Intergalactic Summit

And we care about your personal opinion because...?

If you don't care then why did you read it in the first place? Come on, Anslo, you can do better than that!

And you'd be a real man if you wouldn't judge women for their cuteness.

It didn't. They doubled the amount of money they give out.

Excepting, Anslo, that you indicated that she'd be cuter if she didn't have strong opinions-- both stating that 'cuteness' is something she should consider more valuable than thinking, and stating that a woman being aware of the world at large, thinking about the world at large isn't attractive in its own right.

In any case, my understanding is that Blink's planetary associations are due to expire on 7.11YC115 -- so in a few days. I've noticed that while there was some initial impact on the pilot license market, Blink activity has subsided and the market has recovered. My assumption is that those pilots who use ancillary markets to secure license extensions have already made use of Blink's bonuses, and that now the clock is just ticking.

It's my understanding that a holder is responsible for the spiritual well-being of his or her wards. Admittedly, few tend to this matter publicly-- but then it seems many of the holders we see on the Summit, however zealous, are remarkably casual about forms of address and other matters.

So. Take it as you will, Anslo. But please don't make it about attractiveness, otherwise we'll assume you're thinking from a gendered perspective.

Gambling is like alcohol in that both can be spiritually and socially devastating, but outright banning them never seems to work. It is also possible to enjoy them in a healthy fashion; they are fine in moderation but bad in excess.

Addiction itself is a thorny issue. Some things are highly addictive - the specific pharmacokinetics of a substance may mean that any use of it is dangerous outside of perhaps a clinical setting. Often addiction is a symptom of psychological distress or maladjustment in the individual. If you removed the substance or activity they're addicted to from the equation, they would likely become addicted to something else.

Larger social issues can also be at play. People gamble away large amounts of money because their cultural background places little emphasis on delayed gratification or 'saving up.' This is often prominent in economically disadvantaged groups because 'saving up' loses much of its utility.

A society wishing to limit addition must therefore take a three pronged approach:

• It must limit the availability of substances or activities it views as having too high an addiction potential.*
• It must have a mechanism to identify and provide for members who are addiction prone.**
• It must give cultural disapproval to activities which lead to addiction, such excess indulgence, while encouraging behaviors that help limit addiction, such as teaching children the value of delayed gratification.

* Addiction potential can be objectively gauged for the average human. Clinical studies show that amphetamines are slightly less addictive than alcohol. It's a bit harder to judge this 'in the wild' though. People drink alcohol to socialize and relax. People take amphetamines to enhance their performance at a task. A society where people are pushed to 'be social' will likely see more alcohol abuse while a society where people are pushed to work harder and do better will see more amphetamine abuse.

For gambling, some games are more addictive than others. Typically, the more luck based the outcome, the higher the addiction potential while the more skill based the outcome, the lower the potential. There's also the feedback loop of the game itself to consider. Slots are addictive because you only lose a little bit at a time while wins are larger. 'lose - lose - lose - WIN - lose - WIN - lose - lose - lose' type patterns produce the feel of winning even if there's a net loss.

** Despite my cultural background, I don't see this as necessarily being a moral failing while I do consider it a spiritual malady. War veterans, for example, tend to be more addiction prone than non-veterans because war is psychologically damaging.