Kasimir
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Mental Addiction and Dependency, Emotional Allomancy, and You
Kasimir replied to Gamma Fiend's topic in Cosmere Discussion
I find this interesting. They would have emotions--I don't think there are people without any emotions at all, for one. Sociopaths and psychopaths lack specific emotions or at least don't seem to respond to them as much as we do. (Another debate I want to side-step.) Consider another case: there are people who, after sustaining lesions to the amygdala, don't demonstrate typical fear-behaviour. (So, you see an Inquisitor, you scream, pee yourself, and run. Or whatever. These people don't register fear-behaviour. In some cases, they don't even report feeling fear.) Can their fear be Rioted? I don't think so. But then again, it would really depend, in part, on your views of the brain and mind. If the fear is being produced in one module but fails to be processed in consciousness modules and behaviour modules (to use a crude example), then perhaps it can be Rioted. But would the disconnection still mean it can't be felt? Perhaps. I'm not that familiar with the psychology/neuroscience of addiction. But I imagine if people can be addicted to the Internet or to gambling, then I think dependency/addiction can obviously develop. Ditto for abuse. -
Since we were branching out into non-Sanderson games, I immediately thought of Doctor Who. I'd also been wanting to do a lynch/discussion-centric game for a while. So, I present to you: The Osterhagen Deception UNIT, or the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce was created to investigate and deal with paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth. And there are many of them. The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans...the lists in UNIT’s database goes on. One of the darkest secrets kept by UNIT, however, is the Osterhagen Project. There are at least five secret stations, located around the world. In the event that Earth is invaded with no prospects of relief, the Osterhagen Project aims to end humanity’s suffering by detonating a chain of nuclear warheads placed beneath the Earth’s crust. Only three Osterhagen stations need to be activated to set off the chain. You are all members of UNIT, working at Station 1, sixty miles outside of Nuremberg. Unbeknownst to you, Stations 4 (Liberia) and 5 (China) have already been activated. Your station is the Earth’s last hope of preventing total annihilation. But the enemy is already amongst you… As you can see, I left the potential for killing in the game. Concept-wise though, I'm more interested in a Cult-type enemy: no kills, the only block on their conversion ability being role-blocks and distance, and an enemy who very likely has to manipulate the lynch to be able to win. So the main focus of this game would have to be discussion, which is why I'm trying to make it 48 hours for both night and day cycles. Compensating for a cult is difficult though. I'm toying with upgrading their condition to both possession of the Osterhagen key and eliminating everyone else, whether through upgrading everyone else or using the lynch. I also have to neuter the Doctor's lock ability some more too, because that's very easily abusable. But to be fair, I'm not sure if that just really helps a great deal since cults can get very easily out of hand.
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You seem to suggest that because something is expected implies it is no longer creative. It is unclear if such is necessarily the case. (Also, see: I know, you know/Cheryl's birthday)
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Congratulations, Wilson. You've just thrown down the biggest gauntlet ever in the history of Sanderson Elimination to the Dula. And that's saying something.
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I've definitely read Rothfuss. Since Borders closed down and Kinokuniya shifted, I haven't been hitting the bookstores as much as I should, alas. I did enjoy Darren Shan when I was much younger I miss Borders though. It was a great way for me to encounter adult books, back when. And schools would always pay you in gift cards!
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Believe me, it'll be more hilarious if Wilson and Claincy end up as the Lovers Wow. I'm not surprised. He won't be joining us, Jain. I'm afraid it's just you and me now. As the only representatives of the Wyrm Inquisition in this game
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Thanks, Hreo I'd upvote that by way of thanks, but I think it's better to let you remain a Torturer of Heralds for a while longer
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Five Truths About Kaian: 1. Kaian is not his real name. He heard it one day in a marketplace in Kondeon, tried it, liked the sound of it, and hung on to it. He hasn't used his own name in months. 2. Half of the time, he looks over his shoulder, wondering when they'll catch up with him. The rest of the time, he reminds himself that he's just one runaway, and the monastery has better things to do with their time. He's never quite sure which one it'll be. 3. He's not quite a runaway: he just walked out of the gate and never looked back. 4. They tell you at the monastery that it doesn't matter who your parents are. And that's true, from a certain point of view. But it's different when everyone knows your father was from Arelon. 5. It takes time and a certain maturity of perspective to understand that any fervour with which he embraced Shu-Dereth stems from the child's need to prove that he belongs. But he realises this only months after he's left. - Hreo: First, congratulations, Torturer of Heralds I have a question concerning what happens when a member of the Jeskeri Mysteries cult gets converted and becomes the Odiv. I know their win condition changes but they're supposed to keep their role and abilities, just not faction. I'd like to know if it is correct to read this as saying that the Odiv has access to the Eliminator group kill if they're selected to perform it by the cult?
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I could say more about Singapore's book limitations but I'm afraid I'd scare away or bore all our friends from the US, Australia, the UK, etc... Hi and welcome to the forums! It's good to meet another Singaporean here--for a while, I thought I'd be the only one from that particular demographic! I'm pretty sure there are quite a number of fangirls on the forums as well, so you're good there Any other books you enjoy besides those written by Brandon Sanderson?
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Actually, I wouldn't consider Perfect State to be inspired by Putnam or Descartes (since those are epistemological and nothing about Perfect State resonates that much with knowledge claims.) While there is some element of brains-in-vats, for sure, I present you: Robert Nozick's thought experiment of the experience machine, meant to refute hedonism Notice any conceptual similarities? Edit: At a bit more length, the most basic core of hedonism is the position that pleasure is the only absolute good, just as pain is the only absolute bad. (So, pleasure is good in itself. Contrast this to the idea of an 'instrumental good', which is something that is good because of what it gets you. So, going to the dentist is intrumentally good: there's nothing about the visit in and of itself that is good, but the results of the visit are good.) Now, when you add some basic ethics (think utilitarianism) to this hedonistic thesis, you get: 'the ethical/right thing to do is to create the greatest amount of pleasure/happiness for the most number of people.' Looks familiar? Note that this 'upgraded' utilitarian/ethical hedonist position is still tied to the essential goodness of pleasure/happiness, at least for our current purposes. Without that, utilitarianism/ethical hedonism doesn't fly very far. So Nozick's thought experiment asks you to imagine a machine which generates lots of pleasure. Take it as a fact that by entering the 'experience machine', you will experience the most amount of pleasure. To make things more sophisticated and to be more charitable to the hedonist, he grants plenty of things: you will experience a simulated reality in the experience machine which is designed to maximise your pleasure. Everything you've ever wanted will be given to you. (Again, in another variant/as another layer of sophistication, the machine will even simulate struggle before achievement, in order to make the sense of achievement all the more pleasurable.) Well, should you enter the machine? What Nozick wants to draw on is your intuition that you don't want to enter the machine; whether in the form of hesitation or doubt. This intuition is supposed to indicate that it is not the case that the only absolute good: there are other things out that clearly matter to us besides just pleasure. Well, so the hedonist has several possibilities. One main response is: well, I would enter the experience machine, but it would be selfish of me to do so when everyone else can't. (Nozick's answer: have everyone enter the experience machine; allow a system to keep the machines running, to perpetuate humankind, etcetera. [The Wode] Granting all of these--would you enter the machine?) It's a long and interesting debate, because it basically boils down to whether we have anything to ground the intuition that something is missing from the experience machine (or if we even have that intuition.) A second worry is whether the reality of the achievement matters--and whether an achievement in the experience machine is less real. And so on. [i do study this, after all Even if value theory and ethics aren't my area of specialisation. The glee I got from seeing the connections is real.]
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Well, I am in university, it's the year break, and then I'll be approaching my final year (And yeah, we call it university here--college is this intermediate step between secondary school and university, but university is the equivalent of the American 'college'.) I'd echo the calls not to be afraid of uni. Honestly, I really, really love what I'm doing, I'd study all the things if I could (it is rather unfair that most of us can't be Manets and do the eternal E'lir/undergrad thing) and it's just the best time of my life Alas, all things must end and I've got to graduate soon. ...However, as the Tenth Doctor said: ...I don't want to go :/
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And have people miss the pain of the True and False Voidbringer business? Hreo: I generally love your game (STAR WARS!) but I am a bit curious about how the Sith v. Jedi RP duel is going to work. Is it supposed to go ad nauseum until someone can't pay any more attention to the game and can't reply? Is it supposed to be about quality RPing? (Because I'm going to assume that unless the Jedi wants to pull an Obi-Wan Kenobi, both of them are going to be insistent about blocking each other.) I guess I'm just curious because an RP duel seems to just put the two players at an impasse, and I'm wondering what your intention with that mechanic is.
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Hmm. For fanwork exchanges, I'm given to understand there's normally a cadre of pinch-hitters: people who aren't immediately keen on signing up, or missed the deadline, but have no issues with signing up to 'pinch-hit' so if someone drops out or goes inactive, they fill in the hole. What if we did something like that instead? So they don't go into the actual gameplay list, but they sign up as pinch-hitters, and because of that, don't sign up for the spec doc? [One of the groups I'm thinking of who might be interested in pinch-hitting are people who want a break but don't mind filling in for a short while in mid-game or so, or in the same light--some of the occasional people who miss a deadline but would like to play anyway.] Perhaps it wouldn't be a very long list. But it might be worth a shot.
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Maili, wrong thread
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I enjoyed Death With Interruptions as well--the other of his works I would immediately recommend is The History of the Siege of Lisbon. I also enjoyed his The Gospel According To Jesus Christ, but I think it is doubtless important to clarify: Saramago is an atheist. I felt his treatment of the material was interesting, and if you've read Death, you're used to his run-on style. All the same, the book may cause offense, and I think it's been banned in some places. So, caveat emptor. No problem, and I hope you find some helpful and enjoyable books! P.S. Under Heaven was actually the first GGK book I read, so I'm always happy to see more people picking that one up. Edit: Two other titles that have occurred to me: Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind and Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni.
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Hmm. I would generally recommend the books of José Saramago, but they're on the more eclectic end of magical realism, at times, because they don't always go in our world: sometimes they involve a slightly strange setting, so you might not find them suitable given your criteria. I would also recommend Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay and any of his books that aren't Fionavar--the former is targeted for a slightly younger audience, but I'd always recommend anything by him because his prose is so good. The latter, again, may not fit, if only because they involve a different world that is very much inspired by historical periods like the Reconquista. But some of the books like The Lions of Al-Rassan or River of Stars have these magical realism elements since there's no proper stipulation of magic as part of the framework of these worlds. Other books like Tigana or A Song for Arbonne are much clearer about the magic, so I suspect you won't want to touch those. Other than that, you might enjoy The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North, or Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Sean Ferrell's Man in the Empty Suit might meet your criteria; so might his other book: Numb. And in addition, you may want to look at Robert J. Bennett's other books--like Mr Shivers. All the Light We Cannot See, or The Bone Clocks might also qualify. That's pretty much off the top of my head; I hope some of these yield fruitful leads.
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Quick Fix Game 7: Living (and Dying) Rough
Kasimir replied to Wyrmhero's topic in Sanderson Elimination
I have to admit, I just liked the pun -
Says, I note, the person who betrayed me. Your revisionist tendencies are disturbing.
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I had wondered--I was pretty confused because I had reckoned on someone being able to produce the axioms since we have a decent number of STEM people here... >>
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Sorry, had been a bit busy over the past few days. Kolmogorov's Axioms: (1) P(A) >= 0. [Probability of a given event must be a non-negative real number.] (2) P(Ω) = 1. [Probability of a certain event/logical truth/tautology is equal to 1.] (3) If P(A) and P(B ) are mutually exclusive, then P(A∨B ) = P(A) + P(B ) [This is additivity; if P(A) and P(B ) are mutually exclusive, then P(A or B ) can be found by adding up the two probabilities.] WLIU, name five Beatles albums.
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Since when do you vote for your king?
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They definitely do. I learned King Paul Cried Out For Good Soup, and I'm with the generation that never did Domain, but it came up in a philosophy of biology class I was doing recently at university, so I guess there's a 50-50 chance I might've remembered that one.
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1. Domain 2. Kingdom 3. Phylum 4. Class 5. Order 6. Family 7. Genus 8. Species WLIU, list Kolmogorov's Axioms. (Simplified or original notation accepted.)
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Uh, would anyone like to revive this? I know it's somewhat presumptuous, but the thread's been dead in the water for a while, and it might be nice to move things along
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Sorry, Great Lord. Can't be partisan. I'm just a mere spectator, enjoying the show.
