On Fri, 7 Nov 2008, comex wrote: > Surely the Mad Scientist can simply act on behalf of the Monster to > permit Rule Changes? > > Admittedly, permission is usually supposed to be in a Rule's text, not > a one-off thing. But there's no reason the latter wouldn't work.
After honestly mulling this both ways overnight and being swayed both ways at times, here's my thoughts on this: Some entities have "physical reality" (such as persons) and are bound by basic physics beyond what the Rules say they can do. Other entities are created by the rules, such as the rules themselves, but they still have whatever "physical reality" the rules give them. For rules themselves (self-reference), R2141 says rules are "unlimited in scope", but that its form is its *text*. Therefore, the "physical reality" of a rule is what's in its text, no more no less. In other words, for a Rule to "act" (via a designated agent) and say "I change the Rules by announcement" when that ability isn't directly in its text (or other Rules) text, has the same effect as a person saying "I flap my arms and fly by announcement" which has been well-covered in the past. So in conclusion, the scam attempt is Typical Example Of The Rules Don't Say They Can, Therefore They Can Say They Can, Which Has Not To Date Plagued Agora For Any Length Of Time. -Goethe
