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> it seems you're implying that someone who is uneducated in a given topic's "side" in a debate is as equally valid as someone who is? That seems incorrect to me on the face of it

That's a pretty good argument against democracy.

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Not really. Democracy is about having the right to an education. It's about free speech and allowing both good and bad ideas to be discussed openly so that we can all decide together which are good and which are bad. Without the power of voice and vote combined together, you don't get the combined strength of a collective conscience. Just because some people who have unpopular ideas have the same value and power (one vote, one voice) as other people does not mean that the bad ideas get implemented. Actually, it is almost by definition that a democracy yields ideas with which most of the country agrees. It's not perfect in practice because we can't all be informed and vote on everything, but I believe in the States it is nearly as close as you can get.

> That's a pretty good argument against democracy.

If you pardon a certain amount of sarcasm, it may seem like one to uneducated people.

But I don't think democracy should be equated to dictatorship of optimality. Likewise, personal freedoms are also not about only being allowed to do those things that have the best outcomes.

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