On 10/25/05, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
We have suggested choosing Arbitrators by loading Recent Changes at a random unannounced time and appointing the first 12 names to appear there. While I think this would be resoundingly unsatisfactory to most members of the community, it would eliminate most claims of bias. :)
Not true. You would get a comitte biased in favour of whatever the relivant time zone was. You would also be likely to end up with a far from ideal comitte.
Ok, fine, we load it once every two hours and take the first name that appears (or the second if the first name has already been chosen). That will deal with the timezone objection.
We're going to end up with a far-from-ideal committee if we have unrestricted elections, too, because the voting blocks that have already formed in Wikipedia will throw weight around to attempt to manipulate the result. Jimbo's proposal basically ensures that we're not asked to waste our time voting down clearly inappropriate candidates and avoids the risk of an inappropriate candidate with substantial influence from being elected despite our best efforts.
Kelly