Reading and utilizing memory is not the same as executing it.
01 Open your book at page 55
02 Read out the topleft word
Slight memory corruption might change the topleft word (heck you might even be able to change it through completely regular gameplay or a minor glitch). By changing that word, it'd make you read out something different. That's not executing the changed memory though. ACE starts when you manage to manipulate the list of instructions itself instead.
01 Open your book at page 55
02 Tear out the page and eat it
This is the beginning of ACE. You change the list of instructions itself. Total control is when you can manage something like this:
01 Open your book at page 55
02 While your book is opened at page 55
03 Do exactly what I say (f.e. executing controller input)
Then, "whatever I say" can become something like you should learn to play the piano. And then I'd make you play some nice songs.
Can you see that by just regular memory manipulation something like this isn't possible at all? Even if you change all the words in all the books, it can just make that person read out a different word. ACE is on another level.
If you want to argue slippery slopes, then, as others have pointed out, you could just extend the slippery slope to show why it's ridiculous.
1) Memory manipulation can sometimes lead to ACE, so there should be no difference. If a run manipulates memory, it might as well do ACE and reach the credits. It's basically the same thing, just the one time you use memory manipulation to its fullest capacity, and the other time you don't.
2) Minor glitching can sometimes lead to memory manipulation, so there should be no difference. If a run does minor glitching, it might as well do memory manipulation and accomplish ACE. It's basically the same thing, just the one time you use minor glitching to its fullest capacity, and the other time you don't.
3) Controller inputs can sometimes lead to minor glitching, so there should be no difference. If a run does controller inputs, it might as well do minor glitching and accomplish memory manipulation. It's basically the same thing, just the one time you use controller inputs to their fullest capacity, and the other time you don't.
"But controller inputs were intended by the developers and the rest wasn't"
We all already agree on this. However, it's not possible to find out what exactly was intended by some developer and what wasn't. It's difficult to know where to draw the line. That's why there are so few "glitchless" runs.
In determining where ACE really starts, there can also be grey areas, and whenever those come up, you can count on there being some discussion about them. We already know there can be grey areas sometimes.
However, even with minor grey areas, it should be easy to see which category to put a run into. Is it mostly glitchless, but allows some glitch that's very hard or impossible to avoid? Clearly in the glitchless category. Does the game execute some sprite memory as code at some point that's unavoidable? The devs just never noticed because it usually doesn't mess anything up? Well, you could argue that's a grey area for ACE, as the sprites could easily be manipulated. However, there could be a run that's consciously avoiding that, to show off other glitches that many people would like to see. Put it in the ACE category? Reject it? What for if it's unavoidable?
If that still doesn't help, reading [URL=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_%28psychology%29]this[/URL] might help, but it probably won't. You might feel the need to seperate runs entirely into two seperate categories, 100% glitch free and 100% glitched. That would make you feel at ease, before that's done, something would never seem quite right or slightly awkward to you.
This is not meant to be a diagnosis, but as a provocation to reflect on your way of thinking.
