Re: [-empyre-] Syntax of desire

["Patrick Lichty" <voyd@voyd.com>]

> > and its stranger still that this level of immersion
> > seems more prevalent when their is negative stimuli involved
>
> with risk comes excitement, and with excitement comes immersion. however
> it is not only negative stimuli that fosters this.  if one plays a
> particular mud consistantly, one develops real and significant
> relationships with other players.  if one truely plays the "role,"
> actively avoiding references to the real world, one begins to stop even
> thinking about the real world. that is true immersion.  when one sees
> the virtual world, no matter its implementation, as "other-real"
> immersion becomes a given, not an attribute or an illusion to be
> achieved.

Sure, there's a sense of 'investment' there.    Also, to be perfectly
honest, E-mail has some of this aspect to it.  In a strange, Turkle-esque
way, we build up personal narratives of identity online through online
correspondance that build up over time.  In a way, the real e-world has MUD
aspects to it.

For example, I'm an indie artist no kids, and in many ways, the net.art
world is like a MUD that has a thin, porous separation between meat and
e-spaces.  Why do I engage with conversations like this, and I am looking at
'engagement' here...

That kind of sets the world on end, but there's some truth to this for thos
of us who spend a lot of time online.  The worlds invert at times, and the
physical world is the one that exhibits alterity.

Also, on the idea of positive reinforcement and immersion in online spaces,
all I have to say are The Sims, Pornography and others.  It's not just
threat, it's power,  investment, fellowship, and pleasure that engage with
us as well.