Subject: Re: Nomic game
From: Mueller <mueller4@sonic.net>
Date: Sunday, September 6, 1998 23:50:29

At 03:02 PM 9/6/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>Coolio, I'd be very interested in starting a game. I don't have time just
>>now, but later I'll read through your proposed initial set and see if I
>>have any suggestions.
>
>Sounds good, It'll probly be a week or so before it gets rolling anyway.
>

Before discussing actual provisions if I could suggest that instead of
Secretary of State, which implies to me relations with other nomics, some
other name. Maybe Secretary, Secretariat, or Recorder if your into a
functional description, or pretty much anything else if you want to be a
bit silly: Chief, Poobah, Most High, etc.

Also, we should probably use either rule or law consistently throughout the
ruleset.

In terms of the rules themselves then:

First, regarding Rule 211, judgement is a very tricky process. It killed
Agora (or rather Agora's parent nomic Nomic World) when they used the
standard issue rules in Agora/Nomic World's first game, first judgement.

Check out
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/mn200/games/nomic/nomic-world/dictator-lindrum
if you're interested.

The system which has arisen in it's place is something referred to as CFJs
in pretty much every nomic I've checked (or sometimes RFJs for "request").
A Call For Judgement constitutes a statement which can be described as
TRUE, FALSE, or some third answer such as INVALID or ILLEGITMATE or
UNDECIDED. This sharply limits the power of judges while still allowing a
judiciary to exist by totally precluding what we call in reality "activist
judges." If you want, I'll try to write something up, or you can, or we
can go for somthing else, or we can leave it and just hope.

Secondly, 209 seems to me to be unnecessary. Either leave it up to the
courts, or just prevent everyone from trying this.

Third, I don't understand 204.

Fourth, Rule 202 should provide more time for voting, less for discussion
and provisions for defaulting. What happens if somebody doesn't vote? Is
that non-unanimous as a no vote, fine as an abstention?

Fifth, does the term "transaction" in 201 mean that points trading is
permited?

Finally, unless the term constitution gives rules special dispensation in
the game, I think that Rule 101 should simply read "All players must always
abide by the rules then in effect, in the form in which they are then in
effect. The term "rule" as used in the rules means any member of the set of
statements in this document, existing here since the beginning of the game
or due to the implementation of rules subsequent to the start of the game."

>>Also, we should think of a good name to differentiate our instance of nomic
>>from other instances.
>
>I had sort of been calling it Reinenomic for now, because I wrote the new
>initial set. If anyone comes up with something better, my ego won't be
>bruised.
>
OK, I thought that maybe giving the game your name would make it seem more
like Imperial Nomic and less like a standard democracy starter (which isn't
necessarily bad, I'd just prefer consistency in words and deeds). I
thought that perhaps a good way to get a name is the same way the Dada art
movement did: random dictionary pick. To that end, I grabbed the American
Heritage Dictionary [2nd College Ed.] and found the amazingly appropriate
name (I think at least) of simplex

Simplex adj Denoting a system of telegraphy in which only one message may
be sent in either direction at a time.

How's that for a play by EMAIL nomic name?

Or maybe Simplexnomic, but I think that Simplex itself (used as a noun) has
a simplicity that's kind of elegant.

Response?