Re: Cannon - What makes something Cannon?

On Mon, Jun 04, 2001 at 10:33:24PM -0400, kaime@mindspring.com wrote:
> What makes something Cannon and who decides if it is or isn't Cannon?

The term is "canon."  Let's grab a definition:

can·on1 (knn)
n.
1. An ecclesiastical law or code of laws established by a church
council.
2. A secular law, rule, or code of law.
3. a) An established principle: the canons of polite society.
   b) A basis for judgment; a standard or criterion.
4. The books of the Bible officially accepted as Holy Scripture.
5. a) A group of literary works that are generally accepted as
representing a field: “the durable canon of American short fiction”
(William Styron).
   b) The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic: the
entire Shakespeare canon.
6. "Canon" The part of the Mass beginning after the Preface and Sanctus
and ending just before the Lord's Prayer.
7. The calendar of saints accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.
8. (Music.) A composition or passage in which a melody is imitated by
one or more voices at fixed intervals of pitch and time.

Of particular interest is 5, primarily.  In gaming, the typical
meaning actually /meant/ is definition 5, the exact and specific works
which are considered to be part of the game universe and mechanics
intended by the author/publisher to be "official."  To that end, only
the actual GZG books themselves are canon in the strictu sensu.

Now, the problem is that most people can't tell the definition between
definition 3 and definition 5.	If I mean the set of rules accepted by
my gaming group to be "Alex's Gaming Group Full Thrust/Dirtside
II/Stargrunt II Canon," that could actually be some unholy hybrid of
GZG books, the Bible, and Traveller New Era, and still be strictly
true, as I say it, but that definition is incredibly useless to you
and I as potential readers/users of the information, so the more
strict definition is the one that should be held up for examination to
the public eye.

By that measure, there are NO "canon" websites /except/ those either
penned by Jon or another GZG representative, or those with official
blessing from same.  How do you tell whether that's so if claimed on
some random page?  Welcome to the problem of proof online.  Taking the
most restrictive position is probably the best bet, and leads me to
wish everyone online used PGP public keys so they could sign things
they supported.  :)

(You must be one of the War Room folks; next time you're down there
tell Rebecca that the SquidLord Alex is still available and still an
over-analytical geek.  ;)  When are you folks playing?

-- 
Alexander Williams (thantos@telocity.com)   |	 http://www.chancel.org 
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"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
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