status: https://faculty.washington.edu/kerim/nomic/cases/#3874 (This document is informational only and contains no game actions).
=============================== CFJ 3874 =============================== If G. demonstrated a Rulebending Form with text {This statute takes precedence over all rules of power equal to this statute. This statute, not any rule, determines the relative precedence of rules and non-rule statutes in cases where they contradict. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, ais523 hereby becomes a Rulebending Magister.}, this would be effective in making ais523 a Rulebending Magister. ========================================================================== Caller: ais523 Judge: Gaelan Judgement: FALSE ========================================================================== History: Called by ais523: 10 Aug 2020 00:56:23 Assigned to Gaelan: 14 Aug 2020 18:34:34 Judged FALSE by Gaelan: 20 Aug 2020 03:12:48 ========================================================================== Caller's Evidence: On Sun, 2020-08-09 at 20:21 -0400, Jason Cobb via agora-official wrote: > RESOLUTION OF PROPOSALS 8478-8487 > ================================= > > ID Title Result > 8483 a minor adjustment ADOPTED [snip] > ID: 8483 > Title: a minor adjustment > Adoption index: 1.0 > Author: G. > Co-authors: > > If G., acting as emself, has published a single body of text clearly > labeled as "THE MYSTERY DOCUMENT" after the voting period on the > referendum for this proposal has began, this proposal applies all > effects specified in that body of text. On Wed, 2020-08-05 at 11:11 -0700, Kerim Aydin via agora-business wrote: > THE MYSTERY DOCUMENT: > --------------------- > > The patent title Rulebender is hereby awarded to each player whose valid > vote on the decision to adopt Proposal 8483 evaluated to FOR at the > end of the decision's voting period. > > > Create the following Rule, "Rulebending": > > G. CAN, by announcement, make a Rulebender (defined as being an > active player holding the patent title of Rulebender) into a > Rulebending Magister, or make any entity cease being a rulebending > magister. Changes to an entity's rulebending magister status are > secured. > > A rulebending magister CAN demonstrate a Rulebending Form by > announcement, specifying a published document as being the > form. When e does so, the form's power is set to the power of this > rule, it takes effect as an ephemeral instrument, and then its power > is set to 0. However, a rulebending form CANNOT apply any of the > following changes: > > - rule changes; > - the creation, destruction, or transfer of assets; > - the flipping of switches; > - the creation, modification, or termination of any pledge, promise, > or contract; > - the changing of an entity's rulebending magister status. > > G. CAN cause this rule to repeal itself by announcement. > > > Hereby, there are no rulebending magisters. > > G. is hereby made a rulebending magister. > > --------------------- > END OF THE MYSTERY DOCUMENT Caller's Arguments: We have plenty of rules for resolving conflicts between rules. We do not, however, have much legislation for resolving conflicts between rules and non-rule statutes, especially when they have equal power. The rule created by proposal 8483 has power 1 (rule 105, paragraph labeled 1). If G. performed the hypothetical demonstration in the CFJ, this would create an ephemeral instrument, a statute, also with power 1. The two statutes outright contradict each other (the Rulebending Form claims it can change rulebending magister status, the rule claims that Rulebending Forms can't). Note that rule 2140 states that ephemeral instruments are bound by restrictions in rules of /lower/ power, unless some rule explicitly allows them to override these restrictions, but does not say anything about being bound by restrictions in rules of /equal/ power. It's probably impossible to logically resolve a contradiction like this. Rule 1030 has protections against allowing rules to change the precedence mechanisms (so as to prevent the ruleset containing two precedence mechanisms that contradict each other, long recognised to be an unresolvable situation). With the passing of proposal 8483, we now have a situation in which it would be possible to have two separate contradiction-resolution mechanics in our statues as a whole, because non-rule statues are a way of getting around all our existing protections that try to prevent unresolvable contradictions betweeen contradiction-resolution mechanisms. This sort of thing has happened before (e.g. rule 2240 came about because someone found a contradiction between a rule and itself, and this was IIRC considered paradoxical if there were no contradiction- resolution mechanics involved); in general, this sort of case tends to be considered a paradox. CFJ 2560 is a good source for seeing why this sort of contradiction tends to be ruled paradoxical ??? and I think this paradox is somewhat stronger than that one! I therefore recommend UNDECIDABLE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gratuitous Arguments by Jason: Arguments for FALSE: Rule 2613 says: > An ephemeral instrument is one that takes effect only briefly, to > effect a number of changes on the game. When it takes effect, the > changes specified in its text are applied, provided that the > instrument is not prohibited from doing so. The rulebending form is prohibited from making changes to rulebending magister status, so it simply does not apply those changes. It doesn't matter that the form itself says otherwise, it is still prohibited from making those changes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Judge Gaelan's Arguments: 2633/0 reads, in part: { When e does so, the form's power is set to the power of this rule, it takes effect as an ephemeral instrument, and then its power is set to 0. However, a rulebending form CANNOT apply any of the following changes: - rule changes; - the creation, destruction, or transfer of assets; - the flipping of switches; - the creation, modification, or termination of any pledge, promise, or contract; - the changing of an entity's rulebending magister status. } The word "however" is commonly understood to limit the scope or effect of a previous sentence. Therefore, I find that the last sentence is an integral clause of what allows the Form to take effect. It doesn't take effect at power 1; it takes effect at power-1-except-it-can't-do-certain- things. This isn't an ordinary conflict between instruments, judged by power; the inability to change rulebending magister status is a fundamental property of the Form's taking effect, and nothing gives it authority to override this restriction (2613/0 does state that "An ephemeral instrument CAN, where explicitly permitted to do so by the law governing it, override the effect of an enduring instrument within its scope by modifying", but 2633 gives no such permission). Therefore, I find FALSE. ==========================================================================