[MUD-Dev] Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd)

[Paul Schwanz]

Chek Yang FOO wrote:
> zgj22 at drexel.edu wrote:

>> Could you please provide a reference to the Magic Circle (If
>> there is one)? I do not know what it is, and would like to do
>> some research before commenting on the post. A quick google
>> search and investigation of renreynolds.com did not pop up any
>> information on this.

> Here is it:

>   Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture by Johan
>   Huizinga, The Beacon Press, Boston, 1955.

> The Magic Circle is mentioned on page 57; quoting:

>   "For us the chief point of interest is the place where the game
>   is played. Generally it is a simple circle, dyutamandalam, drawn
>   on the ground. The circle as such, however, has a magic
>   significance. It is drawn with great care, all sorts of
>   precautions being taken against cheating. The players are not
>   allowed to leave the ring until they have discharged all their
>   obligations."

You might also read Edward Castronova's, The Right to Play, which
can be accessed here:

  http://www.nyls.edu/docs/castronova.pdf

The section entitled, The Leagal Status of Games, discusses
Huizinga's notion that actions occuring within a game (i.e. inside
the "Magic Circle") must be morally irrelevant.  The paper is very
interesting, although my impression based on Castronova's
interpretation of Huizinga is that games, so defined, cannot exist,
because no human action or choice can be completely devoid of moral
consequence.  Instead of a magic circle, it seems to me that games
are a type of specialized social contract, but one where we can
never fully escape the notions of morality that we possess as moral
creatures.  Moral consequences never magically disappear, because we
will insist on re-introducing them wherever there is human
interaction.

--Paul "Phinehas" Schwanz
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