spoon-business: RFJ 1

[Joel Uckelman <uckelman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I request judgment on the following statement:

Those that have declared emselves Players are not Players. 

Analysis:

This is the same statement that Ed RFJed earlier this evening. Why (you may 
ask) am I submitting it again? For good reason, actually. As Admin, I am 
responsible for recognizing RFJs (R235/0). Before I can recognize an RFJ, I 
must ascertain whether it meets the criteria for recognition. If the RFJ 
originates from some non-agentic entity, it is unclear whether it should be 
accepted. Recognizing Ed's RFJ would, through that very action, make its 
statement true, since no one is disputing the ability of Agents to become 
Players. Because I was a Player when the game started, it is clear that I 
can make this RFJ, and as Admin, there is no doubt for me that it can be 
recognized under the rules.

I claim the statement to be false, by virtue of the definition of Agent in 
R105/0:

"An Agent is an entity capable of action."

Certainly everyone who declared themselves to be Players would be an Agent 
by this definition, since they are all (1) entities, and (2) the act of 
declaring oneself to be a Player is an action in the broad sense.

Furthermore, the next sentence of the Rule:

"The status of entities as Agents may be altered only as specified in the 
rules."

in no way impinges on the Agency of anything that was an Agent when the 
game started. Presumably no one who declared emself to be a Player failed 
to fit the definition of Agent when the game began, and there is nothing 
explicit in the Rules to lead us to believe that anyone's status in that 
regard has changed since. Thus, it follows that those who declared 
themselves Players were Agents when they did so, and, having done so in the 
proper fashion as per R209/0, are now Players.

----
As Admin, it is my responsibility to assign a Judge for this RFJ (and Ed's, 
assuming it can be recognized)--a responsibility I will fulfill in the 
morning.

-- 
J.

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