Could math help make American democracy more responsive to the people? From detecting gerrymandered districts to predicting the impact of alternative election methods like ranked-choice voting, neuroscientist Sam Wang outlines how computer simulations can help fix the bugs in US democracy — and put it on the path to repair. (Recorded at TED Salon: The Rockefeller Foundation on May 23, 2024)
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#TED #TEDTalks #democracy
@NeostormXLMAX
September 20, 2024 at 7:32 am
democrazy is an error and contradiction in itself even the ancient greeks knew of the fallacy
@simonhart8457
September 20, 2024 at 7:59 am
This is a comment you should elaborate on. Without explanation it is not more than some letters imo
@SUNNofODIN
September 20, 2024 at 12:15 pm
Error is a contradiction of ancient fallacy event the democracy knew of the Greeks. See mom I can assert things as well
@FirstLast-gl2lw
September 20, 2024 at 7:41 am
Remove hate, add tolerance, equals peace?
@userANKHZERO
September 20, 2024 at 7:43 am
Try to solve 0/0 = eroor and not one but the other number up divide bottom with same number become result one
Example 1/1= 1 …10/10= 1 ……1 million / 1 million= 1
But why 0/0= error and the one an chosen one only …YOU CAN NOT GIVE RESULT SAME AND EQUALTY RESULT ONE ….WHY … DEMOCRATS ! ? SO LETS WE MAKE ELECTION AND FAIR GAME. BY TOTAL ALL HUMAN WHAT THE ANSWER FOR THAT. .
MY NAME ZERO = O
I AM ACTIVIST TO BRING THIS CASE ON GLOBAL WORLD ORGANISATION AND MAKE MULTY SUE ON EDUCATION WORLD GLOBAL MATHEMATICS ORGANISATION ..FOR THIS .
I JUST WAN TO HAVE. .. LAST NOBEL VALUE OF ZERO NUNBER …
MY NAME ZERO
@OneForAll42
September 20, 2024 at 7:47 am
🙏 Thank you, Sam Wang 🙏
For the knowledge and helping us logically understand how Democracy “should work”. With how corrupted it has become, we NEED some form of Revolution 🌍☮️
@VincentVonDudler
September 20, 2024 at 7:52 am
Top -4 primaries are (pick-1 primaries). They’re garbage.
He makes a very short mention of how primaries should be run (with Approval voting).
Redistricting should be done with ungameable shortest splitline algorithm to end *all* shenanigans (for good or bad)
But the real solution isn’t even mentioned STAR Voting. Cardinal method are much better systems over ordinal.
As an electoral reform advocate I’m glad these places have banned RCV.
Ranked Choice Voting is a truly bad system in practice and math and if this guy is an expert he would know that.
Imo we shouldn’t have primaries. We just need a cardinal ballot (Approval or STAR) for a general election with a wide field of candidates. This has many benefits that aren’t even mentioned as problems in this video – like money in politics. This is one of the least informed electoral reform TED talks I’ve watched.
@MichaelBerthelsen
September 20, 2024 at 12:24 pm
Why is ranked choice voting bad, exactly? The people who would otherwise have their vote ignored get to recast their vote, so every single person gets to have a functional, effective vote.
@VincentVonDudler
September 20, 2024 at 12:47 pm
@@MichaelBerthelsen Real world implementation is terrible. He even says, “Top 4 Primary” in Alaska. This is a mitigation system of one of the flaws of RCV because the ballots expand exponentially as the number of candidates increases. It’s also a terrible mitigation for several reasons: each voter can only choose to support one candidate in the primary just like FPTP. Historically primaries have far lower turnout than the general. That means that anyone that misses the primary will not be able to express their full political support to any candidate that was knocked out. That’s just one issue. Alaska could have chosen to use Approval Voting to run their open primary and it would be far less bad. But as I said that’s just one flaw. RCV also doesn’t do away with the spoiler effect. There’s a great video called, “How IRV Betrays Your Favorite Candidate” that explains the Center Squeeze Spoiler Effect of RCV which happens every single time you have three candidates and the centrist gets eliminated. I have more flaws and reasons why cardinal systems are far better but I’ll wait for any follow-up questions you might have.
@VincentVonDudler
September 20, 2024 at 12:56 pm
@@MichaelBerthelsenhere’s just another quick one- RCV doesn’t allow voters to express their full political support all at once. And it’s fairly intuitive to understand you can only support your first choice until that first choice is eliminated. It makes much more sense to aggregate everyone’s full political support at once. RCV is a very poor voting experience. Imagine ranking 32 flavors of ice cream, keeping that list in your head and putting it into that candidate x rank grid ballot. Insanity. Now imagine an alternate system where you give your favorite flavor a score of 5, least favorite a score of zero and then score the last 30 with respect to those where equal ratings are permitted. It’s a fairly easy mental task. There’s also a lot more information that can be gleaned from the elections resultant data about the electoral preferences of voters. Anyway again my list of RCV’s flaws is still not exhausted, but I need to get back to work.
@VincentVonDudler
September 20, 2024 at 12:59 pm
@@MichaelBerthelsen here’s just another quick one- RCV doesn’t allow voters to express their full political support all at once. And it’s fairly intuitive to understand you can only support your first choice until that first choice is eliminated. It makes much more sense to aggregate everyone’s full political support at once. RCV is a very poor voting experience. Imagine ranking 32 flavors of ice cream, keeping that list in your head and transcribing it into that candidate x rank grid ballot. Insanity. Now imagine an alternate system where you give your favorite flavor a score of 5, least favorite a score of zero and then score the last 30 with respect to those where equal ratings are permitted. It’s a fairly easy mental task. There’s also a lot more information that can be gleaned from the elections resultant data about the electoral preferences of voters. Anyway again my list of RCV’s flaws is still not exhausted, but I need to get back to work.
@VincentVonDudler
September 20, 2024 at 8:27 pm
@@MichaelBerthelsen I’m at my computer and I’m tempted to bring up my other flaws of RCV but it doesn’t appear that you are interested. :]
It all comes down to RCV’s:
– Bad Voting Experience
– Bad Math
Why implement it when you can have…
– Good Voting Experience
– Good Math
with STAR Voting?
@Emogeta
September 20, 2024 at 8:19 am
Issue is the common person is uneducated and follows feelings instead of reason.
@LongbranchOlivetti
September 20, 2024 at 8:26 am
*s
@shaon6022
September 20, 2024 at 8:29 am
I’m Japanese high school student.
TED help to learn English speaking and listening.
So,I want to try to listen every day!
@tienlyba7526
September 20, 2024 at 11:47 am
wish the luck be with u
@amediarts
September 20, 2024 at 8:39 am
Now It’s time to reconstruction of democracy system 🎉
@amediarts
September 20, 2024 at 8:43 am
Election System should be without parties ❤
@Fusselwurmify
September 20, 2024 at 9:29 am
how? representatives would need to form alliances to get majority on issues. call these alliances parties, and you’re back to square one.
@theuniversedoesntcare
September 20, 2024 at 6:09 pm
@@FusselwurmifySelf Trust-Bust.
@naturalbodybulding
September 20, 2024 at 8:44 am
You are the great 👍
@nnozz1373
September 20, 2024 at 9:32 am
Looks like samwang knows a lot about maths
@alonbinyamin
September 20, 2024 at 9:49 am
Democracy is barely functional. We stopped trying to improve and find a better system.
Democracy is the best form of government we (humanity) designed so far. But that doesn’t mean it’s any good. I wouldn’t want to go back to other forms of governance from history, but there is a perception that Democracy is amazing and there is no need to move past it. It’s absolutely not. It’s a deeply flawed system that just barely not collapses completely.
@MichaelBerthelsen
September 20, 2024 at 12:30 pm
I’m gonna butcher a Winston Churchill quote here:
‘Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others.’
Basically, democracy is the least bad, but still trash.😅
@SunLogic1973
September 20, 2024 at 10:04 am
Can math help “Democracy?” If we ban the donor class of lobbyists from paying the politicians to look the other way while the donors regulate themselves then yes math can help democracy.
@diAx007
September 20, 2024 at 10:08 am
Democracy in any form and on any mathematical principles is useless as long as decision-makers do not have truthful information about the things they vote about and do not have the qualifications to understand it.
@gerardoaguilar6933
September 20, 2024 at 10:22 am
No
@theuniversedoesntcare
September 20, 2024 at 6:16 pm
Yes.
@peterp5099
September 20, 2024 at 12:08 pm
Given that the implementation of policies in the US matches a plutocracy closer than a real democracy, what exactly is the point of stabilizing and saving that system? Why not just let it fall apart, then maybe build a better democracy from scratch?
@MichaelBerthelsen
September 20, 2024 at 12:23 pm
What will the US and the world look like during and soon after the total collapse…?
@Bryanhaproff
September 20, 2024 at 12:48 pm
Gerrymandering, Electoral College, Lobbyism AKA Legalized Bribery, When did any of you think this was a Democracy? We live in Capitalism 100% Bought and Paid For.
@Betweoxwitegan
September 20, 2024 at 3:52 pm
It’s a democracy, just a flawed one. Do you think democracy in Ancient Greece was better? 😂
@Bryanhaproff
September 20, 2024 at 4:08 pm
@@Betweoxwitegan Ancient Greece didnt have Jeff Bezos.
@theuniversedoesntcare
September 20, 2024 at 6:15 pm
@@Bryanhaproff…Jeff Bezos, and Lex Luthor are never in the same room.
@Betweoxwitegan
September 20, 2024 at 7:39 pm
@@Bryanhaproff Maybe not but it did have a lot of slaves, I’d say that’s a higher level of inequality than present day USA. Women, slaves and non citizens weren’t allowed to vote, wealth was tied up in land primarily which was owned by an elite minority, climbing the ladder was outright impossible and there were no safety nets, etc, Ancient Greece was objectively worse than present day USA.
@duythanhphaminh4134
September 20, 2024 at 12:50 pm
01:49 Essential functions of democracy
03:01 Simulation of voter behavior
04:44 The urgency for reform
06:00 Effects of a third-party candidate
08:04 Voter systems and independent committees
09:40 Impact of primary reforms
11:00 The role of math in democratic reform
Summary by GPT Breeze
@annaynely
September 20, 2024 at 3:07 pm
Resourced based economy all over the world. The venus project.
@nicolecrust9975
September 20, 2024 at 5:06 pm
This is *so great*. If we want to understand a complex system, the only way is to model it. As Princeton Professor Sam Wang describes, there are strong parallels to politics and brains.
I deeply appreciate the clarity Prof. Wang is delivering, and the parallels he is drawing.
@theuniversedoesntcare
September 20, 2024 at 6:14 pm
I am crying right now. He really thought it out.
@dlat1825
September 22, 2024 at 11:01 am
All of this has been known for decades. Shocked to see a professor talk on this topic who has not bothered to study stable democratic countries and their electoral systems.
@PLEASURE_MeMe
September 24, 2024 at 10:25 am
@@dlat1825Known? But not all people knows. A lot of things are known doesn’t mean it’s well known. If a lot of things are well known this world wouldn’t be what is today.
@privatebryan1924
September 20, 2024 at 8:18 pm
How does math solve targeted assassinations?
@jimvanlint8043
September 21, 2024 at 10:52 am
How does maths, or mathamatics, solve targeted assassinations?
@privatebryan1924
September 20, 2024 at 8:22 pm
Make this guy a Chief Data Scientist, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Senior Advisor on Policy and Analytics, Economic Advisor or Head of the Council of Economic Advisers, Advisor on Electoral Reform, ANYTHING BUT THESE CLOWNS
@Audioobscure
September 21, 2024 at 4:22 am
I thought this said meth saving democracy, not math
@LynseyDiane
September 21, 2024 at 4:52 am
How about less greed and more common sense.
@OG_stevedidWHAT
September 21, 2024 at 12:50 pm
“Common sense” should tell you that common sense is a subjective topic.
And yet here we still are.
@IliaSolomatin
September 21, 2024 at 8:45 am
> Giving a TED talk
> Not labeling axes on graphs
@Agn0sticus
September 25, 2024 at 6:01 am
What’s more, that he’s not even mentioning what the axes stand for. He’s basically just saying, oh look a these mountains generated from data. But what do those stand for? Which one is which? It remains a mystery!
@EzekielAmy
September 21, 2024 at 8:55 am
1981 Afton Tunnel
@importantname
September 21, 2024 at 9:51 am
Now if we could just convince the voting public to stop voting for who they want, and, make data scientists decide who the best Government is. ?
@mick8888V
September 21, 2024 at 11:18 am
Haven’t the two major political parties already utilizing mathematical computation for decades to solidify their wins?
@OG_stevedidWHAT
September 21, 2024 at 12:56 pm
Here’s the deal, these machines will still be made by mankind. Therefore, the chance that someone does something to modify said machine in the interest of greed and or power, is almost certain to happen. Would we have an easier or harder time dismantling this setup? And all this “progress” would be nice, but who’s to say some of the choices wouldn’t possibly be ‘infected’ or designed to cause problems? Now we have to shut down all these changes??
@PLEASURE_MeMe
September 24, 2024 at 10:27 am
Exactly! This is what I’ve been saying for years. I couldn’t put it no better way.😊
@hyuming2577
September 21, 2024 at 9:03 pm
wrong
@balasubr2252
September 22, 2024 at 2:57 am
Elections and representation might be replaceable with direct actions and control or through individualized agents and concurrent processes in real time to ensure optimal outcomes.
@paulhedon9816
September 22, 2024 at 8:08 am
What does the above mean, anarchy or right of the mob?
@balasubr2252
September 22, 2024 at 8:40 am
@@paulhedon9816 Neither Just a better way to get things done
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@Brandon-rc9vp
September 22, 2024 at 7:44 am
Sadly, the answer is no because truth has lost all meaning in society today.
@Erotemic
September 24, 2024 at 10:22 pm
Perhaps that is in part because of partisan primaries where defining a new reality is effective. I would guess it is less effective with median voters, but the primaries already select extreme candidates, so the effect is locked in for the general election.
@paulhedon9816
September 22, 2024 at 8:04 am
Around the 9 minutes You call a new voting system called, Top four primary vote, here in England we a have been pushing for a reform of the two party system,
But not the system of multi-party voting as in Europe were in the case of France only the top two or three candidates are put forward for election a week after the first vote if no candidate gets 51% of the vote, this as resulted in the top candidate being side lined by the other parties’ votes going against them. Is it unfair, do people feel cheated.
Or there is the system in other European of a single multi-party voting system were a popular candidate gets more votes then any other candidate, but does not get the required 51% of the vote is again not allowed to form a Government because the other candidate decide who will support who so as to get a total of 51% of the vote to form a government. Again the question is it unfair, do people feel cheated.
What some people in England have called for a] Voter ID [now done] before casting a vote. Then b] The voter numbers the candidates on the form in order of preference. Then it is both a secret vote, and the counting is fairly simple. All the votes are totalled up if any candidate gets 51% on the first count the candidate is deemed elected.
If 51% vote is not achieved, then the candidate with the lowest vote has his/her votes counted and the second choice is added to the remaining candidates until a candidate gets 51% of the vote. If a candidate does not achieve 51% of the vote again the lowest candidates’ votes are counted and the second preference is transferred the candidates until 51% of the vote is achieved.
It is a secure system, people only vote once and no political gerrymandering or tactical voting can be done, if a second vote is required. This system of voting is called the transferrable vote system. Yes, it requires honesty within the counters, but with adequate supervision that is not a problem.
Lastly, we have asked for the postal vote to be much stringent and unless a severe illness, or disability prevents the voter turning up in person, them ALL votes must be in person.
@dlat1825
September 22, 2024 at 11:16 am
This is an undergraduate-level presentation. It is only about his own country, not about “the world”. Nothing new. Every problem discussed already has been solved, has been modelled extensively, and is long-term political reality in many parts of the world. There is ample real and theoretical data and analysis over many decades. I only learnt American professors are still insular.
@jackwhitney6283
September 25, 2024 at 6:04 pm
He’s very clear that he’s talking about the United States. He’s making an argument for why we should implement reforms, why is that a bad thing to advocate for or talk about? Advocating for necessity is a strange thing to complain about but I have my suspicions that you generally do not think kindly of the United States or Americans. Which I suppose is fine but you should realize your view on this is “undergraduate level” in some ways too.
@monicaizarraras2718
September 22, 2024 at 12:27 pm
Yeah it will work but not unless we remove establishment money who will always tilt the balance to the candidate of their choice so this will never work, but if they were forced to only use an exact amount of money for their campaign that is even for every candidate,
@TronSAHeroXYZ
September 23, 2024 at 2:28 am
So Democracy is damaged?
@nimrothambanpola9674
September 23, 2024 at 4:43 am
“Great analysis! The presidential election held on September 21st in Sri Lanka reflected a similar pattern we’ve seen in other countries, where voters have grown disillusioned with the two-party system that has dominated for nearly five decades. Interestingly, a president was elected from a third party this time, breaking the long-standing trend. In previous elections, we’ve seen heightened polarization, with voter behavior appearing more divided than it actually was. Looking ahead to the parliamentary elections, redistricting should be seriously considered, especially as demographics shift over time.”
@tech.life.felipe
September 23, 2024 at 10:33 am
00:13 “A simulation can game through thousands or even millions of possibilities.”. Is this correct? I don’t understand. I’m a english student.
@cheersmodreams691
September 23, 2024 at 2:14 pm
With ranked choice voting, the Electoral College would become superfluous, and gerrymandering would become pointless. So, if only the swing states would adopt ranked choice voting, election results would become quite different. Bipartisan results would split the electoral votes and these states as swing states would be neutralized.
@s1v7
September 24, 2024 at 4:03 am
The core aspect of democracy is discussion and debate. That’s why freedom of speech is the most important thing to protect.
@racghineering
September 24, 2024 at 7:04 am
no
@ofirarg
September 25, 2024 at 1:06 pm
Theres a simpler solution: Parliamentary democracy
@Kyiverdam
September 26, 2024 at 1:06 am
The summer of 2020 was worse than January 6, 2021.