Quote Originally Posted by Mzzkc View Post
But I don't have faith that all participants will "get it." It's more likely, given the track record of exercises that use a particular place or meeting point, people will instead focus on getting somewhere instead of figuring out the password.

Not only will these mindsets skew results, so will the personal schema people attach to whatever place is chosen.
Good point. I could see that happening, now that you mention it.

A possible solution: Message Passing ... Mindraker will symbolically release the password in some way. (message in a bottle, carrier pigeon, owl, catapult, w/e) ... Participants will receive it in a symbolic way. (doesn't matter how)

The symbolic procedure Mindraker used to release the message each night should be kept hidden until he posts his report.
In this way, we get the benefit of symbolism, without a biased skew.
That's an excellent solution to the problem you noted, and it also makes the net a bit larger, as Mindraker might notice dreamers spotting his release method even if they missed the method itself...