When I saw that a candidate for president in the recent presidential elections in Slovenia has a Facebook profile I was very much amazed. It seems politicians have discovered the potential of social networking sites for their promotion. When browsing further I found Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Mccain all have profiles.
When Browsing still further, I could not find any profiles for Slovene politicians with the exception of the aforementioned candidate who is now president, Danilo Türk. I did find some scam pages for Lojze Peterle, Jožef Jerovšek and Alojz Sok. I also found some user generated groups commemorating the recently deceased former president Janez Drnovšek, and a group pushing for the Ljubljana airport to be named after him.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Can anything be found on YouTube? Seemingly the answer is yes.
When procrastinating one of my favourite activities is YouTubing. It is unbelievable what one can find on there; there is Jimmy Page doing the violin thing on his guitar, there are Street Fighter II Turbo championships (I remember watching one the other day and commenting on the unbelievable moves with a friend on MSN messenger), the other day I was checking out compilations of Michael Jordan's best moves (I stopped watching basketball after he retired) but YouTube still has the potential to amaze me. One example is this vintage interview with Heidegger, in which he criticizes Marx' 11. thesis on Feuerbach:
Heidegger has an obstinate philosophical style that can be a source of many headaches. In his writing there is no distinction between signifier and signified, ideas are rather already present in language. To present new ideas he transforms language itself (that is where the headaches come from, he does not write in German, he writes in Heideggerian, constantly belabouring words with new meanings). It is not surprising that this style shifts into manipulation when talking about other authors, as is the case with Marx. For all those not fluent in German, the 11. thesis that Heidegger is criticizing, reads:
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.
Source: Marxists internet archive
Heidegger objects that to change the world one must first interpret it. We can surely not argue with that. The problem is the attribution of an anti-intellectualist sentiment to Marx. Even a cursory inspection of the syntax of thesis 11 will reveal the word "only", which means that interpretation and changing of the world are not to be seen as antagonistic. Marx sees the role of materialism in not stopping at the point of interpretation, but taking it further to the point of changing it.
Heidegger has an obstinate philosophical style that can be a source of many headaches. In his writing there is no distinction between signifier and signified, ideas are rather already present in language. To present new ideas he transforms language itself (that is where the headaches come from, he does not write in German, he writes in Heideggerian, constantly belabouring words with new meanings). It is not surprising that this style shifts into manipulation when talking about other authors, as is the case with Marx. For all those not fluent in German, the 11. thesis that Heidegger is criticizing, reads:
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.
Source: Marxists internet archive
Heidegger objects that to change the world one must first interpret it. We can surely not argue with that. The problem is the attribution of an anti-intellectualist sentiment to Marx. Even a cursory inspection of the syntax of thesis 11 will reveal the word "only", which means that interpretation and changing of the world are not to be seen as antagonistic. Marx sees the role of materialism in not stopping at the point of interpretation, but taking it further to the point of changing it.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Narrative structure of RPGs
I am part of the generation which remembers the SNES, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as THE status symbol of early childhood. The reality for us were for a long time cheap imitations of the NES (I will let you figure out the meaning of the acronym for yourself), the precursor of the SNES, and daydreams of the amazing graphics in 32 bit colours that the SNES made possible (as I look at some games today, they still look good). I can still remember the moment when I finally buggered my parents into buying me my first SNES and all the good times me and my friends had with it (that was also the time when computer games were rarely played alone - or if they were it was training to humiliate your friends in the next Super Street Fighter II Turbo competition)
When PCs came out the natural choice was to download a SNES emulator. When replaying the games of old I was struck by the uniformity of narrative of RPGs (role playing games). There are of course notable exceptions (like Zelda, who has a different narrative structure altogether). Broadly speaking the games share the following structure:
- we begin with a state of equilibrium. The main character (always male) is enjoying a careless childhood. He sometimes exhibits traits of playful mischievousnesses, but never to the point of seeming malign. Sometimes the main character has a male best friend, sometimes the best friend is introduced later on in the story.
- the state of equilibrium is disturbed by some catastrophic event. There are two variations here: either the event was triggered by the main character's careless mischief (for example the breaking of a taboo) or it starts completely independently. Either way the scope of happening, once set in motion, is far above the main character's ability of understanding and action. At this point the main character is forced to leave his home village (which is sometimes even destroyed, along with his family) and venture into the world in the quest of apocatastasis.
- at this point the main character usually meets the female heroine, which he will develop a romantic interest later on in the story, who joins him in his quest. Sometimes she enters the story at the point of the catastrophic event, but that is less frequent. If the male friend friend was not present yet, he will also join the quest at this point (usually earlier than the female one)
- the largest part of the story is the quest to restore equilibrium. Here the background of the catastrophic event becomes clear, revealing an evil force behind it and an incredibly powerful foe which must in the end be defeated. Also the main character discovers that he is predestined to fight the all-important battle with the foe. Sometimes the protagonists battle this foe early on in the story, where they lose horribly, but through some lucky coincidence survive (be it through the working of some helper, the cockiness of the foe who does not even think them worthy to be killed or some other play of events). Two things are thus revealed: the protagonists will have to improve their skills before taking on the foe again and often will have to get hold of some magic object (most commonly a special sword) that will be able to defeat the foe. The interesting part here is that the skills of the characters are quantified: they have a certain amount of attack (which is sometimes divided into skills for specific types of weapons), defence and magic skills. These skills can be improved by acquiring new objects and weapons, but mostly they are improved by defeating enemies. Through this process the protagonists acquire enough skills for the final battle with the foe.
- the final battle usually takes place on the home ground of the foe, a castle of some sort. Through his defeat the equilibrium is restored, although significant losses might have been sustained (for example the loss of the main character's parents and home village). The playing out of the romance between the main character and the female helper is indicated (rarely explicitly stated). The main reward for the main character remains his service to the world though: an excellent albeit unconventional illustration of this is the ending of Terranigma, where the main character, upon restoring equilibrium and saving the home village, discovers that this was the sole function of his existence - and since that is the case he will cease to exist, living out the remainder of the day being all the reward he receives. In any case the protagonist is profoundly transformed by his quest.
The narratives are clearly ones of growing up. The world enters the self-contained happiness of childhood and forces the protagonist to venture outside the circle of his family, learn responsibility, discover friendship and romance. They are also narratives of service to the greater good, the protagonist facing all the hardships and dangers to save the world from a great evil. This latter trait being more common to the Japanese narratives, the American counterparts focusing more on the egoistical motives of the protagonist: the thrill in battling foes, self-discovery, personal rewards etc.
When PCs came out the natural choice was to download a SNES emulator. When replaying the games of old I was struck by the uniformity of narrative of RPGs (role playing games). There are of course notable exceptions (like Zelda, who has a different narrative structure altogether). Broadly speaking the games share the following structure:
- we begin with a state of equilibrium. The main character (always male) is enjoying a careless childhood. He sometimes exhibits traits of playful mischievousnesses, but never to the point of seeming malign. Sometimes the main character has a male best friend, sometimes the best friend is introduced later on in the story.
- the state of equilibrium is disturbed by some catastrophic event. There are two variations here: either the event was triggered by the main character's careless mischief (for example the breaking of a taboo) or it starts completely independently. Either way the scope of happening, once set in motion, is far above the main character's ability of understanding and action. At this point the main character is forced to leave his home village (which is sometimes even destroyed, along with his family) and venture into the world in the quest of apocatastasis.
- at this point the main character usually meets the female heroine, which he will develop a romantic interest later on in the story, who joins him in his quest. Sometimes she enters the story at the point of the catastrophic event, but that is less frequent. If the male friend friend was not present yet, he will also join the quest at this point (usually earlier than the female one)
- the largest part of the story is the quest to restore equilibrium. Here the background of the catastrophic event becomes clear, revealing an evil force behind it and an incredibly powerful foe which must in the end be defeated. Also the main character discovers that he is predestined to fight the all-important battle with the foe. Sometimes the protagonists battle this foe early on in the story, where they lose horribly, but through some lucky coincidence survive (be it through the working of some helper, the cockiness of the foe who does not even think them worthy to be killed or some other play of events). Two things are thus revealed: the protagonists will have to improve their skills before taking on the foe again and often will have to get hold of some magic object (most commonly a special sword) that will be able to defeat the foe. The interesting part here is that the skills of the characters are quantified: they have a certain amount of attack (which is sometimes divided into skills for specific types of weapons), defence and magic skills. These skills can be improved by acquiring new objects and weapons, but mostly they are improved by defeating enemies. Through this process the protagonists acquire enough skills for the final battle with the foe.
- the final battle usually takes place on the home ground of the foe, a castle of some sort. Through his defeat the equilibrium is restored, although significant losses might have been sustained (for example the loss of the main character's parents and home village). The playing out of the romance between the main character and the female helper is indicated (rarely explicitly stated). The main reward for the main character remains his service to the world though: an excellent albeit unconventional illustration of this is the ending of Terranigma, where the main character, upon restoring equilibrium and saving the home village, discovers that this was the sole function of his existence - and since that is the case he will cease to exist, living out the remainder of the day being all the reward he receives. In any case the protagonist is profoundly transformed by his quest.
The narratives are clearly ones of growing up. The world enters the self-contained happiness of childhood and forces the protagonist to venture outside the circle of his family, learn responsibility, discover friendship and romance. They are also narratives of service to the greater good, the protagonist facing all the hardships and dangers to save the world from a great evil. This latter trait being more common to the Japanese narratives, the American counterparts focusing more on the egoistical motives of the protagonist: the thrill in battling foes, self-discovery, personal rewards etc.
Something for the senses
The term aesthetics originates with the German philosopher Baumgarten. He used the term aestheike to refer to the realm of sensual experience as opposed to conceptual thought. Analysing aesthetic from the realm of senses can be a very interesting vantage point. Especially since sensual experience is far from universal. One can think of painters like Van Gogh and Gauguin who moved southwards to experience more powerful colours. But the senses also have a class character besides a meteorological one. Bourdieu's theory of classes comes in handy here: he conceived a class to be defined by three factors: 1) the actual position in social space 2) the specific experience of this space, what he termed the "class unconscious" 3) the symbolic forms through which this class unconscious is made conscious.
As I was watching Elfriede Jelinek's Babel a few weeks ago it made me think about the class character of art. The first and most obvious sign of the elite character of the performance were the numerous references to Freud. One a more subtle level was the sensual experience. It was nothing short of violent. At one point blinding lights, at another loud disharmonic music (I actually experienced physical pain during that part) and at still another a very graphical description of a date, where one partner eats the other - all told very tenderly to soft music, a perfect fusion of Eros and Thanatos, the only sign of violence being the bright red background. It was a very strong statement on desensibilisation. Now who was it intended for? First of all it demanded a contemplative analytical standpoint on life. Not only were the Oedipal motives meant to be deciphered with a view to psychoanalysis, also the violent attack on the senses was to be analysed and pleasure derived only from this contemplation, not the play itself. Still another question is, who can enjoy such a violent attack on the senses. The masochist comes to mind first, of course. But he would derive pure pleasure from the senses and not engage in the contemplation the play was meant to trigger and therefore miss the point altogether. Another answer presents itself then: the one who has spent all day in a quiet office, free from violent sensations and is well rested to suffer through the violence induced by the stage. The person working all day in a factory is well used to such violence, surely too tired of it to derive any sense of enjoyment from it and is not very likely to read Freud in his or her free time.
As I was watching Elfriede Jelinek's Babel a few weeks ago it made me think about the class character of art. The first and most obvious sign of the elite character of the performance were the numerous references to Freud. One a more subtle level was the sensual experience. It was nothing short of violent. At one point blinding lights, at another loud disharmonic music (I actually experienced physical pain during that part) and at still another a very graphical description of a date, where one partner eats the other - all told very tenderly to soft music, a perfect fusion of Eros and Thanatos, the only sign of violence being the bright red background. It was a very strong statement on desensibilisation. Now who was it intended for? First of all it demanded a contemplative analytical standpoint on life. Not only were the Oedipal motives meant to be deciphered with a view to psychoanalysis, also the violent attack on the senses was to be analysed and pleasure derived only from this contemplation, not the play itself. Still another question is, who can enjoy such a violent attack on the senses. The masochist comes to mind first, of course. But he would derive pure pleasure from the senses and not engage in the contemplation the play was meant to trigger and therefore miss the point altogether. Another answer presents itself then: the one who has spent all day in a quiet office, free from violent sensations and is well rested to suffer through the violence induced by the stage. The person working all day in a factory is well used to such violence, surely too tired of it to derive any sense of enjoyment from it and is not very likely to read Freud in his or her free time.
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