Apology to EcoCityCraft. ~ blowtube123

It's always tough to admit and accept your own mistakes, but people need to learn to do so, and most importantly learn from them.

I understand you wanted to deliver the best option possible to the server, and in a way, I actually somewhat appreciate the fact that you took the time to (re)build your entry with your own effort, spending a lot of your own time seeing that (as far as I know) there wasn't a downloadable world version of Pibbert's spawn. However, you must NEVER forget to give credit for something you use or take major inspiration from, especially in a contest-competitive environment like the one the server provided. I used to be part of some communities (Pokémon, etc.) that weren't art-based at all, but if anyone was caught copying anything in their occasional art/graphics contests, they would immediately get PermaBanned. Plagiarism is even considered a felony in many places around the world and it can get you in serious trouble, so you have to be careful.

 

When I first heard that blowtube plagiarized, I was utterly shocked. It was completely wrong to take credit for another's work. I would've never guessed that you'd do something or anything similar to this.

But after reading andrewkm's discussion about the issue and your apology, you're still the person you always were to me. I truly believe that you are a dedicated member of this server. What I see it as, is a simple (but costly) mistake to not give credit. I don't think for a second that you meant to harm anyone or anything by doing this. Therefore, I whole-heartedly accept your apology and know you have learned your lesson. Unfortunately, you learned it the hard way. But sometimes the hard way is the best way because it's something you never forget.

So what I'm really trying to say here is that I appreciate your effort in making things right. I will still think of you the same regardless of what everyone else has to say.

 

You never did anything to me so I accept your apology. Seeing as you apologized to Andrew, The original creator, the contestants, and every one else, you are good in my book.

 

“In this case, the ends do not justify the means.”

I'm going to prove why this is not an opinion and then I will define your statement as an argumentative proposition and provide a refutation. Opinions require the possibility for two opposing propositions to be both simultaneously true. Allow the following example to illustrate this point:

I (Mendiboi) enjoy grape flavored soda pop.

• Does not deny the fact that Tanstaafl may dislike grape soda.

I (Tanstaafl) dislike grape flavored soda pop.

• Does not deny that Mendiboi may like grape soda

However,

I (Mendiboi) claim that all war is immoral.

• This claim denies the possibility that some war may be moral

I (Tanstaafl) claim that war is sometimes moral.

• This claim denies the possibility that war is always immoral

The obvious difference between the two examples is that the grape soda system allows the opposing statements to both be true, while the other system requires one statement to be true and the other false. This is the difference between opinions and arguments; opposing argumentative statements require a truth and a falsity. When you claimed that the ends do not justify the means you established an argument... and I can refute arguments.

Your argument is based on the theory of Consequentialism that declares actions as moral dependent on their outcome. This theory is problematic because it fails to acknowledge unforeseen consequences and because it does not consider intention. The great philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas countered consequentialism by putting forth a framework for determining whether actions were moral when they had negative consequences, an idea that consequentialists abhor. Aquinas called this framework the Principle of Double Effect (PDE) and he wrote the parameters in his book Summa Theologiae. Aquinas argued that actions having foreseen harmful effects particularly inseparable from the good effects as justifiable if the following conditions are all true:

• The nature of the act is itself good or at least morally neutral
• The Agent intends the good effect and not the bad
• The good effect outweighs the bad effect in circumstances sufficiently grave to justify causing the bad effect and the agent exercises due diligence to minimize the harm.

Blowtube has met each of these conditions and therefore has not committed an action that was not justified by the consequence. Here is why:

1. Blowtube acted in a way that was with the server's best interest, a way that increased utility, by trying to assemble the best spawn that he could. Although plagiarism is dishonest by the theory of intellectual property, the fact that the model was discontinued and that the model was not being used by another server supports the idea that harm was not caused by his plagiarism. Seriously, this is similar to the student that fails to cite his source while writing his research paper, its not like harm was done to the source by the student's failure to cite.
2. I doubt blowtube intended to harm ECC by using components of another build. I hold the notion that blowtube was just trying to build the best spawn that he could.
3. Obviously the good effect of Blowtube's actions has outweighed the negative by the fact that Andrew decided to use his build anyways. His build must be exactly what ECC needs!

I think I satisfied Aquinas's conditions effectively establishing justification mediated by the Principle of Double Effect.

_TANSTAAFL

 

I don't understand how that isn't an opinion. I don't care about any of your wordsmithing, I know an opinion when I see one.

tl;dr

 

FYI #2 is an opinion, not a fact.

I maintain his motives were not even 51% altruistic in nature. I believe he was acting in his OWN best interests (winning the prizes, accolades he so relished quite dramatically but oh so briefly). I understand what you are trying to prove, but I disagree with your assessment that the conditions you specified were met.


I give it 1.87 Cool Story Bro's

 

"I used this spawn as my major inspiration because I thought the spawn would be an amazing addition to EcoCityCraft."

Also, number two was a belief justified by Blowtube's above statement. Beliefs are not the same as opinions.

dork1877

 

That is his stated belief and in no way can gauged for veracity or accuracy.
I still maintain that the above statement is a rationalization of his decision to cheat. Something that Shotgunboy attempted to do, was caught and ultimately disqualified. Which is exactly what should have happened to BT.

 

blowtube123 I accept your apology, but I don't think you should be unbanned. Sorry.

 

I will entertain your position. Even if Blowtube was acting in self-interest what does it matter? Psychological Egoism tells us that every action is ALWAYS in self-interest. The matter which must be considered is the object of the agent's desire. Just because Blowtube wanted to win does not justify the argument that he is acting selfishly. He could have wanted to win because he wanted to provide the best spawn possible! Abraham Lincoln once wrote about this argument in a parable about pigs. I will paraphrase it below:

Lincoln was traveling across a bridge with thick mud below and he heard a mother pig crying because her piglets fell into the mud and were going to die. Lincoln told the driver to stop to let him get out of the carriage. He got out and walked down to the mud and saved the piglets. When Lincoln returned to the carriage the driver said, "Mr. President surely that action was selfless!" But, Lincoln replied saying that his actions were the pinnacle of selfishness because if he had left the piglets to die, then he would have been unable to find peace of mind. Lincoln desired peace of mind, so he acted to save the piglets out of self-interest.

Just because Lincoln "wanted" to find peace of mind, does not mean that he was acting selfishly. Surely, by the definition of selflessness, one must WANT to help; he must DESIRE FOR HIS OWN SAKE that which benefits OTHERS. To act selfless one must want to do so, he must desire helping others. This does not defeat the point of selflessness, so my argument is this:

Blowtube WANTED to win, so he could provide ECC the best spawn possible. His actions were in self-interest but for the sake of selflessness.

You can read about Ethical Egoism if you want further convincing of this logic.

dork1877

 

This thread is for Blowtube to apologize for his actions, not for us to argue about the reasons behind why he did it. Give than Andrew has seen fit to accept this apology as well, and reduce his ban to a temporary ban, such arguements are a moot point anyway.

Further arguing will be seen as an attempt to start a flame war, and will be actioned accordingly.

 

Why does it matter? Because the crux of his apology seems to rest on his selfless interest to "provide the community with the best spawn possible". I find this to be a dubious distinction at best.

Your argument is flawless, just not appropriate to the situation.

I'm going to stop perpetuating this exercise in bloviating word-puke because it is even more pointless than the apology that started the thread.

 

Tbh I can't forgive those who take property, intellectual or physical. The right thing to do would have been not enter had you been lacking inspiration. By cheating, you disallowed other players who didn't cheat-used their own materials, time and inspiration-only to give them the short end of the stick. I would have loved for another spawn to be chosen that didn't have blood on it. I would forgive you had this spawn not been chosen, but you cheated and still won. That is something I cannot take part in or approve of.

Still, that being said, it's a beautiful spawn and congratulations.

 

I will not apologize for anything. I never took part in the bashing of blowtube even in my disappointment. Please re-state who your audience for this apology should be, as it wasn't everyone in the ECC community that bashed and hated on him.

 

I see, I guess I was a little too general. I will edit my post.

HCPillarofFire

 

too hyperbolic as well.
we definitely do not owe him anything remotely resembling an apology

 

Thank you.

 

I completely agree with ike on this. I think this was a rough week for the community as a whole, but I hope that we can all take something from this experience. Everyone is going to make mistakes and do things that they shouldn't, but we should be able to forgive when they admit their wrongdoings. I hope that we, as a community, can get over all of this, and welcome Blowtube back into our community, because as I said in the other thread, everyone deserves to get a second chance.

 

blowtube123 I was always on your side. When I want to win something, I do everything I can to win, even if that includes cheating. I'm not proud of that, just the way the cookie crumbles. I hope to see you back on ECC soon

 

You definitely still deserve at least some credit for what you did.
What annoyed me was that people were taking away all the credit from you. Even if you did just world edit the other spawn in, there are many differences between that spawn and the one you submitted.
I did compare them but I still found it hard to see that they were the same. There were some similarities but too many differences to be an exact copy. I really hope you are telling the truth and that this whole issue can be sorted out and everyone can get along nicely again