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Comment Re:We have such high opinion of ourselves (Score 1) 1042

Excellent point. And in addition, virtually every story about this seems to also make these two erroneous assumptions:

1. The items in the simulation correspond to items in the reality.
2. The items in the simulation resemble items in the reality.


Neither of those statements is necessarily true, and it isn't difficult to imagine cases where they're false.

E.g: Perhaps this simulation is done not to simulate the reality but to explore alternatives, and we look nothing like the hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who created the simulation. (Who have of course been secretly monitoring us these long eons in the form of mice, and are anxiously awaiting their opportunity to resume their game of Brockian Ultra Cricket).

Comment Re:And of course ... (Score 1) 240


What makes you think that owning a physical object is "a natural property of the physical world"?

Owning a physical object isn't like gravity, mass, or distance. 'Ownership' isn't something that exists 'out there', enforced by the physical world. The physical world doesn't know or care about your relation to items you consider your property.

What does this scenario suggest:

Suppose that you own a piece of land. That is, you consider that physical object, the parcel of land, to be your property. Now suppose that someone else shares a similar view. Namely, they also consider that land to be their property. How is this conflict resolved? How do we determine the real owner of the property?

Well, we don't consult the physical world. The natural properties of the physical world have nothing to tell us about any ownership claim on the property. Typically, in the modern industrial world, the the validity of the ownership claims are adjudicated by a court of the land.

Now suppose that (after a trial that follows the laws of the land fairly) the court decides in favor of the other claimant; The court rules that you are not the owner of the land, the other person is. Do you still own this land? If you disagree (and exhaust all appeals without success) and remain on the land, because, in your mind, this is really your land, what will happen next? Will you be able to keep this property which you know is yours? And after the government branch (the court) assigns the police or another governmental agency to evict you from the land, and you are now elsewhere because you have been forcefully removed from your land by the government, is this land still your property? Or is it now the property of the other claimant, who is living on the land with the full support of the government, and perhaps thanks to the assistance of governmental force?

The 'ownership' of this physical object appears to be a social convention, perhaps not all that different from the social convention we live by that says that the government issued piece of paper that has a five dollar bill printed on can be traded for five times the value of a similar piece of paper that has a one dollar bill printed on it. As others in this thread have said, the notion of property appears to be a construct that we live by. Some perhaps unknowingly. More than that, it is a government regulated and enforced construct. One might even say that it is a 'monopoly' of sorts - the government has granted you sole ownership of the property, to do with it as you see fit. And if that ownership is contested or violated, the government will lend you its bodies of force in order to enforce your ownership claim.

It could be disputed that calling this kind of property ownership a 'monopoly' is not accurate - that 'monopoly' typically refers to a 'supplier' of 'commodities' rather than an 'owner' of 'property'. Investigating those ideas further would no doubt provide further insight into the similarities and differences between these uses of the term 'monopoly'. Regardless, what is clear at this point is that the two uses of 'monopoly' share a useful family resemblance and, in particular, the statement that "private property is a government enforced monopoly" appears to be closer to the reality than the statement that "Owning a physical object is a natural property of the physical world around us."
Games

Games Workshop Goes After Fan Site 174

mark.leaman writes "BoingBoing has a recent post regarding Games Workshop's aggressive posturing against fan sites featuring derivative work of their game products. 'Game publisher and miniature manufacturer Games Workshop just sent a cease and desist letter to boardgamegeek.com, telling them to remove all fan-made players' aids. This includes scenarios, rules summaries, inventory manifests, scans to help replace worn pieces — many of these created for long out of print, well-loved games...' As a lifelong hobby gamer of table, board, card and miniature games, I view this as pure heresy. It made me reject the idea of buying any Games Workshop (read Warhammer) products for my son this Christmas. Their fate was sealed, in terms of my wallet, after I Googled their shenanigans. In 2007 they forbid Warhammer fan films, this year they shut down Vassal Modules, and a while back they went after retailers as well. What ever happened to fair use?"
The Matrix

How The Matrix Online Went Wrong 144

As the July 31st deadline for The Matrix Online's closure looms, Gamer Limit is running a story discussing the game's shortcomings, as well as some of the decisions that led to its failure. Quoting: "I honestly thought the writers must have absolutely hated the remaining cast of The Matrix Trilogy or something, because they constantly seemed to go out of their way to phase out existing characters in favor of newer ones. The cast overall basically made me, as a player, feel distant from the main storyline and made the entire game feel like a Matrix side story instead of the continuation it was meant to be. ... When MxO first launched there was an entire team dedicated to playing the game as Agents and other key characters as a means to further in-game events and directly interact with players, giving players the feeling that they truly were making a difference. After the SOE buyout of the game the LESIG team was reduced to playing minor characters before eventually being phased out and replaced with a Live Event Team (LET) comprised purely of volunteers."

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