Lecture
This lecture explores the concept of randomness in social self-organization, discussing precedents such as dividing populations into smaller groups, parallelism, and diversity of opinion. The instructor delves into the role of randomness in democratic processes, including tie-breaking rules and magisterial position selection. More recent precedents like census processes and opinion polling are also examined, highlighting the challenges of representation and accuracy in gathering information. The lecture concludes by discussing fundamental tensions between representation and expertise, illustrated through examples like trial by jury and deliberative polling.