WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.480 Imagine for a second. that you are deciding the 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.360 absolute most important political elections in 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.799 your entire country. But instead of, you know, 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:10.259 filling out a ballot or pulling a lever or even 00:00:10.259 --> 00:00:12.740 sending in a secure piece of mail, the winner 00:00:12.740 --> 00:00:15.539 is chosen based entirely on who the crowd screams 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:18.219 for the loudest. Wow. Literally a popularity 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:21.300 contest decided by sheer volume. Exactly. Just 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:25.079 volume. Today, we are jumping into a deep dive 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:28.719 on the mechanics, the wild history and the highly 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:31.179 surprising modern applications. of the voice 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:34.979 vote or, as it is formally known, acclamation. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.140 And we're pulling from a really comprehensive 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:39.659 Wikipedia article on the subject for this deep 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:42.159 dive. Yeah, it's a great source. And our mission 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:45.020 today is to figure out how this seemingly archaic 00:00:45.020 --> 00:00:47.159 method, I mean, just standing in a room and yelling 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:49.880 I or no somehow remains the quickest, the most 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:52.200 common, and sometimes the absolute most controversial 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.740 way that deliberative assemblies make decisions 00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:57.640 right now, today. It is a fascinating contradiction 00:00:57.640 --> 00:00:59.799 when you really look at it. We live in an era 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:01.740 of... of digital cryptography, secure servers, 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:05.120 instant electronic tabulation. Yet the fundamental 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:09.099 machinery of our laws, our local councils, even 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:12.739 massive international organizations. often still 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:15.239 relies on a group of people just using their 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:17.500 vocal cords to push a decision forward. That 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:19.439 contradiction is exactly why we need to lay the 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.599 table here. Let's get the basic definition down. 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:24.519 A voice vote comes from the Latin term viva voce, 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:28.459 which translates to by live voice. It's a voting 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:31.599 method where a group responds vocally all at 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:34.000 once. The entire room just speaks their choice 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.840 into the air. Hearing that Latin term, it sounds 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:40.299 awfully similar to another process you hear about 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:43.640 in politics, a viva voce roll call vote. Right, 00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:46.060 which causes endless confusion. Yeah, because 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:48.019 if I'm thinking about the logistics, those have 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:50.439 to be entirely different mechanisms. A voice 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:54.099 vote is this massive, chaotic group shout. But 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:57.319 a roll call, even if spoken aloud, is going down 00:01:57.319 --> 00:01:59.920 a list person by person. That is a crucial distinction 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:01.719 to make right at the top. They share a Latin 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:04.689 root, but the mechanics are worlds apart. A viva 00:02:04.689 --> 00:02:06.969 voce roll call vote removes the anonymity. Because 00:02:06.969 --> 00:02:09.889 they call your name. Exactly. The clerk calls 00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:12.509 your name, you stand up or speak into a microphone, 00:02:12.710 --> 00:02:15.009 and your specific choice goes into the permanent 00:02:15.009 --> 00:02:18.610 public record. The traditional voice vote, though, 00:02:18.710 --> 00:02:21.150 the collective shout, is entirely anonymous. 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:23.770 It's just a wave of sound. A wave of sound where 00:02:23.770 --> 00:02:27.349 individual voices blend into a single, unrecorded 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:30.189 roar. Okay, let's unpack this. How does a standard 00:02:30.189 --> 00:02:33.169 voice vote actually work in practice? We are 00:02:33.169 --> 00:02:36.310 talking about a very streamlined two -step process. 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:38.770 The presiding officer or the chair of the assembly 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:41.090 puts the question to the room. Right. First, 00:02:41.169 --> 00:02:43.430 they ask everyone who is in favor of the motion 00:02:43.430 --> 00:02:45.849 to indicate so orally. You will usually hear 00:02:45.849 --> 00:02:47.629 them say something like, all those in favor say 00:02:47.629 --> 00:02:50.250 aye. Or sometimes yay. Yeah, yeah. Then they 00:02:50.250 --> 00:02:52.210 flip it and ask everyone who is opposed to the 00:02:52.210 --> 00:02:54.409 motion to do the same thing, usually by saying 00:02:54.409 --> 00:02:57.090 no or nay. And after both sides have had their 00:02:57.090 --> 00:03:00.030 turn to make some noise, the chair just, they 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:02.319 just listen. They estimate the count on each 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.740 side based on the volume and then declare what 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:07.259 they believe the result to be. The entire system 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:10.960 is entirely reliant on human perception. The 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:14.120 chair is making a real -time, high -stakes judgment 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.000 call based on nothing but sound waves hitting 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.460 their ears. Usually in a cavernous echoing room, 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.099 right? Exactly. And while our minds immediately 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:24.860 jump to politicians in grand legislative chambers 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:28.370 wearing suits, The practical applications of 00:03:28.370 --> 00:03:30.909 this method are woven into the fabric of everyday 00:03:30.909 --> 00:03:33.629 life for all of us. Voice votes are everywhere 00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:35.449 once you start looking for them. I mean, think 00:03:35.449 --> 00:03:37.310 about your own life outside of any government 00:03:37.310 --> 00:03:39.810 building. Like local events. Yeah. Have you ever 00:03:39.810 --> 00:03:42.650 been to a battle of the bands or a spectator 00:03:42.650 --> 00:03:44.629 sport where the audience gets to choose the most 00:03:44.629 --> 00:03:47.069 valuable player or the man of the match? Or even 00:03:47.069 --> 00:03:48.969 a local dog show picking best in show. Perfect 00:03:48.969 --> 00:03:51.800 example. The MC points to the first option. The 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:53.939 crowd cheers. They point to the second. The crowd 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:56.740 roars. The MC judges the loudest reaction and 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.259 hands out the trophy. And if you have ever participated 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:01.800 in that, you have participated in a formal voice 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:04.800 vote. So why is it so common? The reason this 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.139 method scales so perfectly, from a local pub's 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.599 trivia night all the way up to national parliaments, 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:14.259 is purely practical. It is considered the simplest 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:17.199 and quickest method. Because time is an incredibly 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.980 scarce resource in any deliberative body. Right. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.519 When you have an assembly of hundreds of people 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.800 individually counting every single vote for every 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:28.579 minor procedural step, every motion to recess, 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:31.779 every motion to approve the previous day's minutes, 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.000 it would completely paralyze the institution. 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:37.199 You'd never get anything done. Never. The voice 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:39.180 vote is the ultimate lubricant for bureaucracy. 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.459 It is perfect for situations where there's already 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:45.040 wide agreement or unanimity in the room. You 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:46.860 just need to quickly confirm the consensus and 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:48.800 move on. But the history of this quick and easy 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.079 method goes back to a time when it was the absolute 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.100 main event. We have to take you back to ancient 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:57.399 Greece, specifically 7th century BC Sparta. Ah, 00:04:57.459 --> 00:04:59.600 yes. We're talking about the election of the 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:01.980 members of the Jerusia, the Spartan Council of 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:04.720 Elders. This was the pinnacle of their political 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:07.000 hierarchy. These were lifetime appointments. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.560 The stakes for these elections were monumental, 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:12.860 shaping the direction of Spartan society, warfare, 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:16.060 law. And the way they elected these vital leaders 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:18.899 was literally conducted by a shouting match. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.560 It's wild to picture. Paint the physical scene 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:23.639 for us based on the sources. Okay, you have the 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:27.139 massive assembly of citizens gathered. Meanwhile... 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:30.279 A special jury of a few selected people is taken 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:33.720 and locked inside a nearby stone room. Locked 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:36.699 away. Locked away specifically so they are visually 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:39.339 isolated. They cannot see the candidates at all. 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:41.680 All they can do is sit in the dark and hear the 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:44.269 muffled noise of the crowd outside. And out in 00:05:44.269 --> 00:05:47.029 the open assembly, the candidates are paraded 00:05:47.029 --> 00:05:49.490 in front of the audience one after another. And 00:05:49.490 --> 00:05:51.870 they do this completely silently. No campaign 00:05:51.870 --> 00:05:54.550 speeches. No grandstanding. They just walk out 00:05:54.550 --> 00:05:57.269 and stand there. What's fascinating here is how 00:05:57.269 --> 00:06:00.389 this transforms the crowd's reaction into a sophisticated 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:03.149 metric. It was essentially an early form of approval 00:06:03.149 --> 00:06:06.629 voting. The locked away jury was tasked with 00:06:06.629 --> 00:06:08.709 establishing a ranking of all the candidates 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:11.750 based purely on assessing the loudness of the 00:06:11.750 --> 00:06:14.029 assembly's acclamations to each silent figure. 00:06:14.569 --> 00:06:17.250 They ranked them by volume. The loudest one. 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:19.550 The candidates who received the most sustained, 00:06:19.850 --> 00:06:23.209 deafening shouts were declared elected. So wait. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.620 If they are just judging the loudest volume for 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.980 a series of candidates, they aren't just voting 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:31.060 yes or no on a single issue. They are ranking 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:34.420 a whole field of options. You can cheer for as 00:06:34.420 --> 00:06:36.860 many candidates as you like, but your vocal cords 00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:39.819 only have so much stamina. Just imagine being 00:06:39.819 --> 00:06:42.360 on that jury, staring at a stone wall, trying 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.540 to decide if the third roar of the afternoon 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:46.560 was slightly more deafening than the fifth roar. 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:49.259 It is raw democracy in its most chaotic form. 00:06:49.850 --> 00:06:52.430 You are relying entirely on the collective lung 00:06:52.430 --> 00:06:54.970 capacity of the populace to build a government. 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:57.790 It really is. It captures the visceral energy 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:00.889 of ancient politics perfectly. But it also highlights 00:07:00.889 --> 00:07:04.069 the core inescapable issue with the voice vote, 00:07:04.209 --> 00:07:07.850 which is precision. When you are measuring political 00:07:07.850 --> 00:07:11.529 will by the sheer physical force of sound, you 00:07:11.529 --> 00:07:14.129 are opening the door to a multitude of inherent 00:07:14.129 --> 00:07:16.889 structural disadvantages. Here's where it gets 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:19.519 really interesting. because you don't have to 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.300 look hard to see the glaring flaws outlined in 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:24.560 the text not at all First and foremost, as we 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.600 just saw with the Spartans, the volume is only 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:29.060 ever estimated. It is never actually measured 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:30.740 with sound level meters. Right. You don't see 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:33.120 parliamentary speakers pulling out decibel meters 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:35.360 and charting the waveforms. The chair is just 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.920 using their ears and their gut feeling. And furthermore, 00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:40.740 it ruins any chance of a secret ballot. Completely 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:43.220 destroys it. You have to make a physical audible 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:46.540 signal in an open room surrounded by your peers, 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:49.079 your colleagues and potentially your political 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.639 rivals. The social pressure is immense. If you 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:54.009 are voting on something. highly contentious, 00:07:54.089 --> 00:07:56.870 having to shout your true opinion for everyone 00:07:56.870 --> 00:07:59.649 within a 20 -foot radius to hear forces public 00:07:59.649 --> 00:08:02.509 conformity in a way that a private paper ballot 00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:05.490 specifically prevents. And there is a physical 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:07.970 bias built into the system that gives an unfair 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:10.170 advantage to people who simply have naturally 00:08:10.170 --> 00:08:13.730 louder voices. Even if you did bring in that 00:08:13.730 --> 00:08:16.029 decibel meter to objectively measure the sound, 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:19.310 a coalition of ten soft -spoken people might 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:21.509 get completely drowned out by three people across 00:08:21.509 --> 00:08:24.290 the aisle who happen to project beautifully from 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:26.750 their diaphragm. You are conflating volume with 00:08:26.750 --> 00:08:29.589 majority. Exactly. This raises an important question. 00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:33.919 If the system is so delightfully imprecise and 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:37.159 prone to physical bias, how does it survive as 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:39.860 the default mechanism in modern governance? Why 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:42.279 do we keep using it? The answer lies in the concept 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:45.039 of plausible deniability. Plausible deniability. 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:46.820 Okay, explain that dynamic. Because the chair 00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:49.519 is just estimating. It gives them a massive amount 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.259 of unwritten power, gives them the cover to falsify 00:08:52.259 --> 00:08:54.320 the result if they personally disagree with it. 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:56.320 Oh, wow. So if the eyes and the nays are even 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:58.320 somewhat close in volume, the chair can just 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:00.320 say, well, it sounded to me like the nays were 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.350 louder. Precisely. They can effectively steer 00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:05.789 the result to suit their political preference. 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:08.049 And they can just claim they heard it differently 00:09:08.049 --> 00:09:09.610 from where they were sitting up on the dais. 00:09:09.710 --> 00:09:12.090 Which is exactly why any functional deliberative 00:09:12.090 --> 00:09:14.690 assembly has to build in fail -safes. Yes. To 00:09:14.690 --> 00:09:17.230 prevent tyranny by the chair, assemblies have 00:09:17.230 --> 00:09:20.190 backup plans. If a member doubts the outcome, 00:09:20.470 --> 00:09:23.309 they can demand another, more precise method 00:09:23.309 --> 00:09:26.009 of voting. Usually this takes the form of a division 00:09:26.009 --> 00:09:28.750 of the assembly. A standing or rising vote. Right. 00:09:28.789 --> 00:09:31.419 It strips away the anonymity. Everyone has to 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:33.899 physically stand up to be visually counted. You 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:36.220 cannot fake the math when human bodies are literally 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:38.659 standing right in front of you. Or they can demand 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:41.019 a roll call vote. But different countries put 00:09:41.019 --> 00:09:43.120 their own spin on the rules for these fail -safes, 00:09:43.179 --> 00:09:45.740 which proves just how pervasive the voice vote 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:48.840 really is. Let's do a rapid -fire global tour 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:50.539 to see how this plays out. Let's start in the 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:53.700 United States. According to Roberts' Rules of 00:09:53.700 --> 00:09:56.980 Order, specifically the 11th edition, the voice 00:09:56.980 --> 00:09:59.340 vote is the regular method for majority votes. 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:04.259 And its usage is staggering. In state legislatures 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:08.379 across the country, an estimated 95 % of all 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:11.440 resolutions are passed by a unanimous voice vote. 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:14.659 95 % sounds like an authoritarian rubber stamp 00:10:14.659 --> 00:10:16.860 until you realize what they are actually voting 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:19.960 on. It's mostly routine stuff. Commemorating 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.200 a town's bicentennial, recognizing a retiring 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.090 local fire chief. Things like that. You simply 00:10:26.090 --> 00:10:28.750 do not need a grueling roll call to agree that 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:31.610 the local firefighters did a good job. The voice 00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:34.690 vote clears the desk. Even in Congress, it handles 00:10:34.690 --> 00:10:37.389 the routine. But if things get contentious, it 00:10:37.389 --> 00:10:40.070 takes one fifth of the members present to demand 00:10:40.070 --> 00:10:42.509 a recorded vote if they disagree with the chair's 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:45.070 call. Now, if we cross the Atlantic to the United 00:10:45.070 --> 00:10:47.590 Kingdom, the theatricality is entirely different. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.340 In the House of Commons, it's called collecting 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:51.340 the voices. I love that terminology, collecting 00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:53.399 the voices. The speaker declares, I think the 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:55.340 eyes have it, or I think the nose have it. And 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:57.360 if they are challenged by the room... They yell 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.000 a very specific command. Division, clear the 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.210 lobbies. Division. Clear the lobbies. That is 00:11:03.210 --> 00:11:05.610 so dramatic. And then just down the hall in the 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:07.889 House of Lords, it takes on this uniquely polite 00:11:07.889 --> 00:11:12.809 tone. The lords do not yell aye or nay. No. Instead, 00:11:13.009 --> 00:11:15.970 lords say content or not content. Content or 00:11:15.970 --> 00:11:18.370 not content. And if challenged, the command is 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:21.529 division. Clear the bar. It's a great polite 00:11:21.529 --> 00:11:24.230 quirk. And we see variations in the Commonwealth 00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:27.129 thresholds, too. Canada requires five members 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:29.830 to demand a recorded vote. Australia requires 00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:33.009 two. But let's look at India, known as the Jhanimat. 00:11:33.210 --> 00:11:35.750 It is used extensively in the Luksaba and the 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:38.409 Rajasaba. But there is a really vital contextual 00:11:38.409 --> 00:11:40.929 detail from the text about how it functions there. 00:11:41.149 --> 00:11:43.169 It's used not just for white agreement, but sometimes 00:11:43.169 --> 00:11:45.090 when the house is not in order. When the house 00:11:45.090 --> 00:11:47.350 is not in order, what does that look like? Imagine 00:11:47.350 --> 00:11:49.250 an assembly in a state of severe disruption. 00:11:49.769 --> 00:11:52.590 Members protesting, chanting. Conducting a formal 00:11:52.590 --> 00:11:54.169 roll call in that environment is practically 00:11:54.169 --> 00:11:56.929 impossible. Right, because nobody can hear anything. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:59.679 We saw a clear example of this during the chaotic 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.840 formation of the Indian state of Telangana in 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:05.899 2014. Exactly. The assembly was deeply fractured. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.320 In that chaotic environment, the voice vote bypassed 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:12.340 the gridlock of counting and was used as a blunt 00:12:12.340 --> 00:12:14.960 procedural instrument to push the decision forward 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.600 through the sheer noise of the disruption. So 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:20.100 what does this all mean? We have spent... Thousands 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:22.779 of years optimizing the act of screaming at each 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:25.580 other to make rules. Sure. But there is an organization 00:12:25.580 --> 00:12:28.500 that looked at this entire history, looked at 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:31.360 the inherent flaws of shouting, and introduced 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:35.179 a brilliant pivot. The ITF. The Internet Engineering 00:12:35.179 --> 00:12:38.480 Task Force. When this global community of network 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.100 designers and researchers needs to estimate participants' 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:44.200 positions on issues, they don't shout, they use 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.039 humming. They hum. as a voice vote method if 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:49.059 we connect this to the bigger picture humming 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:52.740 removes the aggressive loudness advantage of 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:54.820 shouting because it's physically very difficult 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:56.879 for one person to hum aggressively enough to 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.080 drown out 10 other people right it offers a more 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.779 collective harmonic way to gauge consensus it's 00:13:02.779 --> 00:13:04.940 a perfect example for you to think about how 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:07.539 your own workplace measures agreement it fundamentally 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:10.360 changes the entire psychological atmosphere of 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:12.649 the room You aren't conquering the other side 00:13:12.649 --> 00:13:15.070 with your volume. It is a beautiful synthesis 00:13:15.070 --> 00:13:18.129 of the journey we have been on today. From Spartan 00:13:18.129 --> 00:13:21.830 elders elected by screams. To British lords politely 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:24.750 declaring they are content. All the way to modern 00:13:24.750 --> 00:13:27.330 internet engineers humming in unison. Despite 00:13:27.330 --> 00:13:30.250 all our incredible technological advancements, 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:33.330 human voices remain the ultimate, quickest tool 00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:35.899 we have for collective decision making. They 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:38.399 really do. But before we wrap up, we want to 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.159 leave you with one final, fascinating, unmentioned 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:43.639 detail from the sources to mull over regarding 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.539 the rules in New Zealand. Ah, the New Zealand 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:49.200 rules. In New Zealand's parliament, if a voice 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:52.360 vote is called, members of the losing side or 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:55.220 abstainers are fully entitled to demand a formal 00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:57.720 test of opinion. A recount, essentially. That 00:13:57.720 --> 00:13:59.919 makes sense. However, supporters of the side 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:02.460 declared to have won are strictly not allowed 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:04.480 to demand one. I want you to let that specific 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.600 quirk sink in for a second. Why would a winning 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.759 side ever want to demand a recount anyway? They 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:12.860 already have the victory. It's a great question. 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:14.740 perhaps to force their opponent's embarrassing 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:17.840 loss onto the permanent recorded record. It is 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.259 a brilliant piece of psychological and procedural 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:22.820 strategy to think about the next time you are 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:24.940 in a competitive group setting. Thank you so 00:14:24.940 --> 00:14:27.240 much for joining us on this deep dive into the 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:30.139 surprisingly complex world of the voice vote. 00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:31.980 Keep questioning the process and we will catch 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:32.860 you next time.