[Submitted]I Dream of @@LEADER@@

[Mahdistan]

Title: I Dream of @@LEADER@@

Description: @@DEMONYN@@ scientists have invented a device that can record and project dreams, enabling them to be re-watched and kept. With such potential in this break-through technology, scientists, military officials, and others who'd like to capitalize on this invention have gathered in your office.

Validity: Must have very high scientific advancement and/or information technology

Option: @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, the lead developer of the device, approaches you first, "Having the ability to record and review dreams will revolutionize the way we look at the mind! This practice should be adopted by all of our nation's mental-health clinics and doctors. Diagnosing and treating mental illnesses will be made easier than ever, and you know..." he takes a step closer, "We'll keep the recordings stored away, in case we find anything 'suspicious'."
Effect: Psychotherapists check themselves into their own wards after subjecting themselves to their patients's deepest thoughts

Option: Your nation's most patriotic military advisor pushes the scientist out of the way, "That'd be a waste of a perfectly good security device. What we should be doing is mandating that all citizens have their dreams recorded nightly. There'd be a lot of useless junk to sort through, but with enough time, we could problably catch at least bits and pieces of the agendas of the scum of our nation. Surely we can find something useful in the minds of these imbeciles!"
Effect: Privacy is a distant memory as the government raids dreams for intel

Option: Failed movie director and entrepreneur @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@ places a contract on your desk, "You people've got it all wrong! Look, who hasn't wanted to be able to re-live a part of an old dream? Well now, it's possible, and my company will gladly sponsor it!" He flashes a shark-toothed grin, "Let's be honest, no one trusts the government with all of their most intimate thoughts, but for a meager fee, I'm sure plenty will trust me! Speaking of which," he taps at a blur of fine-print on the contract, "I bet no one would mind if the rights to their dreams would be handed to me. Who wouldn't want an opportunity to see their dreams on the silver screen?"
Effect: Not reading contracts means having your most private thoughts break the box-office

Option: Primitivist and privacy-advocate @@RANDOMNAME@@ barges past security, "You all know this is a slippery slope! Let's face it; technology like this is going to end up being abused by one person or another, and the people whose dreams are getting sucked out are the ones who have to pay for it! Do the right thing @@LEADER@@, and destroy this machine!"
Effect: Talking about your dreams in public is highly discouraged

[Socio Polor]

I'm not sure if you know this but in RL they really are planning on coming out with a device that can record dreams sometime in the future. Really interesting issue you have here

[Trotterdam]

I'm not sure if you know this but in RL they really are planning on coming out with a device that can record dreams sometime in the future. Really interesting issue you have here

Can you link a source for that?

It seems pretty fantastical to me. I could imagine a device that can get a vague sense of the type of dream (like, what emotions you're feeling) being possible with present-day or near-future technology, but not reading the actual plot of the dream to any degree of accuracy.

That said, NationStates does already have several superscience elements in issues. If dream-reading technology is accepted as existing, then the dilemma presented by this issue is quite valid and the spread of options is good. The main question is whether the editors think that allowing this technology into NationStates canon is a good idea, and I have no real opinion on that - I think this issue is well-written and presents an interesting dilemma, but I can also see such technology being rather disruptive to the standard narrative.

The spelling is pretty good too, the only nits I can find right now are that "capitalized" in the description should have the "d" removed, and the second option is missing a closing quote.

[USS Monitor]

If you can read people's dreams, it probably wouldn't be a huge step to use the same technology to record things that people experience while awake. That would have interesting applications for government surveillance. Even in nations that aren't Orwellian dictatorships and wouldn't use it as surveillance on ordinary citizens, it could be used to make sure government agents and police officers are not abusing their authority.

As written, I think the 2nd option is unrealistic, because what people dream about is not necessarily a reflection of what they want.

[Mahdistan]

I'm not sure if you know this but in RL they really are planning on coming out with a device that can record dreams sometime in the future. Really interesting issue you have here

The spelling is pretty good too, the only nits I can find right now are that "capitalized" in the description should have the "d" removed, and the second option is missing a closing quote.

Fixed

If you can read people's dreams, it probably wouldn't be a huge step to use the same technology to record things that people experience while awake. That would have interesting applications for government surveillance. Even in nations that aren't Orwellian dictatorships and wouldn't use it as surveillance on ordinary citizens, it could be used to make sure government agents and police officers are not abusing their authority.

As written, I think the 2nd option is unrealistic, because what people dream about is not necessarily a reflection of what they want.

This would probably be good for a follow up issue; as it stands with this one, I'd imagined dream recording as requiring a large number of hookups to a very powerful computer, which wouldn't be very viable in any work in the field, and require more advancement before outright active mind-reading technology would be available.

As for the second issue, I wanted to give an option for those resident psychotic dictatorships of ours, so I made it fairly extreme. My idea was to mirror policy a country like North Korea would have, that despite it not having any real meaning (i.e., taking pictures of the statues of the former leaders at the wrong angle), it still being made punishable.

[Australian rePublic]

I know that status qjo options are a no-no, but what about an option where evryone is free to record there dreams, and everyone is free to do whatever they want with that film, and the police only investigate with a warrant, you know-just like a regular video camera

[Mahdistan]

I know that status qjo options are a no-no, but what about an option where evryone is free to record there dreams, and everyone is free to do whatever they want with that film, and the police only investigate with a warrant, you know-just like a regular video camera

That was the direction I was going with the first option; I'll edit it to express that more.

[Trotterdam]

I kinda interpreted that as being what the third option is about - the government doesn't force you to record your dreams (even with a search warrant), but you can still purchase that as a commercial service if you want to (with implied possibility of abuse of power by the service-provider to give it a downside).

[The United Providences of Perland]

My fear is that this is too high tech for most nations...

[Mahdistan]

I kinda interpreted that as being what the third option is about - the government doesn't force you to record your dreams (even with a search warrant), but you can still purchase that as a commercial service if you want to (with implied possibility of abuse of power by the service-provider to give it a downside).

Maybe that's true, I think that's what my original intention was; dream recordings being mandated in option 1 for mental screenings vs. option 3, it just being a novelty. I'll switch it back.

My fear is that this is too high tech for most nations...

I figured since we've got ones like the vat issues, this wouldn't bee too far advanced. As others have mentioned, RL scientists are near being capable of this already.

[Australian rePublic]

I know that status qjo options are a no-no, but what about an option where evryone is free to record there dreams, and everyone is free to do whatever they want with that film, and the police only investigate with a warrant, you know-just like a regular video camera

That was the direction I was going with the first option; I'll edit it to express that more.

Yea, I got that, but why is it linked to mental illness?

[Mahdistan]

That was the direction I was going with the first option; I'll edit it to express that more.

Yea, I got that, but why is it linked to mental illness?

I figured that'd be the most useful application for a technology like that; doctors being able to investigate mental issues and trauma through dreams, when the mind would be the most vulnerable. Option 3 would just leave it open as entertainment for individuals.

[Australian rePublic]

Yea, I got that, but why is it linked to mental illness?

I figured that'd be the most useful application for a technology like that; doctors being able to investigate mental issues and trauma through dreams, when the mind would be the most vulnerable. Option 3 would just leave it open as entertainment for individuals.

Yea, but say for example, I, for whatever reason wanted to remember my dream, why would I need to go through a physcologist?

[Trotterdam]

Because the technology is difficult for a layman to operate?

[Bedetopia]

That said, NationStates does already have several superscience elements in issues. If dream-reading technology is accepted as existing, then the dilemma presented by this issue is quite valid and the spread of options is good. The main question is whether the editors think that allowing this technology into NationStates canon is a good idea, and I have no real opinion on that - I think this issue is well-written and presents an interesting dilemma, but I can also see such technology being rather disruptive to the standard narrative.

This raises an interesting point. What if once there are enough issues a tech level option could be added so that you can choose if you want PT (nobility ranks for example) and FT (vats for example) issues? This could also open the gates to a whole new stream of issues directed at those tech levels, things that would let players feel like real old-fashioned kings or galactic conquerors.

As for the issue itself, I also think option 2 is the only problematic one for the reasons given above. Lucid dreaming is too rare, dreams are random elements thrown together in a chaotic manner. I suggest that you replace it with a crazy military scientist planning to improve it so that you can go full-on Sybil System, but that's just as ridiculous.

[Australian rePublic]

What about an advertiser who wants to use the technology for marketing, like in Futurama?

[Australian rePublic]

RE Tech Level Issues. That might get a bit complicated, then you have to write a whole series of PT issues, then you have to write a whole series of FT issues, then you have to create a code (which I assume is very complicated, based on other mod situations) and there arealready too many MT issues for the IEs to deal with. Anyway, we should get back to discussing the issue

[Drasnia]

That said, NationStates does already have several superscience elements in issues. If dream-reading technology is accepted as existing, then the dilemma presented by this issue is quite valid and the spread of options is good. The main question is whether the editors think that allowing this technology into NationStates canon is a good idea, and I have no real opinion on that - I think this issue is well-written and presents an interesting dilemma, but I can also see such technology being rather disruptive to the standard narrative.

This raises an interesting point. What if once there are enough issues a tech level option could be added so that you can choose if you want PT (nobility ranks for example) and FT (vats for example) issues? This could also open the gates to a whole new stream of issues directed at those tech levels, things that would let players feel like real old-fashioned kings or galactic conquerors.

As for the issue itself, I also think option 2 is the only problematic one for the reasons given above. Lucid dreaming is too rare, dreams are random elements thrown together in a chaotic manner. I suggest that you replace it with a crazy military scientist planning to improve it so that you can go full-on Sybil System, but that's just as ridiculous.

That makes it too easy to manipulate what you get so you can stat wank things like scientific advancement or primitiveness.

[Mahdistan]

What about an advertiser who wants to use the technology for marketing, like in Futurama?

I figured that'd be the most useful application for a technology like that; doctors being able to investigate mental issues and trauma through dreams, when the mind would be the most vulnerable. Option 3 would just leave it open as entertainment for individuals.

Yea, but say for example, I, for whatever reason wanted to remember my dream, why would I need to go through a physcologist?

That's basically what the third option entails; an entrepreneur opening up dream-recording services specifically for people just wanting to have their dreams be recorded. Presumably, this service would cost money, so unless a consumer wanted to pay the cost as they would in the third option, the government would only sponsor it if it correlated to an actual benefit for the people, in this case a psychological benefit, as would be seen in the first option.

[Mahdistan]

That said, NationStates does already have several superscience elements in issues. If dream-reading technology is accepted as existing, then the dilemma presented by this issue is quite valid and the spread of options is good. The main question is whether the editors think that allowing this technology into NationStates canon is a good idea, and I have no real opinion on that - I think this issue is well-written and presents an interesting dilemma, but I can also see such technology being rather disruptive to the standard narrative.

As for the issue itself, I also think option 2 is the only problematic one for the reasons given above. Lucid dreaming is too rare, dreams are random elements thrown together in a chaotic manner. I suggest that you replace it with a crazy military scientist planning to improve it so that you can go full-on Sybil System, but that's just as ridiculous.

I will rewrite it, although I have another idea for it; instead, the advisor suggesting to insert dreams, as opposed to just monitoring.

[Trotterdam]

I will rewrite it, although I have another idea for it; instead, the advisor suggesting to insert dreams, as opposed to just monitoring.

Dream-writing is, of course, a completely different technology from dream-reading. I don't know how much more research it would take, but maybe it would be better for a follow-up issue.

Dream-writing could again have multiple uses: giving everyone patriotic dreams to promote loyalty, companies inserting advertisements into people's dreams (as per Australian Republic), entertainment use as an effective virtual reality to allow you to experience adventures in the first person, etc.

[Mahdistan]

I will rewrite it, although I have another idea for it; instead, the advisor suggesting to insert dreams, as opposed to just monitoring.

Dream-writing is, of course, a completely different technology from dream-reading. I don't know how much more research it would take, but maybe it would be better for a follow-up issue.

Dream-writing could again have multiple uses: giving everyone patriotic dreams to promote loyalty, companies inserting advertisements into people's dreams (as per Australian Republic), entertainment use as an effective virtual reality to allow you to experience adventures in the first person, etc.

I suppose that's true. I'll try and make a more moderate variant of the original option 2

[Mahdistan]

If this all seems good enough, I will go ahead and submit it. Thank you all for your help.