Why the distinction between "Disagree" and "Block"?

Diogo Nunes Public Seen by 278

The first time I used Loomio I was right away confused by the distinction between Disagree and Block when voting on "decisions".

If I support the proposal, I "Agree".
If I don't have an opinion, I "Abstain".
If I reject the proposal, I "Disagree".

Why the need for a "Block" decision? If I disagree, of course I want to block it, it's implied! If I find the need to detail my "disagree" I'll leave a comment. Breaking up the votes into two simillar choices seems counter-productive and counter-intuitive to me.

Paul Fenwick

Mon 20 Oct 2014 5:47AM

Block is essential for minority voices to be heard and considered.

Hubat McJuhes

Mon 20 Oct 2014 6:02AM

The existence of the block option is the strongest hint for new entrants that decision making in loomio is different from polling and that there is the different concept of consensus around of which many people are not aware of.

Lew Grothe

Mon 20 Oct 2014 6:23AM

Others have said it well - part of our process depends on the minority being heard and this is how loomio protects that.

STeve Ray

Mon 20 Oct 2014 9:10AM

Block is a critical part of the Loomio approach and more significantly an underpinning of collaborative decision making. However, @Diogos comments raise a critical question about the need for moderation/facilitation if Block is an option.

Charles Thomassin

Mon 20 Oct 2014 1:52PM

"Block" choice allows people involved in a community project to express their opposition when they think a "core value" is at stake. In my opinion this information is extremely useful and is one of the interests of the loom project.

Joum

Mon 20 Oct 2014 10:36PM

I have never used the block option but I would not want it removed.

Daniel Goldman

Tue 21 Oct 2014 5:01PM

The tyranny of the majority destroys many groups. The block function helps prevent that for new actions. It opens the questions of whether there is a positive version of block (doesn't feel like it)

Aaron Wolf

Tue 21 Oct 2014 5:05PM

Block means something entirely different. However, "block" should be associated with additional burden to show why the item needs to be blocked.

Poll Created Wed 22 Oct 2014 7:05PM

Allow the admin to configure custom positions for decisions Closed Fri 24 Oct 2014 6:46PM

Outcome

by Diogo Nunes Mon 27 Feb 2017 10:21PM

As mentioned by Alanna Krause, this is already on the backlog

As Tree Bressen suggested, certain communities may want more than the 4 default positions (Agree, Disagree, Abstain, Block) for decisions. Therefore the Loomio Admin could change the names of those default positions or add more positions like "Strongly Agree/Disagree" or "Needs more research".

Maybe these custom positions should be mapped with one of the four default positions, e.g. the custom "Strongly Agree" would count as a default "Agree" or a "Needs more research" would count as a default "Block".