is also a solved problem.

lectrick 13y ago

If what you're saying is true, then I'd like to know why Instant Runoff Voting seems so superior to binary voting schemes (like "democratic" or "republican" with the occasional "green" candidate acting usually as "democratic spoiler") and yet hasn't been widely implemented. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting