Causal Determinism and the effect on complex open systems

If you’re a gamer, go grab some dice

Some multi-coloured ones with the funny shaped sides

Or go borrow them from a nerd or a geek

With the promise you’ll return them by the end of the week.

Get a plain piece of paper, or if you must, lined

Because this’ll be where your characters defined

Your strengths and your weaknesses, inventory too,

So grab your black pen. Or alternatively, blue.

So now you’re prepared to embark on this game,

And the first thing to do’s give your character a name.

I insist that it’s male – it’s a mandatory clause.

But if you’re male already, then you have to use yours.

So, there next to name, you can mark down your gender

(Which we’ve established is male, which isn’t meant to offend or

Disturb all you people who don’t fit that forte

But to choose something else would be really quite naughty)

And we’ll quickly move on to an uncommon stat,

Your sexual “leanings”, let’s leave it at that.

Is fancying blokes, women, neither or both your true fate?

That said, I insist that you write down that you’re “straight”.

And now to the step that can upset a few.

The colour of your skin – your pigment, your hue.

It may seem like an odd stat in this particular equation,

So we’ll simplify things by just putting “Caucasian”.

So turns out in the end that we didn’t need those dice

And we’re left with a character that’s turned out quite nice

So we can start with some adventuring fun…

Ah, actually, turns out you’ve already won.