[MUD-Dev] Are gratification-based (online) societies doomed to being immatu re?

[Matt Mihaly]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, Paul Boyle wrote:

> While the points it brings up are in part valid, I don't think
> that the point it esposes, that all higher level social
> interaction is founded on player conflict, is valid whatsoever.
> Isn't the idea behind human development, as a species, that we
> seek win/win situations, and that cultures that follow win/lose
> strategies, though potentially succesful in the short term, change
> or die in the long run?  For example, the Vikings, the Golden
> Horde, Nazi Germany, Sparta.

All cultures change or die in the long-term, regardless of what
strategy they pursue. And take ancient Egypt, for instance, which
was very much a win/lose culture, and lasted for over three thousand
years.

In fact, when I think about it, I can't think of a single major
culture that didn't operate on a win/lose fashion. Egypt, China,
Persia, Greece, Rome, England, France, Japan, the US, etc. All
trying to win at the expense of surrounding cultures.

--matt

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