unforum

[Omnie]

Re: Found Something!

[Semioclast]

Okay, okay. You got me. That's what I get for posting with my eyes closed.

Just to get the record straight: NO ONE DANGLED A PARTICIPLE! I never thought that my self depricating joke about being anal would be taken to heart. It was just meant as a humorous salutation, not a critique.

Again, everyone gets mighty touchy when there are no new updates.

[Omnie]

[el kabong]

The chick who wrote that article, Jane McGonigal, is pretty amazing. That article is how I found out about ARGs in the first place.

Here are some of my thoughts:

What is literature but way of parsing life and what is life but a hugely complex system? As manufactured systems become more and more complex, the people who explain or parse those systems become the new writers and create the new narratives. Technical documents, once dry and one dimensional, now must become dynamic, robust, intuitive and narrative-driven in order to adequately explain technology that is becoming more self-sufficient. This further blurs the line between reality and simulation. To enjoy an explanation of an actual system being used in the real world for it's narrative qualities is to enter new territory. The New Narrative of the '50s and '60s incorporated the authors' experience, breaking down the fourth wall. The New Narrative of the new millennium will incorporate different media, including (or especially) media previously excluded from "entertainment." For instance, marketing campaigns are slowly becoming more interesting than the products they market. Case in point: the movie A.I. sucked hard, but the ingenious game constructed out of websites and phone messages that grew out of the movie was fascinating and groundbreaking. So too, was the marketing campaign behind the movie The Blair Witch Project, which had the added benefit of being a good movie in and of itself.

(Note: this phenomenon is not all that new. For years, people have actually looked forward to seeing the new commercials aired during the Super Bowl. However, these new developments make quantum leaps in the complexity and profundity of this media.)

It makes perfect sense that this new narrative will unfold primarily on the Internet. Storytelling has evolved from oral and written traditions to digital. Stories no longer need to be constrained to the page. The innovations of non-linear masters such as Borges are coming to fruition on the Internet, where stories can involve corporate Web sites, blogs, discussion forums, trains schedules, anything the creator can think of to enhance the story. And even more profound is the infinite ways in which these stories can be experienced ("read" is too limiting a term). A person can enter into these narratives from a variety of points and the path one chooses is almost certain to be unique to that user (again, "reader" is too limiting). The classic analogy for this is the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories written in the '70s. These books were hugely influential to the generation growing up then and it is no coincidence that it is this generation (and the ones immediately following it) that is responsible for creating this new, user-driven fiction.

The above is from a paper I'm writing about modern narratives. Anyway, all of this is too damn fascinating.

As for other places where the philosophy of the Matrix is being discussed, check out these:

www.corporatemofo.com/stories/051803matrix.htm

http://www.unomaha.edu/~wwwjrf/gnostic.htm

http://metaphilm.com/philm.php?id=169_0_2_0
(This one is amazing, connecting Godel's Incompleteness Theorum with the Matrix. The math is f.ucking complex, but it all makes sense!)

There are many more out there, full of brilliant people discussing a movie(s) that seems to grow in complexity and profundity every day. As a teacher, I've used the Matrix when discussing Oedipus and Plato. It works pefectly and the high school seniors I teach love it!

Cheers!

[Semioclast]

Wow!

[adagio]

[Azathoth666]

and if it does, before we know it we'll wind up living permanently unconscious in a pod, wired into a massive simulator program; just a tiny cog in a huge machine...

But until such time, gimme my bluetooth PDAs and portable DVD players!

[adagio]

[surfloser]

heck no
they say smoking kills more americans a year than aids and all that stuff
but the number one killer of the average american is heart disease or failure
go figure
ill take my chances with the cigarettes
but the point is that most people DO NOT exercise i know how dorky it is to say that
but neither do i i mean i play soccer and surf but i enjoy it
everyone would die off and robots would enjoy human flesh
maybe they would turn us into cows
and robots would wear us!

[FlanInTheFace]

I want the robot that eats me to have the strength of a gorilla with the strength of eight gorillas. It would only be 5 feet tall because that's as big as they come.

Yes, that was pointless.

[bakntime]

[surfloser]

it all depends on the persons lifestyle
take me for instance i can smoke like a chimney and never cough
ever
and i can hold my breath longer than anyone i know
but thats probly from holding in hits
ill take my surgen generals warning and run with it
way off topic

[Tobester]

[Semioclast]

[surfloser]

see those silly pms dont need some stupid program to make up funny quotes they could just have someone a little more *special* than I~