Our Platform for Outlining Colorado’s Future

Peter Thiel has argued that aside from advancements in data, our society has seen little progress in the past century. Google's success, valued in hundreds of billions of dollars, stemmed from their innovative use of links as a voting system for website rankings. This suggests that we could apply similar principles to rank ideas directly, rather than merely directing users to external websites. Google's algorithm places trust in websites with more links, but this can be flawed as people often make mistakes. A more robust algorithm could consider the number of valid arguments supporting a claim, rather than merely counting links to a website. By refining this approach, we could harness the power of big data to improve decision-making. What we need is collective, transparent intelligence, not closed, artificial intelligence. Imagine a system where we assign scores to various elements, thereby building conclusion validity from evidence validity. These could include:Linkage scores,...

Welcome to the Cost-Benefit Analysis Party! Here, I plan to introduce a unique approach to crowdsourcing government policy that I've been refining over the past two decades. The primary goal? Automating conflict resolution and mediation processes. A wealth of literature exists on effective conflict resolution. These tried-and-true techniques can be powerfully integrated into a policy analysis web forum. A book that perfectly encapsulates the essence of my vision is David's Sling. It embodies the spirit of utilizing reason and logic to dissect policy matters. This forum is designed to methodically analyze the potential costs, benefits, and risks of policy propositions. Each factor is evaluated based on the strength of its supporting arguments, thus determining its likelihood. This is not a simple process; it involves intricate mechanisms promoting quality argumentation. The defeat of weak arguments and the support of quality ones lead us to reliable conclusions about the potenti...

We stand at a crossroads. Our political parties and our collective decision-making processes are in disarray. The remedy? Replacing our existing political affiliations with parties rooted in cost-benefit analysis. This approach paves the way for rational political entities that resist the pull of personality cults and reject blinkered, one-sided worldviews. Implementing the scientific method in politics is not just beneficial - it's vital. It is the fulcrum on which the future of democracy, freedom, and our planet balances. By harnessing the techniques of conflict resolution, we can chart the most effective path forward, meticulously weighing the costs, benefits, and risks associated with each policy decision. Imagine open online forums that challenge the stronghold of special interests, biases, emotional reactions, and anecdotal evidence. Picture a political landscape that sidesteps the futile cheerleading and antagonism inherent in our existing political parties. Instead, the str...

In the latter half of 2009, a wave of fear swept over hundreds of Toyota owners. They raised a terrifying claim: their cars were suddenly accelerating out of control. The aftermath was a whirlwind of activity - Toyota recalled 10 million vehicles, settled numerous lawsuits, and paid fines exceeding $1 billion. The conclusion appeared self-evident - there was a significant flaw in the world's most popular cars. Except, there wasn't. What transpires when hysteria supersedes common sense? Mentioned Podcast Our society teeters dangerously close to the precipice if we continue making decisions based on narratives, biases, anecdotes, and infotainment. It's time we pivot towards a more pragmatic approach - a political party that leans on reason and cost-benefit analysis to steer its decision-making process. Malcolm Gladwell's insightful podcast delves into the intricacies of public folly. Instances like the Toyota acceleration debacle wouldn't occur if we prioritized delib...

In the realm of political thought, a provocative idea has emerged - should we lower the voting age to zero but weigh votes based on voters' understanding of relevant information? This concept was recently discussed by Robin Hanson: "Can we extend voting to younger ages, but also weigh votes via informedness?" ( Link to source ) That would combine the liberal and conservative approaches, such as from @jasonfbrennan. Let me clarify - I'm not advocating for an immediate drop of the voting age to zero and the introduction of a test to rank votes. Instead, I'm more interested in questioning the roots of our current voting age limit. Is it a blanket assumption that older individuals possess more knowledge? That's certainly not always the case. So, why not consider testing knowledge directly, rather than using age as a loose proxy? One might question, "Who gets to decide what it takes to be informed?" A fair counter, but couldn't the same be asked of ou...

The internet has given rise to numerous discussions, debates, and ideological sparring platforms. From LateStageCommunism to LateStageCapitalism , these forums often present divergent views of the world. While critical discussions are essential for growth, it's equally important to acknowledge the need for nuance and compromise, especially when discussing economic systems like capitalism and communism. We indeed need to educate everyone about the gulags and the failures of communism, but simply mocking or belittling those who contribute to forums like LateStageCapitalism is not the solution. Winning hearts and minds is not about outdoing the other side in low-quality, over-simplistic rhetoric. It's about out-thinking them, out-facting them, and engaging them with empathy and respect. One common critique that often surfaces in these discussions is the issue of monopolies. While opponents of capitalism criticize its potential for creating business monopolies, they often overlook...

Kids like (and are are like) wild animals  Reasons to Agree : 2 Animals are cool . Seeing wild animals connects people to millions of years of hunting: which has historically included risk and adrenalin. It seems almost natural to start chasing wild animals.  Seeing wild animals connects kids to another world, and so it is eye-opening, which can be fun and interesting.. Videos that agree : James and Geese on the Payette Lake Images that agree Big Horn Sheep, Rocky Mountain National Park, 2014 Phil looking at an Elk in Estes Park, 2014 A bare we saw in Estes Park, 2014. Megan kept saying all the guys were trying to get closer, but the women were protecting the kids. Big Horn Sheep, Rocky Mountain National Park, 2014   This is a photo of a mother "merganser" with its baby riding on its back. My kids and I watched it on the Payette Lake which is in Northern Idaho (2012). A photo of a Stellar's jay, on the railing of my cousin's cab...