Real Recognize Real & You Lookin’ Unfamiliar
or Setting the Stage
What is the difference between a rhetorical question and a regular question?
…
A regular question assumes and demands there be someone on the other end to answer it, while a rhetorical question demands no such thing. I’ll come back to this in a bit.
With that in mind, what is the difference between A Nightmare on Elm Street and Inception? For the purposes of this analogy, we’ll say that the only difference is that in the former, dying in the dream means you die in real life, while in the latter you wake up.
I think this represents two different views on how we tend to look at our relationship between different similarly mediated experiences. For instance, when I play Rare’s GoldenEye (1996) do I interact with the game world differently than I do when I play Call of Duty online multiplayer? Do I care about what happens to the people on the other end of the line in a different way when both are presented as virtual constructs, even if one (presumably) indexes a physical human being and the other doesn’t? Should I?
Of course, I think these questions point to further implications. When I read a novel or watch a film that features a character I don’t like, I might talk about how weak or manipulative or even ugly the character is with little consequence — the character doesn’t actually exist. When I run into a person with the same qualities in real life (assuming they mean me no actual harm) it would be insensitive, mean, or even rude to admit my distaste — the person is real and will be affected by such information. But there exists network-mediated interaction, wherein I might encounter someone with those same traits still, but in this case, I may or may not see them, or hear their voice, or have a preexisting relationship with person. For all intents and purposes, this person may or may not actually exist as far as I am concerned, though, presumably, there is a human being represented by the online presence I encounter. So, do I consider this online presence as a person — with one’s associated emotions and reactions — or do I consider it a character — a construction to which I have no ultimate responsibility?
Furthermore, at the end of the day, who’s to say that I’m not communicating with a character or construction, regardless of what I think of the scenario? Most technologically mediated presences consist of a short bio, a few pictures, and short updates. In video games, you often don’t even get that much info, though you generally get to see play-styles. But that doesn’t form a person. So, if I’m not actually interacting with a person, but rather a construction, or a character, or an avatar, does it really matter whether I consider that identity as a real person? Remember that line from the “Matriculated” short in The Animatrix? Of course you don’t, but here it is: “To an artificial mind, all reality is virtual.” Who’s to say that this only works for “artificial” minds?
Don’t expect any answers yet — I don’t have them. In fact, don’t even expect answers to everything that’s written in this post. It’d be impossible to even address all of this, let alone definitively answer it. But this is where my head is as I go into this project. Basically: Is there a difference between our relationship with NPCs (purely virtual/fictional beings) and avatars (virtual representations that index other MeatSpace dwellers)? And if there is, does it matter?
Tune in tomorrow to continue on this journey towards understanding this stuff. I might even have a citation!
Lates.
-ED
