[blml] DeWael School and WBFLC [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[richard.hills at immi.gov.au]

Law 72A1 (General Principles - Observance of Laws - General
Obligation on Contestants):

"Duplicate bridge tournaments should be played in strict
accordance with the Laws."

Richard Hills:

>>It is impossible to play a duplicate bridge tournament in
>>strict accordance with the Laws if one is forced to break
>>a Law.

Herman De Wael:

>No, only a robot would freeze if the laws were handed to
>it too strictly ("Runaround" if that tells you anything -
>I think it does).

Richard Hills:

When I was a teenager in the early 1970s, I read all of
Isaac Asimov's science fiction short stories and novels.
"Runaround" was not Asimov's first story in his positronic
robot series, but it was the first to mention the Three
Laws of Robotics.

1.  A robot may not injure a human being or, through
inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2.  A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings
except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3.  A robot must protect its own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

As Herman has correctly deduced, I believe that the logical
consequence of Law 72A1 is that the Laws of Duplicate
Bridge need to be interpreted in an Asimovian exceptional
style.

That is, if Law A says, "A player must do such-and-such",
but is contradicted by Law B, which says, "A player must do
so-and-so", then Law B should be reinterpreted as meaning,
"A player must do so-and-so, except when such action would
conflict with Law A".

Best wishes

Richard James Hills, amicus curiae
Level 6 Aqua Training Suite, DIAC
02 6225 6776

P.S. "Runaround" is collected in Isaac Asimov's book "I
Robot", which is an enjoyable introduction for newbies to
Asimoviana.  (Do not be misled by the movie of the same
name, which has nothing in common with the book except the
title.)


Important Notice: If you have received this email by mistake, please advise
the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately.  This email,
including attachments, may contain confidential, sensitive, legally
privileged and/or copyright information.  Any review, retransmission,
dissemination or other use of this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited. DIAC respects your privacy and
has obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental
privacy policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au
See: http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privacy.htm