"Impossibility of distributed consensus with one faulty process," with N.A. Lynch, and M.S. Paterson, Journal of the ACM 32(2):374-382, 1985.
The clinical ethicist will usually be wary of invoking philosophical or religious theory because her interlocutors usually have neither the time nor the inclination to discuss matters on this level, while the bioethicist on the national commission will soon realize the impossibility of forging a consensus with his or her peers on the basis of theory alone.
It reflected the Commission's assessment that the 'article 235 route' was likely to fail, because of the impossibility of reaching political consensus on a ban.
She observes the insidious attacks and "psychological warfare" within leftist organizations and, in a fascinating account of her experience at the Fifth Street Women's Building, remarks on the self-defeating proclivities of some feminist enterprises — the theoretical posturing and the impossibility of making timely decisions by consensus.
In particular, his claim that there is a scientific consensus demonstrating near impossibility of a risk of a catastrophic methane event strikes me as unsupportable.
Sidestepping Impossibility: Combat Consensus in the Assassins Guildd., Jacob Beal, MIT CSAIL Student Workshop 2006, September 2006.
Lack of consensus reigns.
We were surprised by the degree of consensus on the need for reform of drug policy; the fact that the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 simply cannot cope with the modern polydrug culture; and the impossibility of effectively controlling the supply of "legal highs" using existing legislative instruments.
I'm not good at maths, but it seems to me that the theory of choice (the impossibility of warranting consensus of more than 4 subjects on a choice out of more than 2 alternatives and what followed i.e. "representative agent" and manufacturing of consensus here versus other paths of continental democracy) formed different types of awareness of and sensitivity to political process.
Harness the power of consensus.
