DeliberateModerate
This is still under construction on this site as of January 2017. The game is available via paper by contacting Jeff@deliberatemoderate.com
Delmod, the Deliberate Moderate game:
Delmod would like to become more engaged in the political process, and is very concerned about the polarization that has become so prominent in political discussions. It seems often it is the extremes that dominate discussion, and compromise seems impossible. Many have an agenda, are defensive, or are very suspicious. Delmod wonders if moderate positions might offer any better alternatives than extremes, and to that end is looking for your help to apply the Moderate Methodology © to determine a deliberately moderate position on various issues.
The Moderate Methodology © (see links on this site) states that on any issue in order to approximate a moderate position, one must first articulate the extremes. Only when the boundaries of the two extremes have been defined is it possible to rationally articulate characteristics of moderate positions between the extremes, with Delmod’s position approximating the middle. A thoughtful discussion including the viewpoints and experience of a diverse range of individuals can best determine potential extreme positions, and thus begin to articulate potential moderate characteristics - without assigning value judgement to a ‘correct’ stance on the issue. Indeed, once this exercise is complete it can provide useful benchmark in a discussion about where a particular party or candidate may be on that issue, or where a deliberately moderate person may feel more comfortable - at least as a starting point when contrasting options.
Your job is to help Delmod understand a moderate position on 5 issues selected by the game sponsor from the more than 20 issues found on this DeliberateModerate site. After you determine keywords for right and left extremes and a moderate position on an issue to be used as your benchmark, the sponsor can submit these to be scored against the benchmark data of all previous players by applying for a key from DeliberateModerate (this process is also still under construction). The sponsor will receive a score as your benchmarks are compared to current benchmarks from previous players. While you may or may not find the score interesting, in the end this game is about your discussion.
Anyone can be a sponsor, though only one sponsor represents each game and set of submitted benchmarks. Each sponsor can purchase one unique key (still under construction) but use their key as many times as they wish to play using any combination of 5 issues they wish for each game; though ultimately each sponsor will have only 1 set of benchmarks influencing the overall benchmarks. Any sponsor is welcome to be a player in a game sponsored by someone else. The existence of a sponsor is in place only to control the integrity of the benchmark data, and offset the cost of collecting and reporting it. Indeed, this game can be played without sponsors, but results will not influence overall benchmarks and players will not be able to determine how their benchmarks score versus all previous reported results
To provide an example of how the game is played, let's examine the issue “Government”. The far right extreme might be described as a ‘leader(s) not accountable to the governed (i.e. dictator or monarch)’. The far left could be described as ‘no leader(s) (i.e. anarchy)’. The deliberately moderate or Delmod position might be ‘leader(s) elected by and accountable to the governed’. If these answers are correct relative to benchmark, a high score is earned, and the benchmark characteristics are reinforced. 150 points is a perfectly scored game, 10 for each benchmark (5 issues with 3 benchmarks per issue). Answers that fail to capture the extremes, or fail to compromise to properly determine a moderate position, would score poorly but also impact benchmark. While the game sponsor realizes some points relative to benchmark, all benefit from discussion and engagement. While this particular issue in the US may be one that most players find themselves in relatively close agreement about, other topics like abortion may find a wider range of opinions.
Another bonus exercise each player is welcome to participate in on the DeliberateModerate website is the opportunity to rank where they feel they are on a scale for each issue. These scales are periodically updated by the game benchmarks, but are different enough to discourage cheating for those wishing to keep the game honest. These exercises can be found from the 'Issues' link.
I appreciate your patience as I roll out this game. Protecting its credibility is my highest priority, so copyright, security and key/credential integrity are all very important considerations that I am working on at this time. To this end, copyright protection is applied for, and I am working with a limited audience to gain experience, feedback and confidence.
