An alternative to 'the System is the Physics of the World'

[Marco]

I suspect that if you want to get more nuanced than "how we figure out what we're imagining together" you'll have to break it down by goal.

For example: in what might be considered Gamist play, the rules are "the rules of the game" (in the sense of a competitive sport). That conveys the nuances important to those players.

In Simulationist play you'd say "the rules are laws of physics of the world or approximations thereof."

In Dramatist play you might say "the rules are the elements that govern the creation of a valid narrative."

And so on ...

In each case I think it's a matter of conveying some specific paradidgm of 'rule' specific to an individual.

-Marco

[Ian Charvill]

After a few days thought, I've come to the conclusion that to say what I mean to say, I'm going to have to go longer than a slogan.

Simon, those are some good suggestions, and I think system does all three of those, to one extent or another.  Which may be why I'm having difficulty sloganeering.

Marco, to an extent I agree with you about goals, but I wanted to say something overarching, which I think is going to need more words.

So I'm going to call the thread.  Thanks to everyone who contributed.  I suspect I started with a flawed proposition.