Okay, here I go (again) with a highly critical analysis of what people think the expression “By the Book” (BtB) means, and what it actually encompasses, defines, and signifies. The goal? To explain that you can never be BtB and that, therefore, the most important thing is to respect the spirit of a work, not its letter. In other words, do the opposite of what at least 50% of Second Life players tend to do.

Let’s start by reminding you, dear readers, of something obvious: 75% of Gor SL players have never read a single novel from the Gor saga. Fifteen percent have never read more than one, 5% have read between two and three, 4% have read between three and five, with the remaining 1% having read more than five novels. And I would remind you, by way of comparison, that the Gor saga consists of 38 volumes, ranging from 300 to 700 pages.

75% of people know 0% of the literary work, 15% know 2.5%, and therefore 10% know more than 3%.

1- Dunning-Kruger, or the overconfidence effect

So 75% of Gor SL players have never read a Gor novel, but 50% of Gor SL players claim to be BtB. That is, according to the academic definition of “by the book”: doing things strictly according to the rules, which in this case means claiming to strictly follow all the content, context, codes, and rules of a universe of which they have not read a single novel.

To give you a clearer picture of this claim, it’s like saying: I respect and follow to the letter the procedures for assembling and installing a personal computer, but I’ve never read the manual that explains how to do it.

Okay, okay, okay… I’m a Tolkien fan. I’ve read almost all of his novels and several of his biographies. I’m a tabletop role-playing game player, but I don’t consider myself capable of playing a character from Middle-earth in a “by the book” context, because it’s a really rich, dense, and quite complex universe. And he didn’t write 38 books. One of my best friends is a Star Wars fan. He collects everything imaginable related to that universe, especially novels and manuals. He’s a GM in the Star Wars tabletop role-playing game, and he doesn’t claim to be “by the book” either, because, according to him, it’s not possible to be. And to my knowledge, even die-hard Harry Potter fans who do LARPs in that universe admit that they can’t do it. And that’s only seven novels.

The claim to be “by the book” on Gor SL is just that, a claim, and it perfectly illustrates the Dunning-Kruger effect: the cognitive bias characterized by an overestimation of one’s own abilities by unskilled people, and an underestimation of their abilities by highly skilled people. In other words, incompetent people are often convinced of their competence, while competent people tend to underestimate themselves.

To put it more succinctly: the less a person knows about a subject, while knowing only a fraction of it, the more they believe themselves to be an indisputable expert on the subject. Like this:

I can already hear people shouting: how dare I make such a judgment? Who am I to say that you are not BtB?

Because I’ve read all the novels except the last one, and several times: I had to in order to write my articles for Gorean Archives, and you know what? I can’t consider myself BtB. I suppose I’m pretty close, but there’s too much to remember, too much to understand, too much to respect and integrate to get there. It’s practically impossible, in my opinion. Here’s an example! I didn’t remember at all that coffee, in the world of Gor, is produced in Tenthis and that there’s a whole story of customs trafficking around this exclusive and precious product! And I repeat, I reread the novels regularly to continue my work on Gorean Archives!

The vast majority of you are not BtB. Neither am I, but you claim to be because you think you know enough when you know very little, and I claim not to be because I know a lot, but in my opinion, it’s not enough to claim to be BtB.

2- The spirit of Gor, the true meaning you give to “By the Books”

Okay, now that I’ve trolled a little to remind you that the definition of “By the Books” used by Gor SL players doesn’t really make sense and is particularly overused, I’ll come back to this point. Because in Gor SL, “By the Books” doesn’t mean “By the Books,” but more generally: respecting the spirit of Gor.

BtB, in relation to role-playing on Gor SL, therefore has a meaning, but not its academic meaning. It clearly means: playing in accordance with the spirit, principles, and general codes of the Gor novel series.

But what are we talking about?

Well, it’s a bit like summarizing The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter (I’ve never read Harry Potter) by focusing on what makes them unique and dwelling only on the essence of their content, the subject matter and the concepts of these novels, in a lucid and clear manner.

This notion of the spirit of Gor can be interpreted in detail in many ways, but I will attempt to summarize its content in a neutral manner, in 10 points:

1-

A planet-fantasy universe, resembling a fantasy world inspired by our Gallo-Roman world, but on another planet, with its own unique exoticism. Although the apparent setting is fantasy, there is no magic, but rather science fiction, which, far from being anecdotal, influences the entire universe and even constitutes its narrative framework.

2-

A sexist society, influenced by a philosophy that claims the role of men as dominant, free to express all their virile urges, and women as dominated, either by having to hide their appearance, emotions, and aspirations, or by being enslaved and animalized, treated as human cattle for sex. The world of Gor considers this social order to be “the law of nature” and is therefore not only sociocultural, but deeply rooted in the nature of the humans of Gor.

3

A fundamental principle that governs cultures and society, based on honor and individual respect, which forces people to recognize the value and competence of Gor’s inhabitants beyond their social rank and gender (with a few exceptions), and which acts as the glue that holds society together. It is the basis of the laws and codes of the Gor’s inhabitants, which most consider sacred and indisputable.

4-

A culture based on a caste system, which establishes a strict hierarchy among Gor’s inhabitants according to their birth, and which dictates their profession and place in society. A religion that stands at the head of this social order and governs the codes, prohibitions, and laws of the entire society. A sacred principle of citizenship that does not consider citizenship to be innate, but rather something that must be earned and is deeply linked to religion.

5

A strictly closed organization of scientific knowledge and learning, imposing two versions of science and knowledge, one for the common people and another for the ruling castes.

6

A geopolitical organization based on city-states rather than nations, for whom war is not only a tool but an integral part of “the law of nature.” Citizens who consider xenophobia normal but are ignorant of both racism and homophobia.

7

A world where technology is subject to strict religious restrictions due to a very real threat. However, the level of technology is far superior to that of antiquity and more easily comparable to that of the 17th century. While society lives according to ancient ways and norms, its technology is very modern and may even include contemporary or science fiction technologies.

8

Neophobic and traditionalist civilizations, which fear innovation on religious grounds, prefer simplicity to luxury and comfort, and craftsmanship to industry, but remain ingenious and will adopt technology if it does not contravene religious laws.

9-

Religious prohibitions on technology are very simple: no metal armor, no combustion engines, no explosives, no wave communication, and no motorized vehicles. That’s it!

10

A violent world with terrifyingly dangerous wildlife that leaves no chance for the weak and inexperienced. A cruel and harsh world where the level of legal and socially tolerated violence is high. A world with its own justice system, but whose codes are clearly unjust and cruel to any 21st-century Westerner.

3- How can you understand and respect the spirit of Gor?

Okay, take these ten points, learn about their content and meaning, and you will understand the spirit of Gor and what it takes to embody a Gorean character. Everything else is a matter of learning, reading, and improving your knowledge of Gor.

How can you learn these principles? There are three methods:

1. Read the novels, and on that subject, I really recommend reading Tarnsman of Gor, Priest-King of Gor, Assassin of Gor, and possibly Kajira of Gor and Magician of Gor, if you want to have a good basic understanding of the universe and its codes. This is my personal selection, but let’s say that the first three on my list are pretty much essential for entering the world of Gor.

2. Consult well-written and detailed guides. Here, I encourage you to focus on three sources: Gorean Campus, which has a well-organized and fairly comprehensive collection of documents in the form of notecards on their Second Life sim—but you sometimes need to know what you’re looking for. Gorean University, which organizes weekly classes, lectures, and roundtable discussions, and Gorean Archives, which is the Second Life and notecard version of my website.

3. Read game guides on the internet. I only know mine, which covers exploration and discovery of the world of Gor in the form of game guides and explanatory articles, but there is Gorean cave, which is a thematic encyclopedia of Gor, with pages featuring quotes and excerpts from the novels for each topic. Again, if you don’t know what to look for, you’ll get lost right away, but it’s a very good complement to Gorean Archives!

And to come back to these ten points, they constitute the spirit of Gor, that is, the ten principles, laws, and codes to be respected and applied. They do not mean that you will suddenly become able to follow the novels to the letter. Not at all: even having read all the novels and written the Gorean Archives, I can say that this is not really possible. Accept this idea.

But you can succeed in following the specific definition of BtB in Gor Second Life: playing while respecting the spirit, principles, and general codes of the Gor novel series.

And the rest? Sorry, but just because you’ve learned that a slave kneels and begs before entering a room (onlinism), the Bazi tea ceremony (onlinism), the service of black wine (onlinism), the color of the kajirae’s silks (onlinism), that city first girls have absolute authority (onlinism), that red sugar is the most prized (onlinism), that a kajira cannot touch any weapon, not even a kitchen knife (onlinism), or that collar in Gorean is Ko-lar (onlinism), and many other rituals and customs that may well come from the novels, but without understanding their meaning or anecdotal nature, or are inventions by players that have become “BtB stuff” because everyone believed them and didn’t check the novels. You are absoutly not BtB. You are just experiencing the Dunning-Kruger effect, and you are not aware of it.