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Point Theory
Posted to %afda by Caleb on 7th December 2000
Thaths wrote:
> [ . . . ]
> Which brings me to a question. A question of only slightly less
> importance than The Question about Life, The Universe and
> Everything. A fundamental question about froup society and
> economics. A question whose answer, if known, will have
> monumental impact on foup dynamics. A question, in short, about
> whether the froup will have to spend the future under Godless
> Communism or equally godless Free Market Capitalism.
These are all very good questions, although you only specify that you have one in the paragraph above. Nonetheless, I'll attempt to answer all of your questions to the best of my ability.
> I ask this question only because my Dad did not have one of Those talks
> with me when I was growing up.
Poor soul. Maybe if you asked him to now, he would.
> Where do points come from?
This will have to be answered in greater detail. Please see below.
> Do the birds and the bees exchange points too?
They used to, until the birds felt horribly rebuffed in one of the point-giving festivals. (Yes, points are given out in festivals as well.) Since then, unfortunately, there hasn't been much communication between the two groups of species, except for the occasional taunt when one of the groups raids another of the groups (but I won't mention names).
> What about rotweilers exchanging points with poodles?
Rottweilers think they exchange points with poodles. I'm afraid they are all very delusional (as are every other type of dog [or animal in general {or even plants for that matter}]) when they think of exchanging points with poodles. They give poodles points, sure. You see, the problem is that poodles don't exchange anything. Especially not willingly. You could offer them 10 points for only one of yours, and they wouldn't do it. They believe (which is especially silly with points, as you'll see when I answer your other question below) that everything is to be theirs, just because. They are terribly haughty, and I don't recommend having much to do with them.
Bichon Frises, however, are quite nice and generous with their points. (Except for a few of the old ones, who are loosing a bit of their mind, if you'll pardon me saying so.) They do resemble poodles slightly in looks, but their personalities are vastly different, so they aren't actually confused with poodles very often.
> About daschundts exchanging points with equally
> butch daschundts (though there is a policy of "Don't ask. Don't tell"
> that I adhere to strictly)?
Yes, when they so desire, but most of them are rather reticent to talk about it. I'm sure you understand.
> Do goldfish exchange points with > dolphins....
Well, they try. To tell you the truth, the biggest drawback to points is how easy they are to lose when one is in water. Since goldfish and dolphins are indeed in water so much, they tend to misplace quite a few points. This really isn't a problem, as you'll see when I get to the answer of what points are, but it does make exchanges a bit difficult.
I am told, however, that whales and scientists, along with a fair representation of other water-faring species, are working on developing point containers that work well in water. So, this may indeed become possible in the future.
> I digress.
Hmm. Yes, you did.
> We have all been handing out points as if there were an
> inexhaustible source of them. It is not as if we are re-gifters who pass
> on to third parties points that we got from some other frood. The points
> we get all goes into our individual "karma" pile. The pile only grows in
> size because we never take anything out of it (Doing that would not be in
> The Spirit of Point Giving and Taking). Yet, and here is the source of
> my curiosity, we keep handing away points? Are there Voodoo
> Raeganomics involved? Should we have a Nobel Prize for Point Economics?
Well, this paragraph is a bit more difficult to break up into the more individual questions. I really must, I guess, address things as a whole. You see, points are. That's about the most concise way of stating it. Now, there have been many theories put forth, and some have quite a following, but noone truly understands exactly where points come from. The hard fact is, that sometimes they appear, and sometimes they don't. But, and this is an important fact that scientists everywhere seem to agree about, the points don't actually come from anywhere in the known universe. One of the more charming and somewhat accepted theories is that points truly originate in a different dimension; a dimension where thoughts take form. Or rather, where things take form based on thought. Now, we have been able to find no direct access to this dimension. Or even undirect access, in all of the dimensions we've explored (3, and a part of a 4th). However, as the theory goes, there are spots where the boundaries between that dimension and the ones we inhabit wear thin, and so when coincidence so happens that one of those spots (which wander around quite a bit) and the thought for a point meet, a point appears, and can thus be given. This doesn't always happen when a point is to be given, however, so that would explain why points aren't consistent in being given.
Another theory states that points are, in reality, everywhere around us, and any point may end up being any flavour, due to a variation on quantum flux. (Schroedinger's cat, anyone?). This theory states that, as any dimension greater than the 0th dimension is made up of an infinite amount of points, and we are indeed in the third dimension, there are an overabundance of infinite numbers of points around. So, even when more and more points are being captured, there are still infinite points left, which is more than enough to maintain our reality in this dimension. This theory states that the true difficulty in giving a point rests in the capturing of the point. The problem with keeping captured points for yourself, you see, is that were you do die, all the points would revert to unflavoured - or rather, unknown flavoured - status, since nobody knows what flavour they are. Due again to the quantum flux. So, in order to prevent this, a culture of point giving has arisen. This way, at least two, and usually many more than two, people know what flavour the point is, and so it doesn't revert upon anyone's death. Thus, when one person captures a point, they usually look for an opportunity to give it away.
I lean slightly towards the second theory, myself, but I really haven't gotten into the details of the theories yet, and so I can only tell you the overview that I have learned so far.
> Do Escaped Froupies qualify for welfare points?
I believe that the reason most froupies escape is because they discover a life. By discovering a life, they then have much more access to the infinite amount of points out there, as well as contact with others that have so much contact with those points. So, in general, I think that escaped froupies usually aren't lacking for points. However, this is only a possible scenario; as far as I know, nobody has done a comprehensive analysis on the issue.
The main problem I can see with having welfare points for escaped froupies - well, rather, I can think of two main problems, and they are 1) just giving points for no effort whatsoever will surely create a culture of dependency with the escaped froupies, and 2) we would have to track down the froupies, at which point they wouldn't be escaped anymore. However, I do applaud your social conscience and concern for fellow froupie's well-being.
--
Caleb - I hope I've answered your questions?
Earlier discussion on the nature of points can be found here
