Justin's proposed changes; Regarding: Consensus

[Doug Tooley]

Consensus is a tricky tool.  Very often it is used as a technique to
manipulate discussion.  A position can be put forth and an effective
advocate can then turn the subject of the discussion away from the merits
of the proposal to a single tune -- "you're not going to interfere with
the **group** are you?".

What is more important that majority vs. consensus is an open and informed
debate.

Requirements for notice, ample time for discussion of all proposals, can,
with a group of thinking professionals, lead to good decisions.  Full
disclosure is also important.

There are of course techniques of using any political system to one's
individual benefit -whether it be a professionally oriented organization
or the U.S. Congress.  Those techniques are though are not the same ones
that work in office politics or business to business competition.

In our government a system of checks and balances helps - this is in part
through having complementary, and somewhat overlapping, authorities that
can call a duck a duck, if it is to their advantage.

Personally I'd like to hear a lot more from the IX folks on this one...