Re: <nettime> [Augmentology] _A Warcry for Birthing Synthetic Worlds_

["> ! <" <gonzo@quadrantcrossing.org>]

One question that continues to fascinate me is: why Second Life .. ?
    As in: why has it become such an object of obssession, to its users, and
to a large number of critics & theorists .. ?

Are we not still talking about a screen-based interaction with a computer,
without consequence to the lived body that manipulates mouse, keyboard
joystick. Or rather, the only consequence being the sagging & drooping of
the body into the chair ..

Or is SL a significant cultural event, such as the novel: a method of
dissemination of the imaginary in a medium that has somehow incorporated,
transcended or displaced past artifacts. And, by force of the text and its
technical framing, the event of participation forces transactions in the
world at large (what would happen if John Lennon's assassination were
re-enacted in SL -- the former pushed out of the interaction with Catcher in
the Rye and a certain body -- only to be re-enacted in the real, again ?).

The (second) loop closing however insofar as SL itself is forced from the
text of the world. Which I guess is the point -- and why SL is 'synthetic'.


tV

> My first article on Augmentology.com went up last week! Mez invited me
> to write some articles for them, and I'm very happy to be included in
> their site, because the writing there is so interesting, and has
> affected my thinking about synthetic worlds a great deal. Here it
> is...
 <...>

.
.
tobias c. van Veen -----------++++ !
http://www.quadrantcrossing.org --
McGill Communication & Philosophy
resistance . through . rhythm .
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