>From nomic-official-owner@teleport.com Tue Aug 15 06:17:35 1995 Received: from desiree.teleport.com (desiree.teleport.com [192.108.254.11]) by Shamino.quincy.edu (8.6.12/8.6.9) with ESMTP id GAA32418 for ; Tue, 15 Aug 1995 06:17:32 -0500 Received: (from daemon@localhost) by desiree.teleport.com (8.6.10/8.6.9) id EAA20725 for nomic-official-outgoing; Tue, 15 Aug 1995 04:15:02 -0700 Received: from wing4.wing.rug.nl (wing4.wing.rug.nl [129.125.21.4]) by desiree.teleport.com (8.6.10/8.6.9) with SMTP id EAA20273 for ; Tue, 15 Aug 1995 04:09:38 -0700 Message-Id: <199508151109.EAA20273@desiree.teleport.com> Received: by wing4.wing.rug.nl (1.37.109.8/16.2) id AA16023; Tue, 15 Aug 1995 13:08:54 +0200 >From: Andre Engels Subject: OFF: CFJ 803: Judgement To: nomic-official@teleport.com Date: Tue, 15 Aug 95 13:08:54 METDST Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.85] Sender: owner-nomic-official@teleport.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: nomic-discussion@teleport.com Status: RO ============================================================ CFJ 803 Caller: Zefram Statement: The second clause of the second sentence of rule 1488/0 is without legal effect. Judge: Michael ============================================================ History: Called by Zefram Mon, 7 Aug 1995 11:51:20 BST Assigned to Michael Tue, 08 Aug 1995 19:59:53 -0500 Judged FALSE by Michael Tue, 15 Aug 1995 11:17:50 BST Effects of this CFJ (Scorekeepor, take note!): Michael gains 3 Points for timely Judgement. ============================================================ Arguments of Caller (Zefram): The first sentence of rule 1488/0 states "Let there be an Entity known as the Nomic Potato". Note that there was already, prior to the creation of this rule, an Entity known as "the Nomic Potato"; it is a Contest, created on 1995-08-02, and its Contestmaster is Zefram. Much of rule 1488/0 is concerned with who shall possess the Nomic Potato, and this does not conflict with any other rule, as no other rule states anything about the possession of a Contest. The second sentence of rule 1488/0 states "There is only one Potato which cannot be destroyed". This obviously refers to the Nomic Potato, already referred to in the first sentence. Rule 1011/0 requires that there is only one Nomic Potato, because if there were more than one then they would have the same name, violating that rule. Rule 1488/0 therefore, despite the lack of a clarifying comma in that sentence, states that the one Nomic Potato cannot be destroyed. Rule 1446/3 states that a Contest can be dissolved under certain circumstances, including "when there is no Contestmaster and no provision for replacing em". Regulation 2 of the Nomic Potato states "The Contestmaster shall be Zefram, and may not be replaced. The Contestmaster may resign at any time by indicating eir intent to do so to the Public Forum". Thus rule 1446/3, applied to the Nomic Potato, clearly indicates that it can be destroyed. Rule 1446/3 states that the Nomic Potato can be destroyed, and rule 1488/0 states that it cannot. They are in conflict, and 1446/3 takes precedence by virtue of a lower number. Hence, the Nomic Potato can be destroyed, and the part of rule 1488/0 that says otherwise has no legal power. ============================================================ Arguments of Judge (Michael): Judgement: FALSE Argument: This statement is one that attempts to use the prior existence of a Contest called the Nomic Potato to invalidate the claim in 1488/0 that the Entity defined there can not be destroyed. This argument rests on the assumption that the Entity defined in 1488/0 has the same name as the Contest, and so to avoid conflict with 1011/0 must be the same Entity. (Contests can be dissolved so, if one accepts the reasoning thus far, the clause of 1488/0 in question is invalidated by reason of it conflicting with 1466/3 "Contests".) I attack this claim by showing that the assumption about names is false. In particular, rule 1488/0 nowhere claims that the Entity in question has 'Nomic Potato' as its name. It merely states that it is known as the 'Nomic Potato'. There is a world of difference between being known as something and actually being named something. Now, one might claim that the Nomic Potato Contest is an Entity known as the Nomic Potato. This is true, but it does not necessarily follow therefore that the 1488/0 Entity is the same one. The use of "let" in Agora is used in a creative role; it creates a fresh instance of some type. Note that if 1488/0 had tried to name its Entity, then it would have failed because of 1011/0. It would not have suddenly merged two distinct Entities, simply because two rules (of lesser precedence than 1011/0, which has MI = 2) asserted that they had the same name. This argument may seem pedantic and slightly unworthy, but I believe it is cast at the appropriate level given the circumstances in which this CFJ was called. -------------------- Michael. ============================================================ Evidence provided by Caller (Zefram): 1. Rule 1011/0: Game Entities May Not Be Arbitrarily Changed 2. Rule 1446/3: Contests 3. Rule 1488/0: The Nomic Potato 4. Message creating the Nomic Potato ---------------------------------------- Rule 1011/0 (Semimutable, MI=2) Game Entities May Not Be Arbitrarily Changed Any Entity which is created by the Nomic Rules, and which exists only within the context of Agora Nomic (such as Points, Votes, Currencies and any Official Records) may *not* be changed by any action other than those specified by the Rules. No two Nomic Entities (including Players) shall have the same name or nickname. (*Was: 450*) History: Created by Proposal 450, Sep. 10 1993 Amended by Proposal 1011, Sep. 5 1994 Mutated from MI=1 to MI=2 by Proposal 1593, Jun. 2 1995 ---------------------------------------- Rule 1446/3 (Mutable, MI=1) Contests A contest is a subgame of Agora Nomic, having its own Name, Entry Fee, Regulations, Contestmaster, and Contest Fund. It is created when a Player posts to the Public Forum an announcement of the contest, including the Name and Regulations. Participants in the subgame are called Contestants of that contest. The player making the post becomes the Contestmaster. The Contestmaster for a given Contest is a Player who has responsibility for administering the subgame. He reports all currency transfers taking place under the Regulations, is the Executor of the Contest Fund, and maintains the Regulations. The Contest Fund is a Treasury, as provided for in other Rules. The owner of this Treasury is the Contest, and the Executor of this Treasury is, at all times, the Contestmaster of the Contest. The Regulations specify the operation of the Contest. All Contestants, and the Contestmaster, are bound by the Regulations except where these conflict with the Rules. They may also specify: 1. how a Contestmaster is replaced. However, no person may become Contestmaster without eir consent; 2. how the Currencies in the Contest Fund shall be spent, so long as this does not conflict with the Rules; 3. the amount of the Entry Fee for the Contest, in the form of units of one or more Currency; 4. additional restrictions on Players to become Contestants, and conditions under which Contestants cease to be Contestants; 5. how the Regulations may be changed. If they do not so specify, the Regulations may not be changed. Whenever the Regulations are changed, the Contestmaster must post the new Regulations to the Public Forum, and no such change is effective until it is so posted; and 6. how the Contest may be dissolved. A Player becomes a Contestant by notifying the Contestmaster and paying the prescribed Entry Fee to the Contest Fund. A Contestant may quit a Contest at any time by so notifying the Contestmaster, or by so posting to the Public Forum. A Contestmaster may resign at any time by posting a message to that effect to the Public Forum, at which time e ceases to be Contestmaster. A contest is dissolved when there is no Contestmaster and no provision for replacing em, or upon unanimous agreement of the Contestmaster and all Contestants, or as otherwise provided in the rules, or in the Regulations. When this happens the Contest Fund is distributed as provided in the Regulations; if no provision is made the Fund is divided equally between the Contestants. If the Contest Regulations require a transfer to be made, but the Contest Fund has insufficient currencies to permit that transfer to be made, sufficient currencies to cover the transfer shall be involuntarily transferred from the Contestmaster's Treasury to the Contest Fund. The Contestmaster shall report this transfer to the appropriate Recordkeepors. No Blots shall be assigned by this Rule. History: Created by Proposal 1509, Mar. 24 1995 Amended(1) by Proposal 1574, Apr. 28 1995 Amended(2) by Proposal 1601, Jun. 19 1995 Amended(3) by Proposal 1644, Aug. 1 1995 ---------------------------------------- Rule 1488/0 (Mutable, MI=1) The Nomic Potato Let there be an Entity known as the Nomic Potato. There is only one Potato which cannot be destroyed. The Potato can be possessed by any Agora Player who owns Extra Votes (EVs). A Player with no EVs cannot possess the Potato, and if the Player possessing the Potato ever ceases to own EVs, e also loses possession of the Potato. If the Potato's possessor ceases to possess the Potato though ceasing to own EVs, or ceasing to be a Player, or in any other way not otherwise described by the Rules pertaining to the Nomic Potato, the possession of the Potato immediately passes to the Player who owns the greatest number of EVs. If more than one Player is tied for the greatest number of EVs, the Potato is transferred to the tied Player who: i) Has not previously possessed the Potato; providing all other tied Players have previously possessed the Potato. ii) Has not possessed the Potato for the longest consecutive period of time immediately prior to the Potato's transfer; providing all other tied Players have previously possessed the Potato. iii) The tied Player randomly determined by the Assessor, provided neither i) or ii) apply. As long as at least one Player owns EVs, the Potato is always in some Player's possession. The only time that the Potato is not possessed by a Player is when no Player owns EVs. The Assessor keeps track of who possesses the Potato. History: Created by Proposal 1647, Aug. 7 1995 ---------------------------------------- >From: Zefram Message-Id: <27163.199508020122@stone.dcs.warwick.ac.uk> Subject: BUS: Announcing a new contest To: nomic-business@teleport.com (Agora Nomic business mailing list) Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 02:22:14 +0100 (BST) X-Loop: zefram@dcs.warwick.ac.uk X-Stardate: [-31]6070.28 I hereby announce a Contest, entitled "The Nomic Potato". The Regulations of The Nomic Potato are as follows: 1. These Regulations may not be changed at any time in any way. 2. The Contestmaster shall be Zefram, and may not be replaced. The Contestmaster may resign at any time by indicating eir intent to do so to the Public Forum. 3. Currencies in the Contest Fund may not be transferred. 4. The entry fee is 100 Marks. 5. No Player is permitted to become a Contestant. 6. This Contest shall be dissolved when there is no Contestmaster, and may not be dissolved for any other reason. ---------------------------------------- ============================================================ End of CFJ 803 ============================================================