shminux comments on Arguments Against Speciesism - Less Wrong

28 Post author: Lukas_Gloor 28 July 2013 06:24PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 02 August 2013 08:13:26PM 4 points [-]

(And a smart teenager is likely to think 'I am smart enough and competent enough at making decisions to vote. But I know what a lot of other people my age are like, and they're certainly not like that. I would overall be better off if I couldn't vote as long as it kept them from voting.')

What happens if we extend that reasoning to most adults as well? Is there some reason that most people become magically competent at 18? Perhaps things would be even better if voting were restricted further to some competent class of people?

(Of course that's politically impossible, but it's an interesting thought experiment)

Comment author: shminux 02 August 2013 08:25:01PM *  1 point [-]

Of course that's politically impossible, but it's an interesting thought experiment

Is my sarcasm detector broken or something? This experiment has been performed many times in many places, rich white males usually being the prime example of "some competent class".

Actually, I find the Heinlein's idea in Starship Troopers intriguing, where only ex-military are given citizenship.

Comment author: [deleted] 02 August 2013 08:35:29PM 3 points [-]

Excuse me; politically impossible within the current political climate.

If you know of some way to restrict voting to some more competent reference class than "adults", please do so.

History is against you, though, the power-holding reference class has been expanding rather than contracting (non-landholders, women's suffrage, civil rights, etc).

Comment author: OnTheOtherHandle 07 August 2013 07:08:28AM 2 points [-]

One relatively simple (but also easily gameable) criteria is education and/or intelligence. Only 18-year-olds with a high school/college/postgraduate degree, only 18-year-olds with an IQ score/SAT score >= X, etc. We don't want to try that because we know how quickly the tests and measurements would be twisted with ideology, and we worry that we would end up systematically discriminating against a class of people based on some hidden criterion other than intelligence/education, such as political views.

Comment author: Peterdjones 18 August 2013 08:55:43PM 0 points [-]

And to be fair, you'd have to give ten or a hundred votes to people with PhD's in political science.

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