Date: Sat, 2 Apr 94 17:30:07 PST
From: t_pascal@cheshire.oxy.edu (C. Regis Wilson)

>TO: ZENMOO ADMIN
>...
>
>1. What is your name?
>
C. Regis Wilson.
t_pascal@oxy.edu
 
>2. With what Mu* are you involved? (If you are involved with more than
>       one Mu*, please separate each set of responses)
>
ZenMOO.
 
>3. How long have you been involved with this Mu*?
>
One year.
 
>4. Do you have experience with other Mu*s?
>
Yes.
 
>5. What is your current role in the Mu*?
>
I am maintainer, programmer, administrator, and custodian. 

>6. How has this changed over time?
>
At first, I was only programmer, administrator and brainstormer.  Now, I am
a maintainer and custodian, with the loss of the brainstormer position.
 
>7. What are some of the most important things you've learned while being
>       involved with this Mu*?
>
That Zen is harder than one thinks.  I've also learned that no matter how
intelligent a person, or how stupid, enlightenment is as far away as one's
nose, and as far away as the distant galaxies.

>8. What does the name of the Mu* signify to you?
>
It signifies Zen and MOO-ism.  ZenMOO.  Together, yet distinct.  Not MooZEN
or MOOZen, or any other craziness.  Simply ZenMOO.  Zen *and* MOO.
 
>9. Do you know where the name came from?  If so, where?
>
It came from Zen, and from MOO.  Zen for Zen, and MOO for Mud Object Oriented.
Neither part of the name is mine, but together, in the form of ZenMOO, they
are.
 
>10. How did this Mu* get started?
>
I was thinking with some friends one day, and I decided that our quest for
virtual reality is always out of reach.  For, if we reach *virtual* reality,
we have created another reality.  Thus, I decided to make a Mu* (or, in this
case, a MOO) that went the opposite direction.  Virtual reality with a 
non-reality.  How much can a person on a MOO *not* do, and yet do *a*lot*?
In ZenMOO, activity is necessary, for one cannot simply connect and leave
the terminal.  However, over-activity is punished by disconnection.  *That*
is how much one can do without doing.
 
>11. If possible, describe the formal structure of the Mu*.  I.e. if I
>       wanted to know what the Mu* looked like, how would you
>       describe its layout to me?
>
Roughly speaking, it is a chamber in which one has no senses.  Thus, a black
void comes to mind, or even a confined room, but without windows or doors.
There are others around you, and you will sometimes hear a discussion, or
you will envision a particular activity being carried out, or a wise and
profound saying will pop into your head, but the important part to remember
is that it is *all* in your head.  For, to look around is to be punished
for opening your eyes, but to close your eyes is to be punished for sleeping.
Thus, a void, or the phrase "Generic Empty Nothingness" comes to mind.

>12. Who/what were the major influences upon the development of its
>       social structure and operation?
>
Who:  Me, and several of my friends.
What:  The moon, the earth.  For we all know that each particle in the universe
has an effect on every other particle in the universe.

>13. How would you describe this social structure?
>
Everyone sits around and meditates.  Some better than others.  There are those
who sit still and remain active for hours; others who, once they are connected
fidget for a few seconds and are escorted quietly out.
 
>14. How has this changed over time?
>
There have been more and more meditators, and the developement of automata
to try to fool the system.  I have added more sayings, and more questions,
and as the word database grows, more Zen and Chaos (known as the Sacred Chao,
and, hence, MOO) is instilled in the system.
 
>15. How are important decisions made within the Mu*?
>
I decide them, and they are enacted.  Sometimes others with the proper
authority make decisions and they (or someone else with authority) enacts
them.
 
>16. What do you think is the purpose of the Mu*?
>
This question has been put to me an innumerable amount of times (for the proof
that the number of times this question has been asked of me, one needs only
remember that if I do not remember how many times something happens, but I
know it's a lot of times, then the number of times something happens is
infinite).  My usual answer to the question (in the form of a question) is,
"What purpose does anything have?  What is the purpose of any Mu*?  What
is the purpose of having a purpose?"

>17. What role does the 'player' have in the Mu*, if any?
>
The 'player' sits and meditates.  S/he is not to type unless asked to answer
a question.  Very Zen.  On a MOO.
 
>18. What part does the Mu* play in society at large, if any?
>
See my answer to question 16.  What role does anything play in society?  If
we knew, would it be correct?  What is the role in society of trying to know
what role something plays in society?  If you knew and could answer, would you
be correct?

>19. What have been the greatest obstacles for the Mu* community
>       since your involvement?
>
By far, the greatest obstacles for the community have been the lack of
patience, competence, and enlightenment.  Some members of the community have
tried to write programs to simulate enlightenment.  Some members have tried
to achieve enlightenment by too much lack of activity.  Some refuse to see
the value or worth of nothing, which is more than something.

>20. What changes have been made to handle these?
>
I have answered any questions put to me, and I have tried to spread the
Good News about my MOO.  I have learned to recognize the automata, and have
caused them to do what I call "a backward march".  I have fine tuned the
balance between activity and lack thereof.  But in the end, I can do nothing
to help people when they do not want to be helped.
 
>21. What are the goals of this Mu*?
>
I see that questions 16, 18, and 21 are the same, and quite redundant.  Let
me try to answer once more:  What are the goals of anything?  What is the
goal of finding the goal?  A lack of goal is itself a goal.
 
>22. What is your favorite vision of what the Mu* will become?
>
My favorite vision is that people will jack in with all of their senses,
similarly to Gibson's vision, but that they enter a void, and if they fall
asleep, or are too active, they go back to reality.  Mighty hoof, if you
ask me.