First and foremost, the previous statement raises the question: If this program was not intended to be a social experiment, than what was the intent of the programmer. Is this some way for a foreign country to see whether people would choose democracy given the chance? Is this a test of teamwork? Was some dude in Australia just bored? Is this another site for 20-somethings to get together to participate in something fun, but is really for the purpose of selling ads? (See everything Buzzfeed has ever done…)

In order for this to be an experiment, there must be a hypothesis. Ben Franklin didn’t fly a kite in a thunder storm just to see what happened! He wanted to test an idea. Ms. Mahoney makes no reference to the hypothesis that the experimenter is testing… zero, zilch, goose egg. What’s more, an experiment is supposed to have a control group. There is no control group with this site.

Finally, Ms. Mahoney makes the point about the tongue-in-cheek worship of the Helix. She even goes so far as to say that it is a “religious” symbol “for lack of a better term.” This religious symbol is just another layer in which we are supposed to take the Twitch Poke-world, and see it as separate reality mirroring our own. However there are so many pieces of social order missing that we cannot take this Helix worship to be a serious symbol for religion in society.

I end with this. TwitchPlaysPokemon gives us a choice. A choice between democracy and anarchy. But alas, that is a false choice. Democracy – sure. We get to vote as to whether or not Ash chooses the squirtle or the bulbasaur. But the idea that people vote on anarchy is ridiculous. We do not make the choice to not make the choice. It is against the human condition to collectively will one’s self into slavery. Even more, the idea that the general will could choose to willingly unwill is philosophically repugnant.