If no one objects to you doing it that way, your plan sounds good to me. Thanks for clarifying!
-Aris On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 6:46 PM Kerim Aydin <ke...@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > > Sure. > > You are correct that I was over-broad in suggesting that *any* contract > would work, as I was picturing the previous version of Contracts in my > mind. Obviously, for example, Hashed contracts wouldn't do the trick. > > I would amend that with a simple asterisk, to say "Is the Jargon in a > Document that is public in content that has a firm legal status resistant > to change (i.e. tracked by Agora, or prevented from changing without > reasonable notice)?. Certain contracts would qualify if the change > mechanism required a public process at least equivalent to With Notice." > (Since these are guidelines this comes down to common sense, but it's > worth pointing out that I don't mean private contracts, I suppose). > > If the motion were supported I would add this formally, otherwise I > would add this asterisk to the case as a gratuitous argument when I do > the archives. > > On Thu, 4 Oct 2018, Aris Merchant wrote: > > No one has any comments at all? > > > > -Aris > > > > On Wed, Oct 3, 2018 at 12:30 AM Aris Merchant < > > thoughtsoflifeandligh...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > There's one part of this CFJ I strongly disagree with, which is the > > > special status accorded to contracts. Contracts have no extra, magical > > > power to define things. If a rule or regulation defines something, > > > then no further test should be required. If a contract defines > > > something, I see no reason why that should be accorded a special > > > deference. I intend, with 2 support, to file a motion to reconsider > > > this CFJ. I'll try to correct the other problems I have with the > > > ruling legislatively, but on this point I think it's just incorrect. > > > > > > -Aris > > > On Fri, Sep 28, 2018 at 11:04 AM Kerim Aydin <ke...@u.washington.edu> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Attn H. Assessor and other Officers, this CFJ tightens the standards for > > > > *any* zombie actions (meaning some past zombie votes have failed, though > > > > I'm pretty sure all have self-ratified). > > > > > > > > > > > > CFJ Statement: "My definition of the reiteration of votes is effective". > > > > > > > > > > > > I judge this CFJ, tentatively numbered 3663, as follows: > > > > > > > > > > > > The Caller has attempted to assert that a certain short phrase > > > > (hereafter > > > > the Jargon) can be substituted for a set of actions (hereafter the > > > > Actions). In this context, "effective" in the CFJ statement could have > > > > two meanings: (1) Does the Jargon effectively enter the Agoran lexicon > > > as > > > > a replacement stating that one performs the Actions, and (2) do the > > > > Actions themselves (i.e. if announced without the Jargon) have the > > > desired > > > > game effect. In other words, is it effective in word AND in deed? I'll > > > > opine on both of these. > > > > > > > > I'll start with the second one. The Actions in question are: > > > > "I unconditionally vote, and act on > > > > behalf of each zombie that I own to unconditionally vote, the same > > > > on > > > > the Agoran Decision on the subject of whether to adopt X as I did > > > > the > > > > last time I voted on an Agoran Decision on the subject whether to > > > > adopt X, or PRESENT if I have never before voted on an Agoan > > > > Decision > > > > on the subject of whether to adopt X" > > > > > > > > First, I'll note that Agora favors "natural language" in talking about > > > > "definitions", not the "computer programming" sense of definitions. In > > > > the computer programming sense, one would substitute the Actions for the > > > > Jargon before evaluating the statement, then treat the statement as if > > > > it > > > > contained the exact quote. However, in natural language, we look at > > > > context and parts of speech, and don't perform "exact substitutions" > > > > generally. > > > > > > > > Looking at the Actions, there's an unexpected side-issue, specifically > > > > with Zombies, in R2466(Acting on Behalf): > > > > the agent must, in the message in which the > > > > action is performed, uniquely identify the principal and that the > > > > action is being taken on behalf of that person. > > > > > > > > The key phrase here is "in the message...uniquely identify". For > > > > actions > > > > in general, we have a weaker standard, we've allowed "specify" in R478 > > > > to include outside references (e.g. to other Reports or messages). > > > > However, "in the same message uniquely identify" is a stronger standard. > > > > Specifying "each zombie I own" or even "my zombie" does not IN THE SAME > > > > MESSAGE identify the principal - instead it refers to outside > > > > information. The only Rules-supported way to uniquely identify a person > > > > in a standalone message is in R2139: using "information sufficient to > > > > identify" the principal, which by long-standing tradition is the > > > > person's > > > > name or nickname (and yes, variant spellings count as long as there's no > > > > confusion). > > > > > > > > Therefore, for ANY zombie action, the zombie's name must appear > > > explicitly > > > > in the action message, AND a clear indication that it's an act-on-behalf > > > > action (via verbs like "I act on behalf" or "I make" or "I cause" or "I > > > > have" or explicitly indicating that the explicitly-named person is the > > > > agent's zombie). And importantly, "in the message" means NO > > > substitutions > > > > allowed. > > > > > > > > Therefore, these actions, by using "each zombie", would fail, even if > > > used > > > > directly without the Jargon. And further, since the Jargon does not > > > > explicitly include the "act on behalf", using the Jargon would have two > > > > points of failure. > > > > > > > > Important to note, this affects our general interpretation of zombie > > > > actions. Past actions that use "my zombie" instead of a name have been > > > > accepted, that was incorrect (but those have self-ratified I believe). > > > > > > > > The zombie part aside, I find that some variant of "I unconditionally > > > vote > > > > as I did on my most recent vote" is fine and functional, provided the > > > > record is reasonably clear. But the zombie part makes the Actions > > > > as a whole ineffective. > > > > > > > > NOW: on to the Jargon. Has the Caller successfully introduced > > > "reiterate" > > > > as a synonym for a particular set of Actions? > > > > > > > > In general, Agorans use Jargon a fair amount, and there's nothing wrong > > > > with that. However, each player is not free to adopt Humpty Dumpty's > > > > maxim of choosing words to mean just what *they* want them to mean, > > > that's > > > > chaos rather than communication. > > > > > > > > Further, CFJ 1460 set a long-standing precedent that announced actions > > > > cannot take an unreasonable effort to interpret (this is captured in > > > R2517 > > > > for conditionals). This needs to be considered collectively as well as > > > > individually - while it isn't unreasonable for an Assessor to remember a > > > > few, well-used pieces of Jargon, it would be unreasonable if 20 players > > > > introduced 20 different pieces of Jargon with slightly different > > > > nuances. > > > > > > > > So what's the appropriate filter? After some considerations about how > > > > jargon enters Agora, I offer 3 tests that a judge might consider. > > > > > > > > 1. Is the Jargon contained in a Rules-sanctioned legal document? (E.g. > > > > the Rules or a Contract)? > > > > > > > > 2. Does the Jargon stand out as a term-of-art? (that is, is its > > > > proposed > > > > use sufficiently different than the jargon's common use, or is it > > > > clearly > > > > an acronym, so that a typical Agoran reader would recognize it as > > > > jargon, > > > > even if e didn't know the exact meaning?) > > > > > > > > 3. Was the Jargon introduced with context initially (and repeatedly)? > > > > (E.g., in its early use, it was used as "I [Jargon], as per the [Jargon] > > > > Contract" or quoting the meaning of the jargon). > > > > > > > > These are guidelines, not hard-and-fast proscriptions. These are not > > > > meant to stifle the natural evolution of a community's communication > > > > practices. However, these should CERTAINLY be examined when attempts > > > > are > > > > made to *purposefully* introduce a new term. > > > > > > > > My feeling is that, for most cases, having 1 of the above elements isn't > > > > enough. Just being in a Contract isn't enough if the term is otherwise > > > > common and hasn't been introduced with context. Just being a stand-out > > > > word isn't enough if there's no reference for the meaning. Being > > > > introduced in context isn't enough if it doesn't stand out later. So > > > > maybe 2 of the 3 is enough (e.g. the Foundry contract satisfied (1) and > > > > (2) for Shipping and Receiving, TTTTPF satisfies (2) and (3)). But this > > > > should be judged on a case-by-case basis. > > > > > > > > So how does the Caller's attempt fare? > > > > > > > > 1. The document in questioned is not rules-sanctioned, so 0 points > > > > there. > > > > > > > > 2. Not only does the chosen term ("reiterate") have a common use that > > > > makes sense in context of voting, but the common use is actually > > > > opposite > > > > the proposed meaning! To "reiterate" means to "restate clearly". If > > > > you > > > > say "I hereby restate my name for the record" but don't actually restate > > > > your name, that's "I Say I Did" - it's not true that you did it. > > > > Similarly, if you say "I reiterate my vote" without actually restating > > > > your vote, you're not telling the truth in common language. Since this > > > is > > > > a complete reverse of the term's common-language use, and the common-use > > > > makes perfect sense with respect to restating a vote, I'd give a -1 > > > there. > > > > > > > > 3. The term has seen one "actual" use, without context in the message. > > > > So 0 there. (Maybe 0.5, as the proximity of other threads on the > > > > subject > > > > might offer context). > > > > > > > > Again, these are guidelines, it's not as if summing them is trying to > > > meet > > > > a set level. But overall, taking the tests both individually and > > > > collectively, it seems here that this particular Jargon introduction > > > would > > > > not be effective at conveying the intended actions, so the definition is > > > > ineffective. > > > > > > > > Having noted that the caller's definition is ineffective both in word > > > > and > > > > in deed, I find this CFJ FALSE. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >