ISSUE-260: which agent types should permit actor child

Hi Glenn,

I believe we have an action to work together to propose which agents should permit actor as a child, depending on their @type. Here are the possible usages as I see them, by permitted value of @type:

person: could be a reconstructed representation of a real person using an actor, so actor child should be permitted.

character: generally a fictional entity, so actor child should be permitted.

group and organization: neither of these has any obvious application to an actor child, but we are not helped by the lack of definition of what it is supposed to mean, nor by the fact that the lower bound of [number of members of a group/organization] is probably 1 if not 0. Or one could imagine a dramatic production in which single people each represents or personifies a group or an organisation, e.g. a debate, historical reflections, satire etc. So I'd be reluctant to be prescriptive in preventing actor children here.

other: as this is a bucket for [anything we haven't thought of] it would be overly strict to prevent actor children.

In conclusion, I propose the best action is to do nothing and permit actor children for all agent types. Your thoughts most welcome of course.

Kind regards,

Nigel

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Nigel Megitt
Lead Technologist, BBC Technology, Distribution & Archives
Telephone: +44 (0)208 0082360
BC4 A3 Broadcast Centre, Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TP




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