> 1. Geeks don't have to be good at what they do. For every super-
> dooper programmer, there is no doubt at least one mediocre nerd, who
> make spend the same passion and time in geekery but to little actual
> avail.
Given the low entry requirements for most devotees, I can easily see devotees who fit that description. And even in cults with more stringent requirements (like Lhankor Mhy sages) it is possible to become a devotee and avail little even when measured by obscure cult protocols.
Even the rules go along with this: imagine a crappy devotee who owes his successes in cultic activities to hero-points spent on the success rather than improvements.
> Devotees are called to their god, they are potent and
> extraordinary by definition.
Extraordinary I give, but why potent? Devotees have a great risk of losing touch with the world, just like geeks. An Orlanth devotee may be a champion boaster, with little to boast about. An Ernalda devotee is fairly likely to have trouble raising her kids spending too much time being the goddess.
> There are those who are more powerful
> and those who are less so, but they are all different
> from 'ordinary' people in meaningful and potent ways. I really
> wouldn't say that about some specialist who may know quite a lot
> about some arcane topic and spend a lot of time on the subject. If
> so, every academic, every hard-core football fan, every karaoke-
> overdosing wannabe popstar, etc counts as a 'devotee'!
That's mainly because we haven't decided on the other side of geekdom: who accepts a geek? What is the other side entity which may call?
Taking the hard-core football fan, proof of calling might be when the chosen idol remembers the fan's name when autographing, or similar.
> 2. Devotee is not a job, but a calling. To an extent, a community
> will make minimax rational decisions about whether it supports a
> devotee, but only to a point. Let's face it, the _rational_ choice
> for the Heortlings would be to look at those prosperous, happy
> Tarshites and abandon Ol' Windy...
That's about as likely as modern day bank clerks stopping to play in the lottery, even though they can calculate the overall distribution of lottery money.
Powered by hypermail