On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 1:42 PM, Shadowfirebird <shadowfirebird@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Jake, I'd refer you to Doug's second point, which I totally endorse. The
> rule may be spoken in English, but (so long as it can be expressed in
> another language) that does not mean that the rule is dependent on
> English.
>
> If the rule relies on a list of English words, though, then clearly it *is*
> dependent on English. The only real argument is whether English is external
> to the game, and I agree that that is debatable.
>
> Agreed, if the rule was: "a koan is valid if it spells (using the system
> outlined in appendix A) one of the words in appendix B." then -- supposing
> that English is not external to Zendo -- that would be a valid rule. But a
> really, really silly one.
As has been discussed elsewhere, the rule is equivalent to a rule
which says "akhtbni it is a single stack of pyramids who's colors,
from top down, are in the set {gorm-oráiste-buí, (and about 70-100
others, depending on specific set of pyramid colors being used)}".
Note I used Irish to specify the colors, not English. I hope that's
OK.
That is not referring to an external Scrabble dictionary, nor to the
English Language, either. If a Master was thinking "spells Scrabble
words" and the Student guessed my form, the Master would have to admit
the enlightenment of the student.