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Law of Eristic Escalation

created by dido

(idea) by dido (1.8 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) Thu Dec 20 2001 at 1:01:22

From the introduction to the 5th Edition of the Principia Discordia, by Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst. Basically stated, it goes:

Imposition of Order = Escalation of Chaos

Fenderson's amendment refines the law further and states that the tighter the order is maintained the longer the chaos takes to escalate, BUT the more it does when it does.

The example given in the 5th edition introduction:

"We need more laws with stiffer penalties to rid our community of drugs," says an innocent pawn of Eris. To be sure, these laws make smuggling and buying drugs more risky. That, in turn, drives up their prices - thus making them more profitable. So more money and work goes into expanding the market for the contraband - in keeping with the Law of Eristic Escalation.

Or, as the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu simply said, "The more laws there are, the more crime there is."

Many other examples can be seen, most especially after the tragedies of September 11, 2001. For instance:

John Ashcroft with the aid of of the United States Congress have been attempting to impose ever tighter laws that infringe on personal freedom and privacy (and are blatantly unconstitutional to boot), in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the events of September 11, 2001, such as the infamous USA PATRIOT Act. The poor Attorney General and Congress have thus become unwitting pawns of Eris. To be sure, these laws may make it more difficult for terrorists to operate, but nevertheless they do not solve the political conditions that created the terrorist groups in the first place. On the contrary, such repressive legislation exacerbates the situation, so more and more terrorist groups are created that perform ever more destructive acts, producing an escalation in chaos just as the Law of Eristic Escalation predicts. Watch the next few years.

Another example from the world of music file sharing:

Napster is created by Shawn Fanning as a way to allow people to share their music. The RIAA doesn't like it, and so litigates Napster out of existence. Big attempt to impose order. The former users of Napster migrate to use ever more decentralized networks like Gnutella and Freenet. Escalation of Chaos.

Everyone out there can probably give many other examples of the Law of Eristic Escalation at work.


printable version
chaos

Principia Discordia Eris Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst The Difference Between Soldiers and Marines
Shawn Fanning RIAA John Ashcroft IYKWIM
On Moral Fiction Pentagon Discordianism sacred chao
unconstitutional Congress Freenet gnutella
Attorney General September 11, 2001 Napster
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