Where are we on the "put in a number" thing?

I was thinking, rather than saying "put a number between 1 and 100" which might inadvertently encourage people to be "reasonable" and just vote fifty, we should just give opinions voiced here, so we'd just say:

put a number in this box please [ ] (numbers suggested by Buffistas range from ten to sixty-five but please choose whatever number you want)

for MVT.

I think that's fair for MVT. For seconds I think that the numbers are as low as one and as high as fifteen? But someone would have to check on that. I think either Gar or Wolfram said fifteen?

I really think you need both upper and lower limits to prevent skewing by posting ridiculously extreme numbers. More of an issue with high than low, but still.

Edited to add, it's potentially a problem anyway, but with a small range, it's less likely to be significant.

I haven't heard anyone proposing anything higher than 65.

ridiculously extreme numbers

I think if we get one voter who puts in "a million" then yeah, we can safely call that a Spoiled Ballot without becoming evil dictators.

What do you think of wording it that way though: "buffistas have suggested numbers between x and y, but please put in whatever you think"?

I like having the preset limits, otherwise someone's got to decide where to draw the line on what's extreme. It makes more sense than saying "if we decide whatever you think is extreme, we'll reject it after the fact."

What do you think of wording it that way though: "buffistas have suggested numbers between x and y, but please put in whatever you think"?

I think the point/counterpoint posts of Sophia and Liese would do a better job of explaining what the implications were for each choice. What a high number for MVT would do, what a low number for Seconds could do.

The effect is kind of the same - trying to give quick information that encapsulates longer discussion, but putting it on the ballot that way is sort of prescriptive, whereas reading the positions would allow more room for considering it.

I haven't heard anyone proposing anything higher than 65.

Actually, I more than halfway meant it when I posted 97. The post was a late-night, not worded so as to be taken seriously, but I favor a very high MVT.

And I don't like the idea of "pick a number between 2 and 100, suggestions range from 10 to 65" -- it really seems designed to skew votes toward the midrange.

Edit: I should specify that I mean we should either pick 2-100 or 10-65, not that I want no upper and lower limits at all.

I'd also like to point out that asking for Buffistas to pick a number for MVT seems very likely in getting a different number in the box for every vote turned in.

What would we do then?

What would we do then?

Some form of average -- both mean and median have been discussed.

I mean we should either pick 2-100 or 10-65, not that I want no upper and lower limits at all.

That's what I was proposing.

I meant "take out the 2-100, put in the other buffista-suggestion numbers".

Some form of average

I recall Jon B posting that he'd be shocked if we did anything other than the mean.