Topic: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Tianyi, Da Vinci Collaboration (moderator)
2.3.104

Lately, it's become a sort of a problem that every discussion thread seems to be devolving into an argument between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars. Argumentation is fine, of course, as long as it's relevant to the topic of the discussion. However, references to past mistreatments, speculations on secret agendas unrelated to the topic, and general offensiveness are less than constructive.

This is why I've created this thread, dedicated to the arguments between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars. Whenever you're reading a discussion and feel like critisizing one of these rings about matters unrelated to the topic, please do it here. Any such posts posted elsewhere will be moved.

Thank you for following this guideline. Have a good discussion.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Isabel, The Horizon, Senior Member
2.3.104

All right, I'll start with the basics for the benefit of new colonists, as well as the intellectually challenged, who may not have noticed the blatant powermongering by The Association of Scholars.

The reason why the admin rights of the science stations were given exclusively to the Scholars was to make sure every science project follows proper safety guidelines. That's all. However, since then the Scholars have abused this responsibility in various ways. The following is just a brief list of examples:

- They've taken it upon themselves not only to watch the safety regulations but also to decide which projects get done, blatantly favoring their own agendas.[/li]
- The mandate was that Mohale gets to pick his own team for his task. The spirit of that mandate was not to create a huge ring to benefit from his authority. An exclusive bunch that somehow gets all their research done while others have to make ridiculous applications only to be turned down no matter how important their research.[/li]
- As if this wasn't bad enough, the Scholars have resorted to corruption and haggling when deciding between projects. Simply put, whoever pays the best price for their lab time, gets it.

Let's start with those.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Mohale, The Association of Scholars, Council Member
3.3.104

*Sigh*

I've made some calculations. If I had spent the time I've spent responding to these accusations over and over again doing actual research, we'd be building new Seed ships by now...

Isabel wrote:

They've taken it upon themselves not only to watch the safety regulations but also to decide which projects get done, blatantly favoring their own agendas.

The decicion of the Ringleader Meeting was to grant us the administration rights to the science stations. As you know, in exchange our ringmembers can't become administrations elsewhere, allowing us to focus on our primary duty: science. An integral part of administration rights has always been the ability to make calls on what will be done with the equipment. There's nothing more to it, plain and simple.

Compared to many other rings, our procedures for choosing the supported projects are transparent and fair, no matter what some denigrators may say. The documents on our council meetings is freely available as well as the reasonings to the choices. Our criteria has always been the advancement of science, instead of some obscure personal goals.

Isabel wrote:

The mandate was that Mohale gets to pick his own team for his task. The spirit of that mandate was not to create a huge ring to benefit from his authority. An exclusive bunch that somehow gets all their research done while others have to make ridiculous applications only to be turned down no matter how important their research.

The membership of our ring is simply a formal way to denote that one has proven their ability and willingness to follow safe and efficient procedures in their research. Those who rather join other rings, can still prove this as they apply for their projects. This is what you refer to as "ridiculous applications". Let me assure you that these "ridiculous applications" are indeed necessary to minimize the risk for incidents. The claim that we routineously turn down the research of others is simply not true and I don't understand how anyone can come to such a conclusion: you only need to look at our project history (readily available for everyone) to realize that.

Isabel wrote:

As if this wasn't bad enough, the Scholars have resorted to corruption and haggling when deciding between projects. Simply put, whoever pays the best price for their lab time, gets it.

You must be referring to the donations we've received, or perhaps our consultation service. Yes, we do receive contributions from people who wish to support research but are not scientifically inclined themselves. We also offer consultation services to those who wish to do research but aren't certain how to do it safely and effectively. We do ask a fair compensation for that. You may use "haggling" or other dirty words for it if you like.

I understand why this thread has been created, Tianyi, but I fear it'll only encourage these accusations. Personally, I hope it'll become a very short thread, but I don't see that as a possible future.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Isabel, The Horizon, Senior Member
3.3.104

Mohale wrote:

You must be referring to the donations we've received, or perhaps our consultation service. Yes, we do receive contributions from people who wish to support research but are not scientifically inclined themselves. We also offer consultation services to those who wish to do research but aren't certain how to do it safely and effectively. We do ask a fair compensation for that. You may use "haggling" or other dirty words for it if you like.

Let's have a poll: does anyone here actually buy that?

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Alsadair, Bio Security Squad
7.3.104

If I may intervene in this discussion, I'd like to give my humble opinion:

It's my experience that scientific studies in the Tower have benefitted since the Scholars began in this duty. Before that, when the scientific stations were under vote like factories, you could never know who you'd be dealing with next year. One year you might be given a go on your project, only to be cancelled by an unfortunate voting result. Next year you might get it running again, only to discover half of your experiments have become outdated. Or worse:

One year, I was studying mycotoxicology in one of the labs administered by our ring. I had a very delicate micro-ecosystem with a culture of various fungi, some of which had DNA of Da Vincian origin. My goal was to research how the different branches of DNA would interact in a controlled environment. I was just about to analyze my first results when the year came to an end..

The Umbra had decided they needed labs for their pharmaceutical research, and since our ring had expended most of our votes on some critical factory lines, we were an easy target. They outvoted us on the last minute, and refused to hear my pleas. They turned my micro-ecosystem into a cooking tank for some of their new medicine tests and recycled my fungus!

The Association of Scholars may have acted questionably in the past but it's easily outweighted by the stability they've brought to the scientific community. I'm working on several research projects at the moment, all of which span several years, and can be reasonably confident that they won't be haphazardly killed. Of course, the Scholars have cancelled projects before, but not without good reason, and certainly not because of a lost vote!

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Jean-Pierre, The French Clique
8.3.104

Sheesh! A thread dedicated to ring to ring bickering? How about a thread for working towards a common goal?

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Homeros, The Stargazers
8.3.104

I tried that some time ago. It turned out... something like this.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Hansila, Society of Free Colonists
10.3.104

I agree with Isabel. The restrictions being forced upon the community by The Association of Scholars are unacceptable. Such priviledges shouldn't have been granted in the first place and abusing them the way the Scholars have in infuriating.

However, in the interest of fairness, and since this thread is not only about the Scholars, I'd like to present my thoughts about The Horizon:

I believe The Horizon is one of the most restrictive rings in the Tower, if not the most restrictive. The ring, in my opinion, is nothing but a glorified cult of personality. Somehow the vague future projections of Sebastian have made many people believe he has some sort of otherworldly wisdom, a grand plan only he can understand and implement. This is, naturally, wishful thinking. The reason that Sebastian hasn't been open about his plan is, in my opinion, that he doesn't have one. Like past dictators, he's addicted to the power this illusion gets him. Unfortunately, if he's allowed to keep this up, the entire colony is in jeopardy.

My personal opinion is that both The Horizon and The Association of Scholars are abusing power gained by questionable means. I plead the people of this Tower to stand up to defend their rights. These rings can only retain their power as long as we let them.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Isabel, The Horizon, Senior Member
10.3.104

We all know what your "personal opinion" is, Hansila. You just want us all to run amok without direction, "releasing our potential" without any direction at all, in one big mess.

People like you are the reason why Sebastian has to keep quiet about what exactly the plan is. You'd take every opportunity to mess up those plans just because you think he's a "dictator". It's liberty-freaks like you who are going to mess it all up if anyone.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Ami, Da Vinci Prospectors
11.3.104

Hansila, and everyone else: All this bickering about whose means and schemes are the most questionable is pointless in the end. What matters is who gets things done. Who's damage-control is the most efficient, who makes the most useful tools, who can take a problem and solve it quick, without hesitation. There are many rings that are very good at this, but so far, The Horizon is the best.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Mei, Firefighter
14.3.104

Something that's been bugging me more and more is the way The Horizon recruits new members. The Dawn Parties especially. They show fancy pictures of a world that doesn't exist, accompanied by epic music that means nothing. Then they say it's their future on those walls, a future they're going to build, as if nobody else ever even thought about terraforming. Not very fair, I say.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Theodore, The Horizon
14.3.104

Oh, please don't whine about everything. The Dawn Parties are fun events to meet your friends, and the music and landscapes are relaxing. Maybe you should come one day, Mei? Maybe then you'll see there's nothing evil about them.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Zesiro, The Association of Scholars
15.3.104

Ami wrote:

Hansila, and everyone else: All this bickering about whose means and schemes are the most questionable is pointless in the end. What matters is who gets things done. Who's damage-control is the most efficient, who makes the most useful tools, who can take a problem and solve it quick, without hesitation. There are many rings that are very good at this, but so far, The Horizon is the best.

Only if you consider short-term gain and mass production. The future is in science, and despite claiming to be the ring that's all about the future, The Horizon doesn't have that many scientific breakthroughs under their belt.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Isabel, The Horizon, Senior Member
15.3.104

Oh, for crying out loud! That's only because the Scholars won't let us do any research!

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Zesiro, The Association of Scholars
15.3.104

Nonsense. Our rules are the same for everyone. It's not our fault if you fail to produce propositions that can be taken half-seriously.

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Isabel, The Horizon, Senior Member
15.3.104

Who do you think you are fooling here? My previous proposition about a research in long-chain amino acids, for example. A bribe three times as big as you ask from others for the best equipment would have gotten me some sucky low-end simulator room for a couple of days!

Re: The differences between The Horizon and The Association of Scholars

Zesiro, The Association of Scholars
15.3.104

Now why would you try offering us bribes? I know it might be hard for your ring to grasp, but maybe you should focus on the safety plans of your project instead of the easy road of bribery.