[MUD-Dev] Trouble Makers or Regular Citizens

[Joe Andrieu]

Matthew Mihaly wrote
> This is an excellent point I think. What comes immediately to
> mind is WWII
> Japan. The country as a whole was an  _extremely_ strong community even
> though it had 100 million people. The trick, as you correctly point out,
> is that there was very very little diversity. Beliefs, etc came down in a
> hierarchy from the Emperor and the country was united as has rarely been
> seen in history by this fact. Peer pressure was extreme enough to cause
> suicides, etc. The US forces often had to wipe out every last Japanese
> soldier on the islands they assaulted, because the japanese
> simply did not
> believe in surrendur. There were numerous reports of hundreds of japanese
> civilians on these islands leaping to their deaths, sometimes holding
> their children, from island cliffs upon the US takeover. There was
> essentially no questioning the Emperor and His wisdom, and very very
> little deviation from that mandated norm of behavior and belief.


This is mixing apples and oranges.  Diversity can drive community, make it
stronger.  One of the interesting things about Japan was that it chose to
shut down its borders for 200 years (~1650 - ~1850) to ward off the
influence of "barbarians", namely us westerners.  This period in Japan is
amazing, but what happened was that the country stagnated technologically
and economically and was unable to adapt to the west after the US basically
forced its boarders open in ~1850.  The result was the loss of divinity of
their emperor, the end of a way of life, and the subjugation of a proud
people to the ways of foreigners.

Take the US as a counter-example. We are one of the most diverse countries
in the world (the most diverse, I'd wager). A lot of our strength comes
from that. While one cultural group might not have what it takes to address
some situation, another might. So, when the power went out for months along
the Canadian border in the '98(?) ice storm, the communities that didn't
use electricity (Quakers or Amish I believe, with apologies) were able to
help out their neighbors.

Take the Balkans as counterpoint. Attempts to enforce homogeneity there
have done nothing but destroy generations after generations.  Not too
mention what Hitler tried to do to solve the "problems" of diversity.

Realize that harmony *requires* diversity.  If everyone sings in the same
voice, that's not harmony, it's just melody.  And if you force homogeneity,
you have a totalitarian nightmare.


What is actually important here is how communities deal with diversity.

Is it welcomed and celebrated?  Like St. Patrick's Day or Cinco de Mayo in
the US?  Or is it rejected and attacked, like the celebrations
commemorating the Battle of Orange by protestants in Northern Ireland?

One choice causes deaths.  The other creates friendships and celebration.


That said, I would not suggest that MUDs should all be lovey-dovey
wonderful utopic places to be.  There is a wealth of artistic expression to
be had exploring the "horrors" of society. Orwell's _1984_ may have been
the most important work of media art last century (_that's_ another
conversation), and it was shaped entirely by the choice against celebrating
diversity.

So, as a media creator, build whatever entertainment experience that
expresses your artistic message. As for diversity and community, know that
it isn't about whether there is diversity or not, the real question is how
does the community deal with it when it happens.

-j

p.s.
For those of you who might have followed my MUD-related start-up efforts in
the last year, I'm happy to announce our name, Realtime Drama, and that
we'll be posting some more information when we get our web site up. For
now, we are almost under the radar with more news as things develop.

--
Joe Andrieu
Realtime Drama

joe at andrieu.net
925.973.0765





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