On Thu, 25 Sep 2008, Geoffrey Spear wrote: > On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 3:45 PM, Kerim Aydin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I hereby request Protectorate status for my computer (strictly speaking >> for its software) which is named selim. I have full access to this computer; >> so as long as I am an Agoran player, it's "gamestate" is arranged so that >> Agora may require me (through proposals etc.) to make arbitrary changes to >> it, this should be sufficient "specification". > > I don't think demanding that you do something to your computer really > counts as "any protective decree proclaimed by the ambassador will > take full effect upon proclamation." Really, you'd need to give the > Ambassador the ability to execute arbitrary code. And arguably you'd > need to provide some slick AI that could translate a decree written in > plain English into that arbitrary code immediately and execute it.
How is this different than the fact that, for a "traditional" nomic, the Ambassador would probably post a message in that Nomic's forum, which the rulekeepor or other recordkeepor of that nomic would be required to make? In other words, all the Ambassador there is make demands, too. Do other nomics have slick AIs? No, they have agents who maintain things, just like I maintain my computer. > Besides, Agora would be taking on the responsibility to do its best to > make your computer function better as a nomic, which almost certainly > is at odds with making it function better as a computer. For one > thing, imperial nomics are bad for the nomic community and it would be > necessary to ensure that your software was set up to be as democratic > as possible, and to prevent you from regaining control over your > system as a dictator. Running anti-virus software would really seem > to be the opposite of what we should do. Well, that's a political issue, not a "is it possible under the rules" issue, so it's probably best addressed by the fact that Agoran Consent is needed for Agora to agree to take this on. Maybe Agora should take it upon itself to bring democracy to my machine in its own best interests. -Goethe
