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The best definition of skeptical empiricism was provided by the Buddha in the Kalama Sutta. The principles he provided are often summarized as follows:

* Do not believe in anything (simply) because you have heard it.

* Do not believe in traditional ideas (simply) because they have been handed down for many generations.

* Do not believe in anything because it is spoken or rumored by many.

* Do not believe in anything (simply) because it is found written in your religious books.

* Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

* But after observation and analysis, when you find that a thing agrees with reason and is conductive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live by it.

Here is another thought. Some clever folks over at the Harvard School of Public Leadership characterized the problem of power factions forming, competing and perverting the truth as "chimpanzee politics". They observe that human history is characterized by rampant, political power struggles and there seems to be human tendency, particularly amongst men, to form aggressive, power seeking coalitions.

Opposing this tendency to "Authority" have been, always and everywhere, the actions taken by individuals to further a group's genuine aims. A few pranksters have referred to this as the Open Source Truth Process.

Any member of the Obvious Party would quickly observe that, as an eCitizen, I enjoy fantasy war-gaming and play-politics and am intrigued by the massively multi-player and multi-layered approach of eRepublik. The question is: can The Game become more than a mirror of our authoritarian tendencies, and in doing so, become even more fun? And what would that look like?

To paraphrase the Hopi elders: Are we the eCitizens that we've been waiting for?

I hope to articulate some thoughts on the potential for role-playing models that could "break the pattern" in future editions of Spectacular Times.