So, AV or FPTP

Obviously, AV seems a much fairer system when you look at the maths of it, this blog post describes things rather well. However, the concept of AV being "better" is only a good thing if the underlying system that it improves is worth while. For example, using cup to get drinking water from the toilet bowl rather than sticking your face in there is a better method without being an ideal way to acquire water.

As I see it, the underlying system in this case is that the general public should get to have a say in how the country is governed, by selecting a candidate from 1 of 5 or so groups offering expertise in the area. Now, if we ignore such complexities as whether these people are actually in a position to run the country or not and focus on the concept that running a country is a specialist job. Can we think of any other scenarios where we'd let the great unwashed public decide... well... anything?

I'm imagining NASA and two top engineers discussing the 3 most relevant theories of jet propulsion. Each gives a different answer and only 1 can be right.

Scientist 1: "Ok, well I just can't work it out, this is a total stumper."

Scientist 2: "Likewise, I guess the only thing left to do, is fill a room with people of average intelligence and get them to vote on it."

Scientist 1: "yea, make them mark the paper with crayon - edible crayon, we don't want a repeat of last time."

I walk to work and so I see a fair amount of the public. I believe it would be a landslide victory for the theory with the best name.

Scenario 2 - "we interrupt this episode of Coronation Street / So you think you can dance / Big Brother to inform viewers that the bomb squad is at an impasse, please dial the following number: ----- then press 1 for the green wire, 2 for the red wire or 3 for the blue.

Of the people I see in the street, I reckon I could trust 1 in 100 to vote on the correct way to run a bath. Perhaps we are better off with a smaller percentage of the population making decisions and our vote should be about how to select the right smaller percentage of the population. In much the same way that I have never put my xrays up on ebay to get a more rounded opinion of what is wrong.

Obviously this isn't a trivial issue and my only aim here is to gently mock, but I wonder what a country would be like if people who knew about stuff were in control?