HUMANOSOPHY

In 1906, the old statistician Professor Francis Galton fulfilled a long-cherished intention: to demonstrate statistically that the opinion of experts prevailed over that of non-expert intellectuals, and above all that of the mass of people who did not belong to these groups. When he learned that in Plymouth a farmers market would take place where an ox was awarded for the person who came closest to the weight of the animal, he persuaded the organizers to have not only the name and address but also the appeal filled in on the lottery tickets. More than 800 tickets were sold. Galton received the pile of cards afterwards for his statistical calculations. A small number was unusable, he kept 787 cards to demonstrate that the opinion of joint experts was more accurate than the opinion of the crowds. But to his surprise, the average of the ‘crowd’ of market visitors turned out to have come closest to the right weight.

Since then, this mysterious phenomenon has gone through life as the wisdom of crowds concept and has been tried many times and in many ways (guessing the number of peas in a jam jar).
However, the concept only appears to work if the individuals of the mass are diverse in nature (the statistical diagram of Galton in his Nature publication also shows strong outliers both upwards and upwards), and are strictly unaffected by their choice (because otherwise: herd behavior).

Our proposal is to bring this mechanism into line with the democratic elections.
The big difference with the referendum is that it is not about one issue, with only three choices: yes, no, or not voting. The referendum invites populist influence and causes herd behavior. It has recently led to Brexit and Trump: both with political consequences that are not in the interest of the mass of voters.

Our proposal is a summer festival. A festival to celebrate our democracy. To celebrate our freedom and relative prosperity. A living situation that the non-Western and unfree humanity yearns for. A living situation that is certainly worth a celebration.

A festival at the end of each school year. A five-day summer festival, when the classrooms are empty but before the families travel to distant places.
A festival with all possible festivities but during which every citizen who wishes to participate in the way he/she is governed, can express her/his opinion for the coming reign.

Previously, the festival has long been subject to talk programs and articles in the press. In addition, the wisdom of the crowd and the crucial importance of each uninflated individual choice were discussed extensively. The schools have been practiced in the higher classes with old voting guides, so that the children can playfully get an idea of which party they appear to adhere to. Children have a longer future to look after. The age restriction is also released: anyone who feels able to fill out a voting form is welcome. The children discuss this at home at the kitchen table so that their parents become more and more familiar with this form of co-governance.

Expressing her/his opinion for the coming reign, the voter does that by filling out a form, sort of voting guide. The guide contains thirteen issues: the thirteen most important ones that have been discussed in parliament during the last reign.
Each of the issues is initiated with objective figures and facts. Under this objective information the positions that the various parties have taken with regard to the issue. Important: the names of the parties are omitted, and the order of the list is also random. The voter makes his own personal choice, without knowing which party he supports with this choise.

It requires some thinking. No one can be forced to do that. And it takes more time (we estimate an average of twenty minutes, but still less time than filling in a tax form ). Voters must therefore give up beforehand. Where they also have to indicate whether they want to be invited for the morning shift, the afternoon shift or the evening shift.

The strictly individual choices also require that the voting forms remain secret, as well as the exam assignments of the schools.

The polling stations will then also be the empty classrooms and the voters will be in neat rows, just like the exam candidates. The forms must remain secret until the end of the week so they cannot be photographed or overwritten and there will be surveilled.

Afterwards the voting form is published and everyone can see at which party he/she appears to adhere.

Will not these be elections for highly educated people?

Like the tax forms, they are also intended for the less educated. The local voting committee can make provisions for people with a disability.

With this form of voting, the voter can influence the way she/he is governed for the first time. The citizen becomes a serious party. Many populist parties will therefore oppose it. Another advantage is that no one can call out that he is not being listened to: everything has been done to make his voice heard.