First look: AT&T’s Pogo browser beta tries too hard, fails: Page 2
This is an example of what *not* to do with 3d
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Personas
Directly from the Jung Lexicon by Daryl Sharp: [Bolded text applies to internet personas directly]
Persona:
The "I," usually ideal aspects of ourselves, that we present to the outside world.
The persona is . . . a functional complex that comes into existence for reasons of adaptation or personal convenience. [Ibid., par. 801.]
The persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.["Concerning Rebirth," CW 9i, par. 221.]
Originally the word persona meant a mask worn by actors to indicate the role they played. On this level, it is both a protective covering and an asset in mixing with other people. Civilized society depends on interactions between people through the persona.
There are indeed people who lack a developed persona . . . blundering from one social solecism to the next, perfectly harmless and innocent, soulful bores or appealing children, or, if they are women, spectral Cassandras dreaded for their tactlessness, eternally misunderstood, never knowing what they are about, always taking forgiveness for granted, blind to the world, hopeless dreamers. From them we can see how a neglected persona works.["Anima and Animus," CW 7, par. 318.]
Before the persona has been differentiated from the ego, the persona is experienced as individuality. In fact, as a social identity on the one hand and an ideal image on the other, there is little individual about it.
It is, as its name implies, only a mask of the collective psyche, a mask that feigns individuality, making others and oneself believe that one is individual, whereas one is simply acting a role through which the collective psyche speaks.
When we analyse the persona we strip off the mask, and discover that what seemed to be individual is at bottom collective; in other words, that the persona was only a mask of the collective psyche. Fundamentally the persona is nothing real: it is a compromise between individual and society as to what a man should appear to be. He takes a name, earns a title, exercises a function, he is this or that. In a certain sense all this is real, yet in relation to the essential individuality of the person concerned it is only a secondary reality, a compromise formation, in making which others often have a greater share than he. ["The Persona as a Segment of the Collective Psyche," ibid., pars. 245f.]
A psychological understanding of the persona as a function of relationship to the outside world makes it possible to assume and drop one at will. But by rewarding a particular persona, the outside world invites identification with it. Money, respect and power come to those who can perform single-mindedly and well in a social role. From being a useful convenience, therefore, the persona may become a trap and a source of neurosis.
A man cannot get rid of himself in favour of an artificial personality without punishment. Even the attempt to do so brings on, in all ordinary cases, unconscious reactions in the form of bad moods, affects, phobias, obsessive ideas, backsliding vices, etc. The social "strong man" is in his private life often a mere child where his own states of feeling are concerned.["Anima and Animus," ibid., par. 307. ]
The demands of propriety and good manners are an added inducement to assume a becoming mask. What goes on behind the mask is then called "private life." This painfully familiar division of consciousness into two figures, often preposterously different, is an incisive psychological operation that is bound to have repercussions on the unconscious.[Ibid., par. 305.]
Among the consequences of identifying with a persona are: we lose sight of who we are without a protective covering; our reactions are predetermined by collective expectations (we do and think and feel what our persona "should" do, think and feel); those close to us complain of our emotional distance; and we cannot imagine life without it.
To the extent that ego-consciousness is identified with the persona, the neglected inner life (personified in the shadow and anima or animus) is activated in compensation. The consequences, experienced in symptoms characteristic of neurosis, can stimulate the process of individuation.
There is, after all, something individual in the peculiar choice and delineation of the persona, and . . . despite the exclusive identity of the ego-consciousness with the persona the unconscious self, one's real individuality, is always present and makes itself felt indirectly if not directly. Although the ego-consciousness is at first identical with the persona-that compromise role in which we parade before the community-yet the unconscious self can never be repressed to the point of extinction. Its influence is chiefly manifest in the special nature of the contrasting and compensating contents of the unconscious. The purely personal attitude of the conscious mind evokes reactions on the part of the unconscious, and these, together with personal repressions, contain the seeds of individual development.[The Persona as a Segment of the Collective Psyche," ibid., par. 247.]
Persona:
The "I," usually ideal aspects of ourselves, that we present to the outside world.
The persona is . . . a functional complex that comes into existence for reasons of adaptation or personal convenience. [Ibid., par. 801.]
The persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.["Concerning Rebirth," CW 9i, par. 221.]
Originally the word persona meant a mask worn by actors to indicate the role they played. On this level, it is both a protective covering and an asset in mixing with other people. Civilized society depends on interactions between people through the persona.
There are indeed people who lack a developed persona . . . blundering from one social solecism to the next, perfectly harmless and innocent, soulful bores or appealing children, or, if they are women, spectral Cassandras dreaded for their tactlessness, eternally misunderstood, never knowing what they are about, always taking forgiveness for granted, blind to the world, hopeless dreamers. From them we can see how a neglected persona works.["Anima and Animus," CW 7, par. 318.]
Before the persona has been differentiated from the ego, the persona is experienced as individuality. In fact, as a social identity on the one hand and an ideal image on the other, there is little individual about it.
It is, as its name implies, only a mask of the collective psyche, a mask that feigns individuality, making others and oneself believe that one is individual, whereas one is simply acting a role through which the collective psyche speaks.
When we analyse the persona we strip off the mask, and discover that what seemed to be individual is at bottom collective; in other words, that the persona was only a mask of the collective psyche. Fundamentally the persona is nothing real: it is a compromise between individual and society as to what a man should appear to be. He takes a name, earns a title, exercises a function, he is this or that. In a certain sense all this is real, yet in relation to the essential individuality of the person concerned it is only a secondary reality, a compromise formation, in making which others often have a greater share than he. ["The Persona as a Segment of the Collective Psyche," ibid., pars. 245f.]
A psychological understanding of the persona as a function of relationship to the outside world makes it possible to assume and drop one at will. But by rewarding a particular persona, the outside world invites identification with it. Money, respect and power come to those who can perform single-mindedly and well in a social role. From being a useful convenience, therefore, the persona may become a trap and a source of neurosis.
A man cannot get rid of himself in favour of an artificial personality without punishment. Even the attempt to do so brings on, in all ordinary cases, unconscious reactions in the form of bad moods, affects, phobias, obsessive ideas, backsliding vices, etc. The social "strong man" is in his private life often a mere child where his own states of feeling are concerned.["Anima and Animus," ibid., par. 307. ]
The demands of propriety and good manners are an added inducement to assume a becoming mask. What goes on behind the mask is then called "private life." This painfully familiar division of consciousness into two figures, often preposterously different, is an incisive psychological operation that is bound to have repercussions on the unconscious.[Ibid., par. 305.]
Among the consequences of identifying with a persona are: we lose sight of who we are without a protective covering; our reactions are predetermined by collective expectations (we do and think and feel what our persona "should" do, think and feel); those close to us complain of our emotional distance; and we cannot imagine life without it.
To the extent that ego-consciousness is identified with the persona, the neglected inner life (personified in the shadow and anima or animus) is activated in compensation. The consequences, experienced in symptoms characteristic of neurosis, can stimulate the process of individuation.
There is, after all, something individual in the peculiar choice and delineation of the persona, and . . . despite the exclusive identity of the ego-consciousness with the persona the unconscious self, one's real individuality, is always present and makes itself felt indirectly if not directly. Although the ego-consciousness is at first identical with the persona-that compromise role in which we parade before the community-yet the unconscious self can never be repressed to the point of extinction. Its influence is chiefly manifest in the special nature of the contrasting and compensating contents of the unconscious. The purely personal attitude of the conscious mind evokes reactions on the part of the unconscious, and these, together with personal repressions, contain the seeds of individual development.[The Persona as a Segment of the Collective Psyche," ibid., par. 247.]
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Metaverse Roadmap - Conclusions
While there's a lot more to be read on the website, the summary document is encouraging, if not uncanny, in that it addresses many Jungian concepts of Perception, with a few nods to Judgment.
What's discouraging, however, is the complete lack of peer-to-peer technology solutions presented. All of the solutions shown are server based, particularly the virtual worlds section. As someone who has worked in the past with a p2p VR communications platform, I'm actually befuddled by it. But p2p is scary for companies - there's not a clear business model for typical web services in a p2p model.
It's a goal-oriented document - so the full spectrum of these concepts isn't presented, except in terms of steps towards that end goal. Presence doesn't always need to be an avatar (a pixel on a blank background will do). GPS services don't need to be exacting (zip code works quite well on a personals site, thank you). Lifelogging doesn't have to be every niggling detail of life (hell, I'd just like an intelligent history/bookmarking app right now). Far too often computer technology is modernist - forgetting the past for the sake of the now or future. The beauty of the 'old' internet was its efficiency with little resources. Projects such as OpenCroquet are rethinking what can be done based on modern technology and have presented very robust collaboration environments. But they won't work on an old 486 with a dial up connection - and that's a major problem. The point to 'rethinking' something is to go back to the minimalist and making sure the minimums are covered, and THEN going forward. We're presuming we'll have the current resources to maintain these high bandwidth, high CPU, high graphics environments in perfectly synchronous real time. The urban myth for the point of the ARPAnet was to create a system that would work in the case of Armageddon - I won't give a damn about your fancyschmancy avatar when there's a plague loose in Cleveland and heading my way.
What's discouraging, however, is the complete lack of peer-to-peer technology solutions presented. All of the solutions shown are server based, particularly the virtual worlds section. As someone who has worked in the past with a p2p VR communications platform, I'm actually befuddled by it. But p2p is scary for companies - there's not a clear business model for typical web services in a p2p model.
It's a goal-oriented document - so the full spectrum of these concepts isn't presented, except in terms of steps towards that end goal. Presence doesn't always need to be an avatar (a pixel on a blank background will do). GPS services don't need to be exacting (zip code works quite well on a personals site, thank you). Lifelogging doesn't have to be every niggling detail of life (hell, I'd just like an intelligent history/bookmarking app right now). Far too often computer technology is modernist - forgetting the past for the sake of the now or future. The beauty of the 'old' internet was its efficiency with little resources. Projects such as OpenCroquet are rethinking what can be done based on modern technology and have presented very robust collaboration environments. But they won't work on an old 486 with a dial up connection - and that's a major problem. The point to 'rethinking' something is to go back to the minimalist and making sure the minimums are covered, and THEN going forward. We're presuming we'll have the current resources to maintain these high bandwidth, high CPU, high graphics environments in perfectly synchronous real time. The urban myth for the point of the ARPAnet was to create a system that would work in the case of Armageddon - I won't give a damn about your fancyschmancy avatar when there's a plague loose in Cleveland and heading my way.
Metaverse Roadmap V : Augmented Reality - Ne
Augmented Reality (External/Augmentation) - Ne
The important difference between Introverted and Extraverted iNtution is that Ne requires an object from which to launch new ideas and to create 'what isn't there' - Ne ideas can be very creative, but it almost always stems from an 'object'. To some degree, Ni can be mythologized to be the only function that is 'truly original'. Metadata (tags, spimes, blogjects, etc) are the perfect example of Ne functionality. Metadata attempts to put a piece of data in a larger context, or pattern. The last line quoted is a very good example of Ne - there are an infinite number of new combinations from a limited number of objects, all created from relevant information about the object or location.
Augmented reality depends on the further development of intelligent materials and the "smart environment"— networked computational intelligence embedded in physical objects and spaces. As described in Adam Greenfield's Everyware, this vision of the so-called "Internet of things" moves well beyond today’s primitive classes of RFID (radio frequency
identification) tags. Concepts such as the "spimes" described by Bruce Sterling (individually-identified objects that can be tracked through both time and space over their lifetime) or Julian Bleecker's "blogjects" (objects that keep a running public record of their
condition and use) offer examples of the ways in which materials, goods and the physical environment play a part in the augmented reality world...
Another important aspect of the AR scenario is the interface, the ways and choices users have to access virtual information overlaid on the physical world... As virtual data proliferate, information overload will be a common problem. This will empower user annotation and the expression of individual opinion: the Participatory Web... Smart tag-based networks will allow individuals to advise friends...In the longer-term future,
different people may have very different experiences of the same physical location.
Metaverse Roadmap IV - Lifelogging - Si
Lifelogging (Intimate/Augmentation) - Si
Si memory is *subjective* memory, and is anything *but* photographic (but try to tell that to an Si dominant ;-)). It's the most visceral of the four kinds of Perception. Despite this, Lifelogging is subjective in terms of the perspective of "I" remember. Lifelogging technologies, as is warned, break the necessary barrier of forgetful memories, but as a recent case study has shown, these technologies actually help "objective" memory in the long run, and may help build tolerance as we stop self-selectively forgetting things. Lifelogging technologies aren't capable of recording the feeling of 'butterflies in the stomach,' but they can help us recall the exacting details of the moments that caused those butterflies to launch into dance, and the more details we can record, the easier those moments are to recall viscerally. There's a two sided coin to Si memory - when unJudged, these replicated memories can result in phobias or untold stresses; ironically, when paired with other techniques, they can be the tools to rid ourselves of overreactions. It's hard to learn from one's mistakes if one cannot remember them. It's equally hard to learn from one's mistakes if one unnecessarily dwells on them too, and is the nature of chronic depression.
A perfect memory isn't necessarily an ideal, at least by
current social standards. Human relationships are aided by
the consensual misremembering of slights, allowing the
sting of insults and personal offenses to fade over time.
With easy access to records of past wrongs, “I forgot,”
will be much less frequent, and some will find it
impossible to "let bygones be bygones." On the positive
side, new social accuracy will provide opportunities for
individuals to more frequently admit their mistakes, and
after some ego adjustment, help them be more tolerant and
open to a change of mind and behavior. We see such
learning on some (not all) blogs today, which are accurate
text-based lifelogs of past arguments in social space.
current social standards. Human relationships are aided by
the consensual misremembering of slights, allowing the
sting of insults and personal offenses to fade over time.
With easy access to records of past wrongs, “I forgot,”
will be much less frequent, and some will find it
impossible to "let bygones be bygones." On the positive
side, new social accuracy will provide opportunities for
individuals to more frequently admit their mistakes, and
after some ego adjustment, help them be more tolerant and
open to a change of mind and behavior. We see such
learning on some (not all) blogs today, which are accurate
text-based lifelogs of past arguments in social space.
Si memory is *subjective* memory, and is anything *but* photographic (but try to tell that to an Si dominant ;-)). It's the most visceral of the four kinds of Perception. Despite this, Lifelogging is subjective in terms of the perspective of "I" remember. Lifelogging technologies, as is warned, break the necessary barrier of forgetful memories, but as a recent case study has shown, these technologies actually help "objective" memory in the long run, and may help build tolerance as we stop self-selectively forgetting things. Lifelogging technologies aren't capable of recording the feeling of 'butterflies in the stomach,' but they can help us recall the exacting details of the moments that caused those butterflies to launch into dance, and the more details we can record, the easier those moments are to recall viscerally. There's a two sided coin to Si memory - when unJudged, these replicated memories can result in phobias or untold stresses; ironically, when paired with other techniques, they can be the tools to rid ourselves of overreactions. It's hard to learn from one's mistakes if one cannot remember them. It's equally hard to learn from one's mistakes if one unnecessarily dwells on them too, and is the nature of chronic depression.
Unlike virtual worlds, lifelogging
won’t allow you to walk in another person's shoes, but it
does allow you to look at the world through another
person's eyes. Or multiple people's eyes: memories tagged
for a particular time and place can call up similar
recordings from others at the scene, giving an
individual access to multiple perspectives on an event.
Here we diverge a little from Si into Fi. Introverted Feeling is the function that deals with empathy - being able to walk in another's shoes, or view through another's eyes. It's a Judgment function really, not a Perception one. Why they say you can't walk in another's shoes is beyond me - that's exactly what Lifelogging enables, down to the exact footstep if your Nike is hooked up to your iPod.
won’t allow you to walk in another person's shoes, but it
does allow you to look at the world through another
person's eyes. Or multiple people's eyes: memories tagged
for a particular time and place can call up similar
recordings from others at the scene, giving an
individual access to multiple perspectives on an event.
Metaverse Roadmap III: Mirror Worlds and Se
Mirror Worlds (External/Simulation) (Se)
True Telepresence is very narrowly defined, and most uses of the word are NOT telepresence (attention Cisco). A Wikipedia definition is
Here, remote control of the environment is included in the definition, and so would include Extraverted Thinking (the executive), but if we only include haptic feedback methods, we're staying within the realm of Se. With additional information collected via Ne and Si methods described elsewhere, we're capable of creating a sense of 'hyper-reality' with technology - more real than real. We can't fly on our own in real life, but Google Earth allows me to zoom and pan anywhere I want. We don't have Superman's microscopic vision, but molecular modeling can illustrate chemical reactions for instruction.
Se is a Pe function, and is Typically paired with an Introverted Judgment function - either Ti or Fi. When paired with Ti (as in ISTP or ESTP), the result is a mechanistic point of view. Mirror Worlds that attempt to recreate the Real Universe in function (solids are impermeable, gravity works, measurements and location are replicated exactly, even sounds are realistic) fulfill these Type-views. When paired with Fi (as in ISFP or ESFP), the result is an aesthetic point of view (patterns and textures, music and voices, fashions and architectural details replicated, people, plants and animals exist in the environment, things are entertaining). Ji (Fi, Ti) functions are analytical, not causal - one can analyze an individual M&M until the cows come home, and one can attempt to recreate the world to the most minute details until we've essentially duplicated the world in a box. Ultimately, these are all superficial (but necessary)
Most video games, despite taking place in Ni Virtual Worlds, seem closer to Se worlds, as they are superficial and usually limited to imitating real-world physics (or some internally defined set of rules). David Brin calls this 'creating the furniture first'. Personally, as someone who rarely pays attention to my environment, I've been disenchanted by the emphasis on recreating reality in virtual worlds - but I love Google Earth, because it's relevant to the function. I doubt I'd enjoy a virtual concert with my favorite musical artists, because the 3D world is distracting to the principal aesthetic (audio) and fails to approach replication of the rest of my senses (touch and visual). I don't *need* a 3D world to enjoy a live concert when my radio will do just fine. And gawd forbid I be required to 'walk' to another location in a virtual world - I'm using computer technology to escape the limitations of the real world. Until they find a way to recreate odors, there's no point in me slowing down to smell the roses.
Unlike virtual worlds, which involve alternate realities that may be similar to Earth’s or wildly different, mirror worlds model the world around us. The best known example of a mirror world (MW) is presently Google Earth... Initially, MW maps were based on cartographic surveys, with informational overlays. Later maps were updated with satellite and aircraft imagery, and now some (Google Earth, military systems) are being augmented by ground-based imagery... Some futurists have proclaimed that virtual worlds, the
Internet, global outsourcing and telepresence are heralding the “end of geography.”... Gelernter is optimistic that our coming data-rich geographic simulations can give us not only tree-level insight but also forest-level “topsight” into complex global systems, many of which are presently obscure.
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, at a location other than their true location.
Telepresence requires that the senses of the user, or users, are provided with such stimuli as to give the feeling of being in that other location. Additionally, the user(s) may be given the ability to affect the remote location. In this case, the user's position, movements, actions, voice, etc. may be sensed, transmitted and duplicated in the remote location to bring about this effect. Therefore information may be travelling in both directions between the user and the remote location.
Se is a Pe function, and is Typically paired with an Introverted Judgment function - either Ti or Fi. When paired with Ti (as in ISTP or ESTP), the result is a mechanistic point of view. Mirror Worlds that attempt to recreate the Real Universe in function (solids are impermeable, gravity works, measurements and location are replicated exactly, even sounds are realistic) fulfill these Type-views. When paired with Fi (as in ISFP or ESFP), the result is an aesthetic point of view (patterns and textures, music and voices, fashions and architectural details replicated, people, plants and animals exist in the environment, things are entertaining). Ji (Fi, Ti) functions are analytical, not causal - one can analyze an individual M&M until the cows come home, and one can attempt to recreate the world to the most minute details until we've essentially duplicated the world in a box. Ultimately, these are all superficial (but necessary)
Most video games, despite taking place in Ni Virtual Worlds, seem closer to Se worlds, as they are superficial and usually limited to imitating real-world physics (or some internally defined set of rules). David Brin calls this 'creating the furniture first'. Personally, as someone who rarely pays attention to my environment, I've been disenchanted by the emphasis on recreating reality in virtual worlds - but I love Google Earth, because it's relevant to the function. I doubt I'd enjoy a virtual concert with my favorite musical artists, because the 3D world is distracting to the principal aesthetic (audio) and fails to approach replication of the rest of my senses (touch and visual). I don't *need* a 3D world to enjoy a live concert when my radio will do just fine. And gawd forbid I be required to 'walk' to another location in a virtual world - I'm using computer technology to escape the limitations of the real world. Until they find a way to recreate odors, there's no point in me slowing down to smell the roses.
Metaverse Roadmap II: VR Worlds and Ni
VR/Ni
Then there's an interesting paragraph later, distinguishing between two kinds of VR:
Goals and task completion are the bailiwick of Extraverted Judgment, and is the complimentary mental function to Ni. When Je is the lead function (E _ _ J in the MBTI code) goals are the primary, well, goal of the Type. When it's in the second (auxiliary) position (I _ _ J), tasks are more important.
Je has two flavors - Te and Fe. When they're referencing 'serious games', it seems they're describing Te as opposed to Fe. In the standard 16 Types, Ni (or Si) is paired with either Fe or Te to create four types - ENTJ, ENFJ, INTJ, INFJ.
Electronic virtual worlds (first text based, later graphical)
have existed since our first personal computers (e.g., MUD,
Adventureland, and CBBS 1978)...
They are digital versions of narratives set in
“other realities” since the beginning of civilization.
Shamans,mystics and poets were the original weavers of these 'other realities' and are Ni dominants.have existed since our first personal computers (e.g., MUD,
Adventureland, and CBBS 1978)...
They are digital versions of narratives set in
“other realities” since the beginning of civilization.
Then there's an interesting paragraph later, distinguishing between two kinds of VR:
There is a useful distinction between VW-based multiplayer
games, such as Everquest or World of Warcraft, and VWbased
social environments, such as Second Life and Sony's
Home. Multiplayer games are goal-oriented, with social
interaction used as a tool for task completion; such worlds
are set in an internally-consistent fictional or fantasy-based
realm. In most, entertainment is a primary goal. In so-called
“serious games,” training and education are primary goals.
games, such as Everquest or World of Warcraft, and VWbased
social environments, such as Second Life and Sony's
Home. Multiplayer games are goal-oriented, with social
interaction used as a tool for task completion; such worlds
are set in an internally-consistent fictional or fantasy-based
realm. In most, entertainment is a primary goal. In so-called
“serious games,” training and education are primary goals.
Goals and task completion are the bailiwick of Extraverted Judgment, and is the complimentary mental function to Ni. When Je is the lead function (E _ _ J in the MBTI code) goals are the primary, well, goal of the Type. When it's in the second (auxiliary) position (I _ _ J), tasks are more important.
Je has two flavors - Te and Fe. When they're referencing 'serious games', it seems they're describing Te as opposed to Fe. In the standard 16 Types, Ni (or Si) is paired with either Fe or Te to create four types - ENTJ, ENFJ, INTJ, INFJ.
Social VWs, by contrast, exhibit fewer overt goals and value
structures, and offer more open-ended user freedoms,
creation of objects, economic and social interaction, and
interpersonal networks. In a few social VWs, such as the
rapidly growing world of Second Life, the user retains
some ownership rights to the objects, land, and other
assets acquired in the world...In practice, the game vs. social world distinction is often
blurred, as goal-directed games always emerge inside
social VWs, and as social experiences broaden inside the
more popular game worlds.
Extraverted Feeling (which is Je) is one's sense of community, and social VWs are the places where 'how' to interact are created. Chat rooms and usenet forums immediately spawned 'shoulds' and social mores (all caps is shouting, Thou Shalt Not Troll, etc).structures, and offer more open-ended user freedoms,
creation of objects, economic and social interaction, and
interpersonal networks. In a few social VWs, such as the
rapidly growing world of Second Life, the user retains
some ownership rights to the objects, land, and other
assets acquired in the world...In practice, the game vs. social world distinction is often
blurred, as goal-directed games always emerge inside
social VWs, and as social experiences broaden inside the
more popular game worlds.
While inspiring, the
vision (John Perry Barlow, 1996) of an emerging
independent cyberspace, with its own political and
economic rules and jurisdictions, like any sovereign
nation, was not echoed by MVR participants, who talked
of increasing physical world regulation over virtual space
in the foreseeable future.
But to move beyond today’... systems for user identity, trust, and reputation will
be needed, to ensure player accountability to the unique
rules of each world.
On the social side, perhaps the most obvious persistent trend
will be identity experimentation, self-revelation and role play
in VWs, and the creative variation of social norms around
gender, ethnicity, social class, etiquette, and group values and
goals
All bailiwicks of Extraverted Feeling - societal rules.vision (John Perry Barlow, 1996) of an emerging
independent cyberspace, with its own political and
economic rules and jurisdictions, like any sovereign
nation, was not echoed by MVR participants, who talked
of increasing physical world regulation over virtual space
in the foreseeable future.
But to move beyond today’... systems for user identity, trust, and reputation will
be needed, to ensure player accountability to the unique
rules of each world.
On the social side, perhaps the most obvious persistent trend
will be identity experimentation, self-revelation and role play
in VWs, and the creative variation of social norms around
gender, ethnicity, social class, etiquette, and group values and
goals
Metaverse Roadmap Part I
I recently came across the Metaverse Roadmap and realized very quickly that it maps very well to the Jungian mental functions of Perception. The following diagram shows how they categorize 4 types of Virtual Reality.
p5:
Here we have a wonderful mandala that is similar to many Jungian Mandalas, including my own Room With Four Views. External and Intimate have obvious echoes to Extraverted and Introverted - (and I'd suggest that they adopt the "proper" terminology ;-) - so I wondered if the other points on the compass corresponded to Jungian psychology.
The following blog entries are a narration of my thought processes as I read the pdf.
But first, a quick glossary of common shortcut terminology:
- Pe and Je - Extraverted Perceiving and Judging
- Pi and Ji - Introverted Perceiving and Judging
- Se and Si - Extraverted and Introverted Sensing
- Ne and Ni - Extraverted and Introverted Intuition
- Fe and Fi - Extraverted and Introverted Feeling
- Te and Ti - Extraverted and Introverted Thinking
• Intimate technologies are focused inwardly, on the identity and actions of the individual or object; in the Metaverse context, this means technologies where the user (or semi-intelligent object) has agency in the environment, either through the use of an avatar/digital profile or through direct appearance as an actor in the system.The first part of this quote is obviously Introversion. The second half, the Metaverse context, describes Introverted control of the Extraverted environment. This is how one describes the personality types that are framed by the letters I and J (IxxJ), or in order of preference, PiJe.
• External technologies are focused outwardly, towards the world at large; in the Metaverse context, this means technologies that provide information about and control of the world around the user.Can't get any more Jungian than that - "information about" is Pe and "control of" is Je.
So far, so good. Extraverted and Introverted have a direct analogy to their mandala.
Augmentation and Simulation require a bit of parsing, however.
- • Augmentation refers to technologies that add new capabilities to existing real systems; in the Metaverse context, this means technologies that layer new control systems and information onto our perception of the physical environment.
- • Simulation refers to technologies that model reality (or parallel realities), offering wholly new environments; in the Metaverse context, this means technologies that provide simulated worlds as the locus for interaction
It seems like each description is trying to define two different and opposite mental functions simultaneously. That presents an interesting puzzle.
Sensing is the mental function that deals with tangible reality. iNtuition deals with ideas and patterns and imagination (there is sensing imagination, but it's not usually the popular connotation). Neither "pure" mental function maps perfectly to their North/South dichotomy. I wonder if it is possible to map it to the mental-functions-in-attitude.
- Introverted Sensing (Si) is a map vs. the terrain.
- Extraverted Sensing (Se) is present and immediate.
- Introverted iNtuition (Ni) is metaphor and meaning.
- Extraverted Intuition (Ne) deals with patterns amongst entities and includes metadata.
At first, it seems that iNtuition maps to Augmentation (that which is not there) and that Simulation (that which is there) maps to Sensing. So it would seemingly follow that
- Mirror Worlds are Se,
- Virtual Worlds are Si,
- Lifelogging is Ni and
- Augmented Reality is Ne.
But I'm already guessing that's incorrect, because the Extraverted and Introverted poles don't match up that way.
It would seem to me that Virtual Worlds are Ni, augmented reality is Ne and Lifelogging is Si. So the poles of S and N don't purely overlap with Simulation and Augmentation . Changing our perspective a little bit (rotating the S and N poles 45 degrees), the diagonal pole of Mirror Worlds/Lifelogging maps better to Sensing, while the other diagonal pole of Augmented Reality/Virtual Worlds maps nicely to iNtuition. Reading on, let's see if I am correct by looking at the actual descriptions:
- Virtual Worlds (Intimate/Simulation) - Ni
Virtual worlds increasingly augment the economic and social life of physical world communities. The sharpness of many virtual and physical world distinctions will be eroded going forward. In both spaces, issues of identity, trust and reputation, social roles, rules, and interaction remain at the forefront.
-Hmmm...not a very good description about what VRs are, just what they'll mean. But guess what? That's frequently the nature of Ni descriptions - ubiquitously enigmatic and not about what things are, but what they mean.- Mirror Worlds (External/Simulation) - Se
Mirror worlds are informationally-enhanced virtual models or “reflections” of the physical world. Their construction involves sophisticated virtual mapping, modeling, and annotation tools, geospatial and other sensors, and location-aware and other lifelogging (history recording) technologies.
-Basically, an attempt at recreating the actual universe. While lifelogging is on the Si end of the pole, the usage of it is important here - to basically re-present reality as it happened, bring history to life, or Se-ness.- Augmented Reality (External/Augmentation) - Ne
In augmented reality, Metaverse technologies enhance the external physical world for the individual, through the use of location-aware systems and interfaces that process and layer networked information on top of our everyday perception of the world.
-Enhancing the external world ...on top of perception is exactly how Ne works - starting with the object and seeing patterns about and around the object.- Lifelogging (Intimate/Augmentation) - Si
In lifelogging, augmentation technologies record and report the intimate states and life histories of objects and users, in support of object- and self-memory, observation, communication, and behavior modeling. Object Lifelogs (“spimes,” "blogjects," etc.) maintain a narrative of use, environment and condition for physical objects. User Lifelogs, ("life-caching," “documented lives,” etc.) allow people to make similar recordings of their own lives. Object lifelogs overlap with the AR scenario, and both rely on AR information
networks and ubiquitous sensors.
-Only Jung could have described Introverted Sensing better.networks and ubiquitous sensors.
Let's map a Jungian mandala to their map:
The comment (with editorial annotation):Object lifelogging [Si] overlaps with the Augmented Reality [Ne] scenario
is interesting, because AR information is Ne, which is the polar opposite of Si [lifelogging]. And this gives us our first clue to the nature of Augmentation and Simulation.
In these two concepts, we have what Jung called the Transcendant Function -the unification of the opposites into an emergent function. Perhaps through technology we can achieve what is fleeting and difficult in 'normal' psychology - Transcendence.
So Augmentation is the unification of Ne and Si, while Simulation is the unification of Ni and Se.
In the next few blog posts, we'll investigate each pole in depth, to make sure we have concordance.
Cleaning Up Thunder Bluff | Gamers With Jobs
Cleaning Up Thunder Bluff | Gamers With Jobs
Here's a great article and subsequent commentary discussion about civility within muspaces. If we keep in mind subjective and objective principals here, we see that these conflicts are basically the primal conflicts between E and I in an objective, server-based world and personal, client-based PCs. The article presents the problems, and it's interesting to characterize the commentators and their proposed solutions, as either Extroverted or Introverted.
Here's a great article and subsequent commentary discussion about civility within muspaces. If we keep in mind subjective and objective principals here, we see that these conflicts are basically the primal conflicts between E and I in an objective, server-based world and personal, client-based PCs. The article presents the problems, and it's interesting to characterize the commentators and their proposed solutions, as either Extroverted or Introverted.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Four Views and Communications
| personal/private (subjective/personal) | empathetic/shared (personal/objective) | peer group (subjective/collective) | global/commons (collective/objective) |
| one to one | one to many | one to few | one to any |
| unicast | multicast | anycast | broadcast |
Mental Functions Table
Mental Functions Table
Below are the eight mental functions in one table, comparing their Extraverted and Introverted versions in two columns.
The top two sets are those of Perception (S and N), and the bottom two sets are those of Judgment (T and F). And there's a bonus set at the bottom.
| Extraverted (E) | Introverted (I) |
| forward | backward |
| active | reflective |
| superficial | deep |
| expend energy | conserve energy |
| external | internal |
| talk to think | think to talk |
| public | private |
| speaking | writing |
| same | different |
| Perception (Pe) | Perception (Pi) |
| State of being | Recalled/imagined state of being |
| Sensing (Se) | Sensing (Si) |
| present, and next and next | present to past |
| simultaneous | sequential |
| actual, factual, present and real | past, history, 'always been' and impression |
| realistic | caricature |
| tactile and sensory | visceral |
| terrain | map |
| Intuition (Ne) | Intuition (Ni) |
| present to future | eternity, past and future, unpresent |
| patterns between | metaphors within |
| possibilities | could have beens, once upon a time |
| Judgment (Je) | Judgment (Ji) |
| causal | analytical |
| compromised | fundamental |
| rule | principle |
| active | reactive |
| rule | exception |
| system | |
| group | sort/rank |
| executive | legislative |
| causation | correlation |
| Thinking (Te) | Thinking (Ti) |
| if...then | ...else ...else |
| compromised | fundamental |
| standard | unique |
| notation | denotation |
| Feeling (Fe) | Feeling (Fi) |
| custom/tradition | free will |
| community | individual |
| social mores | social liberties |
| harmony | solo |
| group | self |
| stereotype | archetype |
| sympathetic | empathetic |
| clarificiation | connotation |
| Server (e) | Client (i) |
| synchronous | asynchronous |
| client/server | peer-to-peer |
| server computing | grid computing |
| rss | http |
| ftp | bittorrent/bittyrant |
| IRC | IM |
| AIM/Yahoo/etc IM | Solipsis |
| push | pull |
If you'll note the color choices for the function headers, they're from the traditional colors first assigned by Jung. There's strong evidence that Jung was slightly synesthetic (as are many of his particular Type), so he labeled Sensing as green, iNtuition as yellow, Thinking as blue and Feeling as red. I assigned Purple to generalized Judgment (red/blue) and a yellow/green color for generalized Perception. I'm going to change the shades slightly, making the E versions slightly darker and the I versions slightly lighter, giving E 75% grey and introverted only 25% grey. Since orange was the only color not used in his system, I've reserved it for computers and the Internet.
More on Jungian Mental Functions
Well, there's a bit of jungian synchronicity in the air today. While I was composing my morning email stating that I'd be describing the Jungian mental functions much later today, I get a Google alert to an excellent article doing just that, saving me the pressure of writing so much. But it still requires a bit of set-up:
So far, we have Perception and Judgment
Perception
Perception also contains its own dichotomy, and therefore exists in two flavors - Sensing and Intution. We can abbreviate Sensing with S, but we have to use N for iNtuition, because Introversion already uses I as its abbreviation.
Quickly, Sensing involves the five senses, the somatic senses (temperature and pain) and vestibular senses (orientation and balance) and visceral senses (bodily states), and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Intuition involves the world of ideas, patterns, meaning, metaphor, insights, relationships and possibilities.
Judgment
Judgment also contains a dichotomy, that between Thinking and Feeling. Thinking and Feeling are both rational functions. Feeling does not mean emotion or emotional.
Thinking is making decision using logic and is devoid of value. It is the gesellschaft. It's abbreviated as T.
Feeling is making decisions using values, either of the personal variety (liberties) or the societal (social mores). It is gemeinschaft. It's abbreviated as F.
I'll be describing much better these four mental functions later.
Below, we have another mandala figure, squaring the two poles:
These four functions all exist in Introverted and Extraverted versions, so you end up with 8 basic mental function-attitudes - a three dimensional matrix.
Extraverted/Introverted Sensing (Se, Si)
Extraverted/Introverted iNtuition (Ne, Ni)
Extraverted/Introverted Thinking (Te, Ti)
Extraverted/Introverted Feeling (Fe, Fi)
I'll be posting some tables comparing these functions later (and their applications to a communication system), but for now, we have some descriptions of all of these in the the article I mentioned in the context of a book review, written by a secondary school student:
"Fifth Business" – The Jungian Personality Types by Vaneet S.
~
So far, we have Perception and Judgment
Perception
Perception also contains its own dichotomy, and therefore exists in two flavors - Sensing and Intution. We can abbreviate Sensing with S, but we have to use N for iNtuition, because Introversion already uses I as its abbreviation.
Quickly, Sensing involves the five senses, the somatic senses (temperature and pain) and vestibular senses (orientation and balance) and visceral senses (bodily states), and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Intuition involves the world of ideas, patterns, meaning, metaphor, insights, relationships and possibilities.
Judgment
Judgment also contains a dichotomy, that between Thinking and Feeling. Thinking and Feeling are both rational functions. Feeling does not mean emotion or emotional.
Thinking is making decision using logic and is devoid of value. It is the gesellschaft. It's abbreviated as T.
Feeling is making decisions using values, either of the personal variety (liberties) or the societal (social mores). It is gemeinschaft. It's abbreviated as F.
I'll be describing much better these four mental functions later.
Below, we have another mandala figure, squaring the two poles:
These four functions all exist in Introverted and Extraverted versions, so you end up with 8 basic mental function-attitudes - a three dimensional matrix.
Extraverted/Introverted Sensing (Se, Si)
Extraverted/Introverted iNtuition (Ne, Ni)
Extraverted/Introverted Thinking (Te, Ti)
Extraverted/Introverted Feeling (Fe, Fi)
I'll be posting some tables comparing these functions later (and their applications to a communication system), but for now, we have some descriptions of all of these in the the article I mentioned in the context of a book review, written by a secondary school student:
"Fifth Business" – The Jungian Personality Types by Vaneet S.
~
A Room With Four Views
At this point, we have defined the concepts of Introversion and Extraversion, and linked them to the definitions of Subjective and Objective, respectively. Other synonyms for these concepts are Personal and Collective, and correspond respectively.
If we intersect and "square" these concepts and graph them, we end up with four quadrants that create an interesting model - what I call a "Room with Four Views."
The combinations that results are
and the intersections of
The labels I've assigned to these quadrants are pretty "off the cuff" and maybe someday I'll come up with better terms.
If we intersect and "square" these concepts and graph them, we end up with four quadrants that create an interesting model - what I call a "Room with Four Views."
The combinations that results are
- Subjective/Personal (I^2), (or Private)
- Objective/Collective (E^2), (or Global)
and the intersections of
- Personal/Objective (I^E), (or Empathetic)
- Collective/Subjective. (E^I) (or Peer)
The labels I've assigned to these quadrants are pretty "off the cuff" and maybe someday I'll come up with better terms.
Jungian Mental Functions
Here we are, finally discussing Jungian mental functions.
After Jung realized the dichotomies of Introverted and Extraverted were not enough to explain all differences in Types of people, he eventually realized that all people basically have two mutually exclusive modes of operation, or mental functions : Perception of information and Judgment of information.
Perception
Perception is the psyche's portal for perceiving information in the external and internal worlds. Perceiving is 'the process of becoming aware of things, people, occurrences [events], [meanings,] and ideas' [Isabel Myers, 1980]. In other words, perceiving is the cognitive process of gathering information and bringing it into our consciousness. Perceiving can be thought of as the modem and the monitor of the mind. Perception is called an irrational process by Jung because it is not controlled, it merely is.
Judgment
Judgment is the psyche's answer to using the information gathered by Perception. Judgment provides structure and valuation to information. Myers describes judging as "the process of coming to conclusions about what is perceived" Judgment can be thought of as the processor and programming of a computer. Judgment is called a rational process by Jung because it is controlled
Another dichotomy squaring
These two functions operate in a bipolar model - one is either Perceiving or Judging, but never both simultaneously, just like one can either be Introverting or Extraverting, but never both - you're either being loud or quiet.
If we square the P/J dichotomy to the I/E dichotomy, we end up with another four-point mandala like the subjective/objective and personal/collective mandala.
In the 8 point mandala of these two poles, we end up with four modes of operation - Introverted/Extraverted Perception and Introverted/Extraverted Judgment. We can abbreviate these four points as Pi, Pe, Ji, Je.
I'll be re-editing this post and adding more to the descriptions of P and J and Pe/Pi/Je/Ji later, so check for updates.
After Jung realized the dichotomies of Introverted and Extraverted were not enough to explain all differences in Types of people, he eventually realized that all people basically have two mutually exclusive modes of operation, or mental functions : Perception of information and Judgment of information.
Perception
Perception is the psyche's portal for perceiving information in the external and internal worlds. Perceiving is 'the process of becoming aware of things, people, occurrences [events], [meanings,] and ideas' [Isabel Myers, 1980]. In other words, perceiving is the cognitive process of gathering information and bringing it into our consciousness. Perceiving can be thought of as the modem and the monitor of the mind. Perception is called an irrational process by Jung because it is not controlled, it merely is.
Judgment
Judgment is the psyche's answer to using the information gathered by Perception. Judgment provides structure and valuation to information. Myers describes judging as "the process of coming to conclusions about what is perceived" Judgment can be thought of as the processor and programming of a computer. Judgment is called a rational process by Jung because it is controlled
Another dichotomy squaring
These two functions operate in a bipolar model - one is either Perceiving or Judging, but never both simultaneously, just like one can either be Introverting or Extraverting, but never both - you're either being loud or quiet.
If we square the P/J dichotomy to the I/E dichotomy, we end up with another four-point mandala like the subjective/objective and personal/collective mandala.
In the 8 point mandala of these two poles, we end up with four modes of operation - Introverted/Extraverted Perception and Introverted/Extraverted Judgment. We can abbreviate these four points as Pi, Pe, Ji, Je.
I'll be re-editing this post and adding more to the descriptions of P and J and Pe/Pi/Je/Ji later, so check for updates.
Introversion and Extraversion
Now that we've established the concepts of Subjective and Objective, let's link these concepts to their other synonymous forms, those of Introversion and Extraversion.
Daryl Sharp is another noted Jungian lecturer, and has provided to the public a lexicon of Jungian terms. It is from this that we quote the descriptions of Extraversion and Introversion.
Extraversion: A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the outer world.
Introversion: A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the inner world.
From this point on, Extraversion will often be abbreviated as just "E" and Introversion will be abbreviated as just "I".
Originally, Jung thought that E and I were enough to differentiate, and apply to, people. Later we'll see he realized that it wasn't necessarily *people* who were E and I, but mental functions of the mind that had an orientation (and we'll get to those mental functions later). It's not incorrect to say that people can be broadly classified to prefer E or I, but we can easily be in danger of stereotyping people if we limit our descriptions of their total psyche to just those two categories.
So another name for Objective is Extraversion (from one's self, outward to the objective world), and another name for Subjective is Introversion (within one's self, inward to the subjective world). When we describe people as Introverts and Extraverts, we're describing people whose most preferred mental function is either Introverted or Extraverted.
Introversion vs. Extraversion and Internet Communications
We can apply these adjectives to computer communications as well. A computer whose orientation is outward is called a server, and a computer whose orientation is inward is called a client. A dummy terminal model is about as extreme of an Extraverted server as you can get. A stand-alone PC with no disk drive is about as extreme as a Introvered client as you can get, too. It wasn't so long ago that we actually existed in a dichotomous bi-polar world.
The Internet began to create the infinite shades of gray between these two poles. The preferred orientation between these two worlds has oscillated between servers and clients many times with each revolution in communication and computer capabilities. It can be said that the total personality of the Internet is as complex as the synergistic sum of its components, so it would take a lot of study to say at any given point in time exactly which world the Internet preferred at any certain time. Although, parts of the Internet can be described thus. And the components of the Internet (the computers ,the connections, the people, and the information) can be compared to Jung's mental functions and archetypes. But yet again, we'll get to those mental functions later ;-)
In Myers-Briggs terminology, the first letter of the (four-letter) MBTI code is either E or I. It indicates that People prefer either the Extraverted world or the Introverted world. They spend time in both, but in the end, prefer one to spend most of their time, and in which to re-energize.
One fun analogy is to pretend that every coin manufactured has a tendency to prefer one side or the other, and either Head or Tails wins out in a toss of 100 coins. And a very, very few prefer to land on their edges. Since the US Mint has created 50 different Types of quarters now, and plan to make 43 different dollar coins, it would be fun to see is the different designs create a situation where certain states are Heads states and others Tails states. To hell with labeling them as Red and Blue (or Purple). And don't get me started on the guess if JFK and Bill Clinton's dollar coins are going to be Heads or Tails.
I find it quite ironic that the most popular prefixes for anything on the Internet is either E or I. Maybe it's time to start differentiating between eCommerce and iCommerce, eGoogle and iGoogle, eMacs and iMacs. So let's have a little fun with this idea as we go along. Anything Server-like is e and anything Client-like is i. [Violations of trademarks are unfortunate, coincidental and nyah nyah, this is just a blog anyway.]
Maybe in the next post, we'll get to those darn mental functions.
Daryl Sharp is another noted Jungian lecturer, and has provided to the public a lexicon of Jungian terms. It is from this that we quote the descriptions of Extraversion and Introversion.
Extraversion: A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the outer world.
Introversion: A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the inner world.
From this point on, Extraversion will often be abbreviated as just "E" and Introversion will be abbreviated as just "I".
Originally, Jung thought that E and I were enough to differentiate, and apply to, people. Later we'll see he realized that it wasn't necessarily *people* who were E and I, but mental functions of the mind that had an orientation (and we'll get to those mental functions later). It's not incorrect to say that people can be broadly classified to prefer E or I, but we can easily be in danger of stereotyping people if we limit our descriptions of their total psyche to just those two categories.
So another name for Objective is Extraversion (from one's self, outward to the objective world), and another name for Subjective is Introversion (within one's self, inward to the subjective world). When we describe people as Introverts and Extraverts, we're describing people whose most preferred mental function is either Introverted or Extraverted.
Introversion vs. Extraversion and Internet Communications
We can apply these adjectives to computer communications as well. A computer whose orientation is outward is called a server, and a computer whose orientation is inward is called a client. A dummy terminal model is about as extreme of an Extraverted server as you can get. A stand-alone PC with no disk drive is about as extreme as a Introvered client as you can get, too. It wasn't so long ago that we actually existed in a dichotomous bi-polar world.
The Internet began to create the infinite shades of gray between these two poles. The preferred orientation between these two worlds has oscillated between servers and clients many times with each revolution in communication and computer capabilities. It can be said that the total personality of the Internet is as complex as the synergistic sum of its components, so it would take a lot of study to say at any given point in time exactly which world the Internet preferred at any certain time. Although, parts of the Internet can be described thus. And the components of the Internet (the computers ,the connections, the people, and the information) can be compared to Jung's mental functions and archetypes. But yet again, we'll get to those mental functions later ;-)
In Myers-Briggs terminology, the first letter of the (four-letter) MBTI code is either E or I. It indicates that People prefer either the Extraverted world or the Introverted world. They spend time in both, but in the end, prefer one to spend most of their time, and in which to re-energize.
One fun analogy is to pretend that every coin manufactured has a tendency to prefer one side or the other, and either Head or Tails wins out in a toss of 100 coins. And a very, very few prefer to land on their edges. Since the US Mint has created 50 different Types of quarters now, and plan to make 43 different dollar coins, it would be fun to see is the different designs create a situation where certain states are Heads states and others Tails states. To hell with labeling them as Red and Blue (or Purple). And don't get me started on the guess if JFK and Bill Clinton's dollar coins are going to be Heads or Tails.
I find it quite ironic that the most popular prefixes for anything on the Internet is either E or I. Maybe it's time to start differentiating between eCommerce and iCommerce, eGoogle and iGoogle, eMacs and iMacs. So let's have a little fun with this idea as we go along. Anything Server-like is e and anything Client-like is i. [Violations of trademarks are unfortunate, coincidental and nyah nyah, this is just a blog anyway.]
Maybe in the next post, we'll get to those darn mental functions.
Subjective vs. Objective
Today, Carl Jung's psychological models are pretty much ignored by modern academic psychologists. (Freud at least gets an honorable mention, if only in derision!) Perhaps the only place where Jung has continued to play an integral role is via the ubiquitous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It's a shame, because, while Jung's nacsent models seem outdated in light of modern studies, they're very valuable when describing the nascent psychology of Internet communications. Jung's first psychological model is the most valuable, that of the dichotomy between subjective and objective. Today, the connotations of subjective and objective are very different from Jung's original denotations. In order to properly apply his model to Internet communications, some clarification is necessary.
These explanations come from Alan Hoch, a noted Jungian lecturer:
Objective systems of psychological understanding.
An objective system is made up of that information which is commonly understood for anyone who is in the same context. That is, it provides a collective way to understand the various aspects of any circumstance.
Subjective systems of psychological understanding.
Whereas objective systems revolve around common ways of communicating and interpreting events, subjective systems revolve around personal experience. In other words, they arise from the unique circumstances and experiences of the lone individual.
Jungian Psychology
Jungian thought is primarily concerned with the subjective comprehension of the individual - e.g. how they conceptualize their world. It is not primarily interested in group to group relationships or providing an objective system for interpersonal interaction.
Jungian Thought and Internet Communication
Despite the last caveat, let's apply these descriptions to Internet communications anyway. To date, multi-user spaces have attempted to create the absolutely objective POV. The subjective POV has been completely ignored, or actively suppressed. There are a priori limitations to attaining objective communication in realspace, and there are also a priori limitations to internet communications. Therefore, simultaneity can only exist as an abstract ideal. This isn't to say that we should stop striving to close the gaps to achieve a synchronous nirvana, but we're doing at the expense and suppression of the individual end-user. In the battle between objective and subjective, when we're talking about Internet or Realtime Communications, the subjective wins by default. Technologically, after all, my computer's specs are different than yours. Additionally, my internet connection speed is different from yours (as well as how I connect). So is my monitor measurements, screen size, and resolution. Psychologically, my perception of information is probably different than yours. How I evaluate said information is probably different from yours as well. Additionally, my color perception, vision acuity and hearing are probably different too. Jung originally saw objectivity and subjectivity as a dichotomy, an abstract and strict either/or : either it's a global view or an individual view. The power of imagination is that we can navigate the full spectrum of a bi-polar model, describing shades of gray between black and white. The power of computer technology is that we can illustrate those descriptions and share them with others. "Look, this is how I see this." With technological and psychological differences amongst every end user, we should take advantage of those differences and embrace the subjective just as much as we strive to create sameness and achieve absolute objectivity, and help people communicate, and understand, both.
Not Subjective vs. Objective, but Subjective and Objective. ---
These explanations come from Alan Hoch, a noted Jungian lecturer:
Objective systems of psychological understanding.
An objective system is made up of that information which is commonly understood for anyone who is in the same context. That is, it provides a collective way to understand the various aspects of any circumstance.
- They represent collective 'compromises' meant to help facilitate personal and group and understanding
- They provide 'rules of thumb' or commonly understood ways of communicating basic needs and ideas.
- They tend to be concerned with surface, easily seen attributes and behaviors.
Subjective systems of psychological understanding.
Whereas objective systems revolve around common ways of communicating and interpreting events, subjective systems revolve around personal experience. In other words, they arise from the unique circumstances and experiences of the lone individual.
- Have a 'you had to be there' sort of quality.
- Have the virtue of arising from first hand, practical experience.
- Represent how the lone individual understands and conceptualizes his environment.
Jungian Psychology
Jungian thought is primarily concerned with the subjective comprehension of the individual - e.g. how they conceptualize their world. It is not primarily interested in group to group relationships or providing an objective system for interpersonal interaction.
Jungian Thought and Internet Communication
Despite the last caveat, let's apply these descriptions to Internet communications anyway. To date, multi-user spaces have attempted to create the absolutely objective POV. The subjective POV has been completely ignored, or actively suppressed. There are a priori limitations to attaining objective communication in realspace, and there are also a priori limitations to internet communications. Therefore, simultaneity can only exist as an abstract ideal. This isn't to say that we should stop striving to close the gaps to achieve a synchronous nirvana, but we're doing at the expense and suppression of the individual end-user. In the battle between objective and subjective, when we're talking about Internet or Realtime Communications, the subjective wins by default. Technologically, after all, my computer's specs are different than yours. Additionally, my internet connection speed is different from yours (as well as how I connect). So is my monitor measurements, screen size, and resolution. Psychologically, my perception of information is probably different than yours. How I evaluate said information is probably different from yours as well. Additionally, my color perception, vision acuity and hearing are probably different too. Jung originally saw objectivity and subjectivity as a dichotomy, an abstract and strict either/or : either it's a global view or an individual view. The power of imagination is that we can navigate the full spectrum of a bi-polar model, describing shades of gray between black and white. The power of computer technology is that we can illustrate those descriptions and share them with others. "Look, this is how I see this." With technological and psychological differences amongst every end user, we should take advantage of those differences and embrace the subjective just as much as we strive to create sameness and achieve absolute objectivity, and help people communicate, and understand, both.
Not Subjective vs. Objective, but Subjective and Objective. ---
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)