01

eerste opzet:

Chapter for an edited book addressing the impact of digital media on the way we use, perceive and plan space

Original question: how did the convergence turn everyday life into a game?

Our theme: gamification as a means in "tuning human behavior"

1. All space is mental and virtual.

-It is part of how human perception works (the construction of 'points of matter' in at a certain distance (spatial or temporal) from ourselves. We can also calculate distances between points that are not ourselves (derived distances).

-All space is 'virtual' (what is it to be virtual? It is "Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination.", in other words it is one level of indirection from 'truth' or 'reality', because our perception of space is a map of the world. This map is a representation.

-A different formulation of the same principle is: "There cannot be space that is not a product of imagination".

2. From our own perspective, for ourselves, we cannot be sure about how many levels of virtuality our perceptions are 'away from truth' (world -> perceptions), (God -> world -> perceptions), (world -> computer -> perceptions), (world -> God -> perceptions), (computer -> God -> yellow berries -> perceptions)

-We ourselves cannot determine whether our own perceptions are simulated by a computer.

-With today's simulations, we usually can, because we have learned the differences.

-Without this 'prior knowledge', we can't.

-This means: virtual worlds are just as real as the real world (to an observer in one of these worlds at least)

3. Our construction of space is influenced by our goals, desires and thoughts etc.

-Perception is both a representation of 'how things are now' and an array of buttons we can push

-Space is how we layout our options, the things we can do in the world.

-A distance in this sense is a measure of effort to reach a certain goal

-We have long taken for granted that our perceptions are perceptions of 'the world', but with virtual reality, and the internet, we are shaping much of this world ourselves (world -> our actions -> computer simulations

-simulations are spaces that are (clearly and easily) distinguished from 'the real world'

4. Utopia: gamification as a means in "tuning human behavior"

-restructuring space -> restructuring options -> restructuring behavior

-gamification needs feedback mechanisms: restructuring behavior -> restructuring space

-an internet connection is a wormhole

-mobile phones are movable wormholes

-connect/disconnect

-we have always been "tuning human behavior" (power, belief systems, education, media)

-what has changed is that this tuning is now so much more personalized (which can make it more effective, much faster feedback loops, possibly more fun)

-we are using techniques from gaming (entertainment) in non-gaming (serious) situations

Overall message: humans have always been tuning everyday life. everyday life is still 'serious'. but it might be more fun, because we use techniques from gamification. with more fun, this might make it easier to 'do the right thing'