[MUD-Dev] Wild west (was Guilds & Politics)

[JC Lawrence]

On Wed, 7 Jan 1998 17:20:23 PST8PDT Ola wrote:
> JC Lawrence <claw at under.Eng.Sun.COM> wrote:
>> On Mon, 5 Jan 1998 19:57:08 PST8PDT Ola wrote:

>>> (BTW I would feel pretty bad if the government implanted some
>>> reporting device in my brain, or put cameras on each
>>> streetcorner.)

>>  Note that the video cameras on every street corner model proposed
>> in Helsinki and other places was based on the idea that those
>> cameras would be freely and readily accessable by __any__
>> interested party.  Its a variation on Big Brother where everybody
>> has the opportunity to watch everybody else all the time, and the
>> Govt has no control of what is watched, or who watches.

> And?  This makes it a great idea?

No, but it makes it a much more fascinating and likely to be
accomplished idea.

>>> Guilty unless logged? That's pretty horrible.  Anyway. Think about
>>> this.  Your MUD is research with human testobjects, do whatever
>>> you want as long as it follows guidelines for such research.

>>  There is a key difference -- players can bail at any instant
>> without any expense.

> Huh?  Explain the difference.  I don't see difference. AFAIK current
> paradigms implies a lot more than the right to withdraw at your own
> wish without any expense.

There is no physical involvement, penalty, overt expense, contract,
duty or obligation sundered.

> There is of course more than one expense involved when you feel
> forced to leave a mud in which you have invested time and effort,
> and where you have found _real_ friends.

And there is nothing to restrict those friendships from moving outside
of the MUD environ to email, IRC, other MUDs, phone, RL, etc.  

>>> It isn't the same... yet.  Anyway, the trauma is RL, the feelings
>>> are real.  Ruling over other people is ruling over other people.
>>> If the RL government were monitoring me but would guarantee to not
>>> put me in jail etc, would I like it, would I approve? NO!

>>  In the final analysis, if something is seen but nothing results
>> from that having been seen, does it really matter?

> Yes.  Because something results.  How can you fail to see this?

The fact that someone is aware of something, but does nothing because
of it, does not alter any equation or result that I can see.  You may
dislike the fact that they are aware of it for whatever reasons, but
as long as they do nothing with the data, the net effect is zero.

>> I probably shouldn't note here that I consider a life itself to be
>> a communication, and thus a point of responsibility and record for
>> that individual.  If that individual considers, rightly or wrongly,
>> that portions of that life were reprehensible or otherwise less
>> than admirable, then that is their choice in engaging in those
>> activities.

> I don't feel like discussing religious beliefs that most people
> (users) don't have.  I am not even going to ask you do define terms
> like "choice" and "decide".

Decisions made by an individual, where a decision is an election,
concious or unconcious, on an action, view, thougt etc.

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
                                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
----------(*)                        Internet: jc.lawrence at sun.com
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...