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shenlongshao · 5 years ago

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GG Strive Thoughts: Part 3

Welcome to the last part of my Guilty Gear Strive thoughts!^_^ I'll be focusing on the art-style and character designs, so there will be lots of pictures in this post. I hope you enjoy reading!

Art-Style & Graphics ---------------

Guilty Gear's visuals always had a detailed, Sci-Fi fantasy anime look with creativity of the 1990s and early 2000s. This mostly stayed the same until Xrd SIGN, which introduced 3D cel-shaded graphics in a new way. The art-style also changed a bit from previous games, although it has kept its creativity.

GG Xrd SIGN and the following games(Revelator and Revelator 2) look beautiful, but it took me a while to get used to the art-style because of those dreaded chins. The characters should've just used their chins to fight cause of how long and pointy they are; just go "SLLASSHHHH!" XD Certain features of characters were exaggerated like Sol's shoulders being a bit too wide for his body or how Baiken's hair is thicker and spikier. Some people say it's "too anime", but that isn't the right word for it. I would say "whimsical" is main trait from the art-style, which is fitting for how funny the interactions are in-game and lighter tone in story.

Guilty Gear Strive keeps the cel-shaded 3D graphics, but manages to expand it further. Instead of its presentation akin to an anime TV series, it's now akin to a high-budget anime movie with detail given to both the characters and the environments. It's less whimsical this time, giving the impression the story will be darker in tone. I'm really happy the art-style was changed to being closer to the older GG games like X2; no more ice-cream cone chins!XD The characters also got redesigned to match the essence of the new game. I'll be talking about eachone in order from least to most in terms of design changes. I'll also rate them in Guilty Gear style grade form. POTEMKIN ------------------- There seems to be mixed reactions when Potemkin got revealed for GG Strive. Some were happy he looked generally the same while others were a little disappointed and asked, "How come he didn't get a huge redesign like the other characters?!" The answer is he already did; this is how Potemkin originally looked like in the GG series.

This design relates to Potemkin's story in the beginning. The Zepp empire in the past was a very corrupted, technology advanced nation. It contained battle-slaves with strength enhancement steriods and bound them with a special limiter. Potemkin was one of these battle-slaves with his huge, red metal color being the limiter. If he ever took it off, it would explode. However, Zepp was changed when Gabriel became President and freed all the Zeppian slaves, including Potemkin. He now serves as Gabriel's bodyguard out of genuine loyalty, gratitude, and care for his mentor and the renewed Zepp.

Judging on his old design by itself, I think he looked average(based on what he's wearing). His features definitely fit the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" because Potemkin is actually a gentle giant who's very intelligent. But the way he looks(except when interacting with certain characters), it's like he wants to break someone's bones, lol.

In the concept artwork in Guilty Gear X Plus(Japanese exclusive game), it hinted of what Potemkin will eventually developed into look-wise and story-wise. Even the pose from this pic was used later in Xrd SIGN. I really wish the design of the boots was used instead those weird looking ones he's wearing now, XD.

Now to look at Potemkin's design in Xrd SIGN.

This is Potemkin's drastic redesign needed because of the changes in his life and his resolve being tested. I love this design so much because it accurately portrays Potemkin's personality. The first is his steel helmet with a spike at the top, accented with the Zepp symbol at the center of his forehead. His face is mostly shrouded in darkness except for the glowing lens. The yellow ponytail fur attached adds to the essence of a modern steel knight. Next is the black collar having spikes at the front; he also has on spiked shoulder plates to emphasis his strength. The power part is also in the round-shaped limiters attached to the upper parts of his uniform and glove compartment of his gauntlets. The design of his gauntlets is derived from the GGX Plus concept art, except the gloves completely cover his fingers and has a robotic aesthetic to it. I notice green is the most dominant color in Potemkin's design and there's a reason why besides it being Zepp's uniform.

Here is the Green Personality taken from Color Psychology (https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/personality-color-green.html):

You are a practical, down-to-earth person with a love of nature. You are stable and well balanced or are striving for balance - in seeking this balance, you can at times become unsettled and anxious. Having a personality color green means you are kind, generous and compassionate - good to have around during a crisis as you remain calm and take control of the situation until it is resolved.

You are caring and nurturing to others - however you must be careful not to neglect your own needs while giving to others. You are intelligent and love to learn - you are quick to understand new concepts. You are a good citizen and like to be involved in community groups. You have high moral standards and doing the right thing is important to you.

There is more, but I only taken pieces that describe Potemkin's personality, showing why green is his main color. Now onto his look in GG Strive starting with his helmet.

On the forehead of the helmet, the Zepp symbol is no longer a design mark, but an carved symbol with the words "Armor-clad faith" underneath. Instead of just darkness on his face, it accentuates the robotic aesthetic with the gears and the lens having an orange tint. Next is a full body screenshot of Potemkin.

The spiked shoulder plates is less noticeable and his uniform is more formal. There's now a maroon-red collar with white trim and yellow buttons. The spikes on the black collar part of his outfit is gone, there's thick pockets on the lower part of his suit and has a brown belt instead of black. His boots is also brown instead of black and the plates around his feet is orange instead of red. There's additional limiters on his upper back that is revealed when doing certain attacks, showing his power has grown more. His muscle mass has also gotten super HUGE to the point I wouldn't be surprised if he reached Sentinel(X-Men) size, XD.

Design Rating: S++(Fantastic!) SOL BADGUY ------------ ---------- Sol Badguy is the main protagonist, so there was never a worry or surprise of his GG Strive design. There's also the fact his design isn't really new; it's heavily derived from the artwork of Guilty Gear 2:Overture. But first is looking at Sol's most iconic design from the GG series.

I'll always love this design because I think it's stylish, cool, and timeless. He's handsome in the traditional tough-guy way and perfectly fits the anti-hero type. His metal red headband acts as a limiter for his Gear powers and has the words "Rock You" in the center of his forehead. Besides it symbolizing his love for Queen's "Sheer Heart Attack" music album and controlling his Gear powers, it also symbolizes how he keeps his inner thoughts to himself and close-mindedness. He wears a black undershirt layered with a sleeveless, chest-length red jacket with a buckle strap. This style is very unconventional, which is exactly Sol is; he doesn't follow typical conventions. His red and black gloves conveys his toughness while his belt with the "FREE" tells of his philosophy. This also hints complexity to his nature since the belt is from when he was in the Holy Order, an aspect of his past. This shows he's inwardly caring and values the people in life along with his experiences. Lastly, is his white pants accented with buckles and red shoes.

The GG2:Overture Short Stories goes into some detail of the events before the game like how he was entrusted to raise Sin(Ky & Dizzy's son), etc. The major difference with Sol's design from the short stories is he's wearing a sensible red jacket similar to his old one, but its design still has traits of being its own style. His black undershirt is slightly different with a small V-shape cut-out in the middle, longer sleeves, and slightly loose around his stomach instead of fitted. His gloves has more of a biker vibe to them and no aspect of red nor buckles within them. He still wears red shoes on his feet, though tweaked in its looks. While this did hinted of Sol's character development, it wasn't a large factor because alot of the huge events at the time and before were placed on him rather than him confronting it by himself. It's why for Xrd SIGN, he primary reverted to his iconic look, though his GG2:Overture Short Stories look did get tweaked and used within the game's Story Mode. Now for his GG Strive look.

His GG Strive design blends both his GG2:Overture Short Stories look and aspects of his iconic design, which I really like. The red jacket with black trim conveys his free-spirited persona, yet also comfortable and relaxed. There's also a little bit more white seen on the cuffs of his jacket, meaning his heart is more open. This relates to his character development of finally confronting his past, his feelings, and his relationships. But he's still Sol Badguy and there's much for him to find out and explore, especially since red and black is still his main colors. There is deep meaning to this too.

Red Personality(https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/personality-color-red.html):

You are action oriented and physically active - sex is a necessity to you - you have strong survival instincts. Lovers of red are the explorers and pioneers of the world, the entrepreneurs and builders who like to be first in discovering new physical realms. You are always in a hurry, wanting to do everything right now. Patience is not one of your strong points. Red people can be aggressive and easy to anger, often exhibiting a violent temper - this is negative passion and energy. You flare up instantaneously but calm down quite quickly once you get it out of your system and then forget it ever happened. You have a strong need for power and control which is connected to your basic survival instincts.

Black Personality(https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/personality-color-black.html):

You are independent, strong-willed and determined and like to be in control of yourself and situations. You may appear intimidating to even your closest colleagues and friends, with an authoritarian, demanding and dictatorial attitude. You hold things inside and are not good at sharing yourself with others, possibly out of fear. You may be retreating behind black during a difficult time in your life such as a serious illness or a period of grief - black protects, allowing for a deep inner healing without interference from others. I'll add traits of the color White since there's a noticeable amount on Sol.(https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-white.html): Positive traits of White: Simplicity, self-efficient, growth/new beginnings, open, equality, rescuer, and sense of completion. These traits describe Sol. Overall, I like the design and feel it suits him well. Design Rating: S+++(Perfect!) MAY ----------- So far, May is the only female character revealed for the initial roster of GG Strive. There's mixed reactions with May's redesign for the new game. Some are happy she finally looks like she's in her early to mid teens(like 14 or 16) instead like a little girl. But others aren't happy with the changes to her outfit, saying it's bland. Let's look at May's iconic design.

In my opinion, May is the coolest looking child character. Her open-sides style coat with side slits layered with a skin-tight bodysuit blends both cute and stylish. Adding to it is the tricon pirate hat, silver plating on her wrists and neckline, and orange short boots with black trim. Lastly, a black belt is around her waist while buckles accents her orange coat. This shows she's spunky, cheerful, and deceptively strong. In the story, her origins was unknown at the time, which perfectly fits due to there's black as part of color scheme(one of the meaning for black is mystery). Story-wise, May's development gradually grows from finding Johnny and later recruiting Dizzy as a member of the crew. Her curiosity of her heritage surfaces, causing some changes in her design.

In Xrd SIGN, Her skin-tight bodysuit is gone and replaced with just a black, fitted tank underneath her orange overalls. Her pants is loose-fitting along with having a big buckle around her waist and different boots still in orange with black trim. She doesn't have the silver plating collar, but other aspects of her iconic look like her pirate hat is kept. May finally finds out she's Japanese and dealing a mysterious condition that (currently) can't be cured. This is a huge story development for May that leads to be expanded further and another redesign. First is looking up the facial shot of May for Guilty Gear Strive.

May's facial features is the first noticeable difference. The art-style is a strong factor in this, but May looks physically older. She still has big, cute brown eyes, though not as large as in Xrd SIGN. This makes her face appear a little longer face to convey a hint of maturity. Yet, she still hasn't escaped being just cute in an innocent way. Another difference is her hair is slightly shorten to halfway to her back instead to her waist. It's also loose instead of a thick ponytail within her pirate hat, which I think it's a nice little change. Her hat is shaped more round instead of oversized tricon while still retaining the pirate skull at the front. The anchor design on the sides makes it both simple, yet stylish. Now to see the full body of May's new look!

.....Lol, May is wearing a dumb orange hoodie, XD. What's worse is the hoodie has no special designs pertaining to May's personality or style; it's overly casual. There's also no shape, making her look like a fat fish. The skin-tight black short-shorts doesn't help with how oversized the hoodie is, which if it weren't for certain angles, it gives the illusion she isn't wearing anything on her lower body. It looks like lounge wear meant to be worn around the house instead of clothing a person would wear going on an adventure. Speaking of adventure, she has a backpack.

The backpack itself is cute because it's Chimaki(mascot of GG) and do see the the letter J with a heart; meaning love for Johnny. But other than this, this backpack also doesn't really relate to May. Besides being the mascot for the series, Chimaki is specific to Sin because it's favorite toy. None of May's official art ever showed her having a Chimaki toy or accessory. The casual look gives me the impression she quit the Jellyfish Pirates, but her winning animation of her saying "Jellyfish victory!" and Leap(the elderly lady who cooks) being there disproves this theory. Besides the hat, the only things kept from her iconic look is her gloves and boots. There's a heart on one of her thighs; a fitting aspect for a pirate.

Now to look at the Orange personality since it's May's main color(https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/personality-color-orange.html):

With orange as your favorite color, you are warm, optimistic, extroverted and often flamboyant. You are friendly, good-natured and a generally agreeable person. You are assertive and determined rather than aggressive - having a personality color orange means you are more light-hearted and less intense than those who love red. You thrive on human social contact and social gatherings, bringing all types together.

You live your life based on your 'gut reactions'. You are an adventurer - you love the outdoor life, camping, climbing mountains and indulging in adventurous sports such as sky diving and hang gliding. You are the daredevil, always looking towards your next challenge, your next great adventure.

This definitely fits May's nature. My impression of her simpler look probably hints of May is unsure of herself and trying to figure something out. Her expression in her new character portrait has this too; it's the first one of her not smiling. But I still think this new look for May is bad(except for the hat, the boots, and the gloves). Her design should've been something like this picture link below.

https://imgur.com/Ue1XdhT The top would need to cover her stomach, but this design perfectly fits with May's nature and role as a Jellyfish Pirate. It also conveys she's adventurous and can easily implemented the backpack as part of the design. But it wasn't used... I'm nicknaming her May of the Jelly-Fat, lol. Worst design so far(and hopefully the only one). Design Rating:D(for Derailed) KY KISKE ----------------- Ky's radical redesign for GG Strive was such a huge shock to everyone. At first, people thought it was Sin(Ky's son) until examining him closely. It's funny how many people are saying "Ky's handsome now" and saying he has an athletic body when in reality, he always did, XD. It isn't the first time Ky got big changes to his look based on the events in his life, but I'm going to focus on Ky's iconic design.

Ky is the opposite of Sol; the traditional knight-in-shining-armor type hero. This is another design I'll call timeless and my personal favorite look for Ky. He's very handsome in a princely way, which is fitting since Ky is a French noble. He wears a white shoulder cape containing a high collar with blue trim. It's attached to the blue knight-tunic with black trim in the front, accented with a white, trench-coat like detail. There's twin belts attached to his blue and black gloves while one is on his matching boots. Layered underneath his uniform is his black and white, sleeveless turtle neck and fitted detached sleeves. The belt around his waist with "HOPE" conveys Ky's philosophy. This attire is the Holy Order uniform, which conveys how strongly Ky holds onto the teachings and experiences he had during those times. His story at the time was about fulfilling his duty and doing what he knows and believes is right. Blue and white has always been Ky's main colors, which tells alot about his personality.

Meaning of White Personality(https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/personality-color-white.html):

Having a personality color white means you are neat and immaculate in your appearance, in the presentation of your home and in your car, almost to the point of being fanatical. You are far-sighted, with a positive and optimistic nature. You are well-balanced, sensible, discreet and wise. You think carefully before acting - you are definitely not prone to impulsive behavior. You tend to have a great deal of self control. You may appear to be shy, but you do have strong beliefs about most things and love the opportunity to air those beliefs. The challenge for you is to be open-minded and flexible and to communicate your needs and desires. Meaning of Blue Personality(https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/personality-color-blue.html): You are conservative, reliable and trustworthy - you are quite trusting of others although you are very wary in the beginning until you are sure of the other person. At the same time, you also have a deep need to be trusted. You are not impulsive or spontaneous - you always think before you speak and act and do everything at your own pace in your own time. You take time to process and share your feelings. You are genuine and sincere, and you take your responsibilities seriously. Having a personality color blue means you have a deep need for peace and harmony in your everyday life - you don't like having your feathers ruffled. You would benefit from daily meditation and quiet time for reflection, introspection and self-discovery.

You appear to be confident and self-controlled, but may be hiding your vulnerable side. Being a personality color blue means you are generally fairly even-tempered, unless your emotions take over - then you can become either moody and over-emotional, or cool and indifferent. You are sensitive to the needs of others and caring with your close circle of friends. While you are friendly and sociable, you prefer the company of your own close group of friends.

You are a rescuer and love to be needed but one of your lessons is to learn to love yourself first - you live from your heart and are always busy putting the needs of others first. You can be rigid - you like to stick to what is familiar to you and it is hard to sway you from your path - you stubbornly do things your way even if there is a better way. You need to have direction & order in your living and work spaces - untidiness and unpredictability overwhelm you.

You are approachable and friendly, always making people feel welcome in your life. You have a thirst for knowledge in order to gain wisdom and appear knowledgeable in whatever area interests you. You are spiritual or religious with a high degree of devotion to family, God, or other causes that are important to you. If reacting negatively, you are prone to self-pity. These perfectly fit Ky's personality and has mostly stayed with him throughout his character development. Now to look at his GG Strive redesign beginning with the head.

One of the obvious difference is Ky's hair is short, reminiscent of his iconic look. But it raises the question of how since according to the story, it's stated his hair grows rapidly no matter how many times he tries to cut it(due to heavily implying he's part Gear). I'm guessing either Ky followed Sin's method of cutting his hair every 3 days or he found a special hair product to prevent rapid growth, XD. I notice the style of his hair is a bit different; the strands of his bangs is shorter and thicker. It creates a boyish look instead of a young man, which doesn't fit Ky. It doesn't seem noticeable during gameplay, but cutscene-like sequences it's the opposite. His hair should've been exactly like GGX2.

His facial structure and eyes in GG Strive is exactly like in GGX2 except for one part; his chin. While Ky's chin was never wide like most male characters, it usually isn't this narrow either. The narrower chin makes him look younger and with how the hair is styled, it gives the impression it's Ky from an earlier timeline. If his chin was similar to how it was in GG X2, it will improve his look alot and show he's mature and sophisticated. Next is examining the full body picture of his new look.

This is a huge departure in many ways. The only aspect inspired from his iconic design is the shoulder cape, but it lacks the blue trim around the helms and collar. Instead, there's black trim at the helms and hints of blue at the back with the words "Illyrium". His semi-fingerless gloves with fingernail plating is something he doesn't usually wear, but the back of his hands does have plating saying "Nothing can be done without hope". It shows he still generally has the same philosophy and key traits he's known for. The fact his "HOPE" belt is replaced with 2 standard belts(one black and the other brown) implies his mindset he carried from the Holy Order is gone and became open-minded. His open, V-neckline shirt with a single sleeve is inspired from this.

I do find it interesting how this reveals(pun intended) a different side of him, XD. It adds a sense of sensuality that leading men from romantic novels have and obviously it being sexy. Next is his fitted pants accented with blue crosses at the front then his boots with blue trim at the bottom. The most significant change is how Ky's dominant color is now black, which has important meaning to his character development.

Positive traits of Black: Include protection and comfort, strong, contained, formal, sophisticated, seductive, mysterious, endings & beginnings.

Negative traits of Black: Depressing and pessimistic, secretive and withholding, conservative and serious, power & control, sadness and negativity.

All of these fit Ky and since he's wearing alot of black instead of blue and white, this implies he has or going to have an internal struggle. I haved mixed feelings about his new design.

I love the concept of it and think it's nice to see Ky wear something different as his main attire. By itself the outfit is good and easy to adjust to, it's just not as unique as his original design. The design of blue crosses from his GG Accent Core Plus ending should've been implemented in the new design and add some gold trim to balance out all the black. I think his gloves should be changed to be more stylish along with the silver plating. If it had these tweaks, Ky's new design would be perfect.

Design Rating: A(Great!) CHIPP ZANUFF ------------------------ The reveal of Chipp's redesign has mostly been positive, but all of us immediately said "He is so BUFF!" People say he looks handsome now and have joked he worked out at the same gym as Chris Redfield, XD. Let's look at Chipp's previous design!

Chipp's iconic look definitely displays the street-punk style and rowdy persona. This perfectly fits with his dark past of being a former biochemical drug dealer and addict. He has wild spiky hair, small red earrings, and a leather choker around his neck. The fishnet undershirt is both punk-style and those who practice ninjitsu wears. He has fingerless gloves with silver, square-shaped plating. This aspect is also on his belt and short-length boots. There's two leather buckles strapped around the right leg of his white pants and has on a loose-fitting ninja vest with silver buttons. This highlights his newly adopted values he got from his mentor and father-like figure Master Tsuyoshi. Chipp even has on black eyeliner around his eyes to emphasizes the punk look. Since he primarily wears black and white with hints of red, this tells about his personality. Black and white together obviously means viewing things in a straightforward way instead of complex like gray. Red conveys of his hot-headed masculinity, passion, and impatient nature. Combined with the other colors, it shows Chipp's other side of having pure intentions, even though it doesn't always come across right.

In Xrd SIGN, only minor tweaks were made such as adding a red sash attached to his belt, extra detail on his pants and boots, and slightly thicker eyeliner. Ever since becoming president of a (currently) unofficial nation dubbed "Eastern Chipp Kingdom", Chipp's personality seemed to have mellowed some, though still has his impulsive tendencies. Chipp has been through alot of character development since the beginning. Now for his redesign for GG Strive starting with his face.

One of the things I notice about Chipp's face is while it's still narrow, it's a little fuller and smoother with slightly higher cheek bones. His chin is also about an inch or 2 wider than how it was in the Xrd series. His eyes still has the same defined shape, but the eyeliner isn't as thick. These tweaks to his facial features makes him look handsome and approachable instead of angry and rough. But his fiesty side is still there because besides his eye shape, his upper teeth now has some small fangs. Now to see a full body picture...

Chipp's hair also got tweaked; tt's still spiky, but more stylish instead of wild. Instead of strands of hair rest on his forehead, he has noticeable asymmetrical bangs. Besides his red earrings, Chipp's 2 main colors(black and white) is kept along with a little more red from the strings attached to his ninja gauntlets and strapped sandals. He still has the red sash attached to his belt, though this time he has a thick, rope belt(I think it's called "Obi"). His white pants is very loose-fitting and no longer has twin buckle straps, but does have a little more detail with the side silver buttons. On his upper body, Chipp has on a leather vest with a form-fitting, sleeveless turtleneck. The height of the collar covers his mouth and contains buckle straps. This look is inspired from his design in "The Butterfly and Her Gale".

It has aspects of the high collar, gauntlets, and boots, even though the boots was tweaked to be sandals. This redesign shows Chipp fully embraces Japanese culture and the ways of ninjitsu. I think it may also hint of him being or becoming a master himself and training others, especially with how he's gotten so muscular. The way they mixed old and new with Chipp's redesign is amazing and love the tweaks to his face and hair. I do think his pants maybe a bit too wide along with the rope-belt, but other than that his look is perfect.

Design Rating: S++(Awesome!) AXL LOW ------------------- "Axl got PANTS!" is the main reaction people had when he got revealed and the majority agree it's a much needed upgrade. This is the 3rd time Axl has gotten major design changes since GG:The Missing Link. His look from GGX and onwards greatly emphasizes he's heavily inspired from real-life singer Axl Rose. For Axl, I'm going look at his redesign for Xrd SIGN.

In comparison to the others, Axl's design was never high-fantasy or elaborate, but it makes sense he's from the 20th century. His look in Xrd mixes aspects from the 1st GG and GGX, which conveys his easy-going nature and trying to adapt to the future he's in while maintaining his values of the past. He still has his signature UK cap, brown fingerless gloves, and matching shoes. His white shirt has a unique black zipper tie that adds a hint of contemporary along with his blue jacket. Attached to his black belt on the hips is cloths of the UK flag and has on blue shorts. Red and blue has mostly been his main colors(with some white) that tells of his peaceful, friendly, and passionate nature. In the story, Axl is finally confronted about why he time-skips and must make a hard decision that forever change his life. The choice he made leads him to major character development along with what role he will play in the story, so he needed another redesign to reflect this.

This design shows Axl has embraced the current timeline while maintaining his love for his country. His fingerless gloves is a lighter brown along with his ankle-length boots. He wears a red plaid jacket with white sleeves and black with orange trim at the helms. Underneath is his a sleeveless, form-fitting tank with 3 zippers at the front and a brown buckle at the mid-section. On his lower body is a belt with a UK buckle and fitted, detailed black pants with zippers on the side. This look is inspired by the concept art.

I notice his new design as a mixture of colors compared to before, though it seems black is the most dominant color. One of the meanings for black is power and control, which fits with how Axl now has control over his Time powers. He also has an aura of confidence compared to his uncertainty in the past games. This is the perfect design for Axl because he looks amazing and conveys his personality well.

Design Rating: S+++(Perfect!)

Thank you for reading this! I'll make a series of this as more characters of the game are revealed in the future!^_^

#GG2020 #Guilty Gear 2020 #GGS #Guilty Gear Strive #GG Strive #arc system works #daisuke ishiwatari #Sol Badguy #Ky Kiske #May #Chipp Zanuff #Potemkin #Axl Low #character redesign #my thoughts #analysis

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thegreatcorpus · 4 years ago

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Leyte Normal University

College of Arts and Sciences

Language and Literature Unit

EVALUATION OF MEDIA CONTENT TRHOUGH LANGUAGE USE

A Concept Paper

Submitted by:

FRNZA MAE G. ARCEGA

JOSHUA D. DAGAMI

MARY JANE LABUTAP

BAEL AE2-1

Submitted to:

MR. ROGELIO TICOY, JR.

Instructor, Language and Media

July 15, 2020

DEFINITION OF TERMS

The term “media linguistics” has been formed based on the combination of two key components “media” and “linguistics”, the subject of this new discipline is the study of language functioning in the sphere of mass communication. In other words, media linguistics deals with overall complex research of a particular social field of language usage. (Luginbühl, 2015)

Language registers refer to the levels of formality are used in different situations and scenarios. It is important to be conscious on how we are going to use language appropriately in presenting our messages, when to use a specific register and in what type of media platform it should be used. Topic, audience, purpose and location should be taken into consideration when choosing a register. According to Nordquist (2019), “there are five existing language registers. It includes frozen/static register, formal register, consultative register, casual register and intimate register.

Language style also known as stylistics, is the study of style used in literary, and verbal language and the effect the writer/speaker wishes to communicate to the reader/hearer. It attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language. It strengthens the contact with the reader and heightens their awareness. (Lamichhane, 2017)

Grammar refers to the structural regulations and rules that govern the construction of phrases, sentences and words in any language. This is because they are extremely important for the communication that is desired. Although, some might argue that correct grammar and spelling does not really matter, especially in advertising, like what Paul Suggett (2010, as mentioned in Sommerfield, 2014) statement “A sentence that is structured beautifully, obeying all the laws, and bylaws, of the English language, is not what advertising is all about. In fact, in advertising you don’t even need to use real words, good sentence structure, and proper punctuation, or obey any of the rules that were drummed into you in school.” Indeed, using grammar seems like an uphill battle, but media content without it is a suicide.

Semiotics, also called semiology, is the study of signs and sign-using behavior. The Swiss Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, one of its founders, defined it as the study of “the life signs within the society”. On the other hand, American Philosopher Charles Sandres Pierce defined sign as “something which stands to somebody for something” and contributed its categorization into three namely: icon, index and symbol. He added that a sign can never have a definite meaning, for the meaning must be continuously qualified. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020)

Pragmatics deals with utterances, by which we will mean specific events, the intentional acts of speakers at times and places, typically involving language. Logic and semantics traditionally deal with properties of types of expressions, and not with properties that differ from token to token, or use to use, or, as we shall say, from utterance to utterance, and vary with the particular properties that differentiate them. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019)

INTRODUCTION

Media is deeply rooted in our lives that it is significant in our personal lives, as well as in business, politics and society. Its importance has grown exponentially. It seems like the world is lifeless without it.

Rapid development of the print and the electronic media, quick growth of virtual communications and the Internet have enormously changed people’s lives, giving stimuli for the development of the whole range of information society theories. (Luginbühl, 2015) It creates an overwhelming feeling which made people to take every information that is served on the table. Oftentimes, it misleads people that is why it is important to critically think and evaluate media content.

Patton (1987) defined evaluation as “a process that critically examines something. It involves collecting and analyzing information which include its activities, characteristics and outcomes. It is done in order to make judgments and to ensure that they are as effective as they can be. It can help us identify media content.

This paper aims to provide criteria that will help media users in evaluating media content of different types of media through language use.

DICUSSION

Media content can be evaluated through representation, audience, institutions, language, ideology, narrative and genre, but we are only going to focus on how language is used in these media types. It is also called as media linguistics.

There are six different types of media: Print Media, Visual Media, Electronic Broadcasting Media, Outdoor Media, Transit Media and Digital Media. Each media type will be evaluated on how language is used, specifically language registers, language style, grammar, semiotics and pragmatics.

PRINT MEDIA

Print media represents the oldest and the most widespread type of mass media published on paper. It includes books, circulars, journals, lithographs, memos, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, and periodicals. (Oxford Reference, 2020)

Evaluating print media content in terms of:

Registers: Papers with an international audience usually use formal register.

Stylistics: It follows formal type of writing. it also uses a hierarchy of information to guide the consumer’s attention towards the most important statement/topic. Claims or statements are supported with evidence either in text or figure. Author’s information is usually detailed to make it easy for prospects to contact them and it holds them accountable for any problems on their published article.

Grammar: In this type of media, correct grammar and spelling should be observed. Based on the study conducted by Appelman & Bolls (2011), grammatical errors can affect the credibility of news stories and the amount of time and effort required to read them. Such errors increases reading difficulty and lower readers’ perception of credibility.

Semiotics: Effective print media design is bold and clear. Fonts should be easy to read and high quality graphics should work together. A few prominent graphics will do a much better job that having numerous elements scattered throughout the page. Contrast is everything. It highlights the most important parts of the message to create some visual appeal. Monotone color palette or tones that are very similar to each other are refrained from using.

Pragmatics: The main function of headlines and titles is to inform the reader briefly about the text that follows. They also signal of the paper’s attitude to the facts reported. Also semantically, the headline can be interpreted due to its literal meaning and inferences that readers reach depending on their cognitive knowledge. In order to demonstrate the meaning in its full efficiency, pragmatic aspects are also helpful in specifying the purpose of the article by making appropriate sense. The writer can use different stylistic devices such as discourse markers and connectors, metaphors, rhetorical questions, and emotive words to facilitate the interpretation of the utterances and attract readers’ attention. (Ismail, 2016)

VISUAL MEDIA

Visual Media as defined by the International Visual Literacy Association is ‘a group of vision competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences. (Welsh & Wright, 2010) In addition to this, it is as a set of competencies that ‘enable a visually literate person to discriminate and interpret the visual actions, objects, and/or creative use of these competencies, we are able to communicate with others. (Debes, 1969) it includes images, paintings, videos and infographics.

Evaluating visual media content in terms of:

Registers: Papers with an international audience usually use formal or casual register to attract a wider scope of audience. Lasquite (n.d.) stated, that visual communication is a key component in visual content marketing. Every marketer understands the value of sending the right message to consumers.

Stylistics: Content of this type of media is not going to be plain and boring if they are full of interesting characters and places, if they are connected to themes like good vs. evil etc. and if they have engaging prose that the audience can appreciate.

Grammar: Bradley (2010) said that design elements are like letters and words. When we add design principles and apply them to our elements, our words, we form a visual grammar. As we learn to use both we enable ourselves to communicate visually. In life we can communicate through the spoken word or through gestures. In design we’re bound by a visual language. Even the words on the page are made up of characters of type which are abstract shapes. Written language itself is a visual representation of spoken language. Bradley also stated that the visual grammar, is the context within which we study design principles. When we learn to use girds or better understand typography or color we are doing so in order to communicate more effectively with our audience. The principles are the trees. Visual grammar is the forest.

Semiotics: Parsa (n.d.) stated that in visual semiotics iconic signs look like its object. They are more ‘motivated’ signs. The indexical signs draw attention to the thing to which it refers. The symbol signs, - e.g. a red rose is a symbol of ‘passion’ in Valentine’s Day and means ‘love’– are unmotivated or arbitrary. In a different culture this color of flower may not signify ‘passion’ or ‘love’. Also, any information, if not directly provided, is gained via a process of interpretation. Texts are not always produced recognizable codes in a communicative process. Usage of symbolic narratives, metaphors and metonymy may restrain the comprehension and signification of the text. In other words, in the exploration of the connotations and the associations, one requires to “make interpretations”. It also includes the material used, camera angles and color filters.

Pragmatics: David Lodge, writing in the Paradise News, says that pragmatics gives humans "a fuller, deeper, and generally more reasonable account of human language behavior." Without pragmatics, there is often no understanding of what language actually means, or what a person truly means when she is speaking. The context—the social signs, the image, body language, and tone of voice (the pragmatics)—is what makes utterances clear or unclear to the speaker and her listeners.

ELECTRONIC BROADCASTING MEDIA

Electronic media is the media that one can share on any electronic device for the audiences viewing, internet to transmit facts, skills, understanding, knowledge and appreciation with the aims of to attract general publics in general and marketers in particular. Popular examples of electronic media are television and radio. (Wikipedia, 2020)

Evaluating electronic broadcasting media content in terms of:

Registers: Electronic broadcasting media sometimes use formal register because less rigid but still constrained, where communication is expected to be respectful, uninterrupted, and restrained. Slang is never used and contractions are rare. However, it also uses consultative register. often in conversation when they are speaking with someone who has specialized knowledge or who is offering advice

Stylistics: Electronic broadcasting media is combined with a general negative view against excessive foul language has tempered electronic broadcasting into a much more “family friendly” media form. They use electromechanical energy or electronics for public to access the content. Main resources of electronic media are CD-ROM, online content, slide presentations, audio recordings, video recordings and multimedia presentations. Emotional appeal and repetition is highly observed.

Grammar: Electronic broadcasting media encompasses any form of media that is primarily consumed through listening. The grammars that they used in conveying the information to the audience are appealing and interested in the ears and eyes of the viewer.

Semiotics: Electronic broadcasting media uses connotation since they are designed to generate culturally-significant meanings. Iconic sign is usually used in advertisements of this media type. Advertisers do this, not only through repetition, but also through the combining of symbols, bringing words, images and music together into one meaningful and coherent composition.

Pragmatics: Its language contains plural codes, which interact to create new meanings or messages. Electronic broadcasting media uses the language without any opinion to the audience and convey the information just like they are interacting to the audience.

OUTDOOR MEDIA

Outdoor media is typically consisting of any advertising seen outside of the home, and is primarily grouped into a few specific categories such Billboards, posters and transit to name a few. Outdoor advertisements are the best medium to inform the moving population. Once an advertisement board is installed at a place, it usually remains there for a fairly longer period. What is best in outdoor media is that it can be displayed at a place where best impact can be created. (Nguyen, 2020)

Evaluating outdoor media content in terms of:

Registers: It uses casual register because it is probably use when you consider how you talk with other people, often in a group setting—marketers to be specific. Use of slang, contractions, and vernacular grammar is all common in Outdoor media. Also, Outdoor media uses the static register wherein it contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices.

Stylistics: Outdoor media often uses public notices in advertising to different locations. It also uses figurative languages to make their advertisement more reliable and catchier to the commuters or even to the tourists. Outdoor media uses visual techniques to make the viewers more attentive and languages are more powerful in visualizing their ads for the commuters and tourists to have a desirable view.

Grammar: Just like any advertising and marketing strategy, outdoor advertising requires research and preparation so that their use of grammar may not be mistaken because it can affect their viewer’s insight about their advertisement.

Semiotics: When it comes to branding and advertising, semiotics can provide some amazing insights. In some cases, the sign can be an exact representation of the thing being signified, while in other cases, it may be a symbol associated with it. In outdoor media, they use image to visualize the product being sold. They also use word to convey a message with the same effectiveness as an entire picture. It uses the Rule of Thirds and The Golden Mean.

Pragmatics: Outdoor media uses words and images to advertise their products and the words and pictures that they are using, connects to the understanding of the people. The words and images they used are more attractive, catchy and have a bigger size for their viewers to be more interested in their advertisement.

TRANSIT MEDIA

Transit media refers to advertising placed in, on, or around modes of public transportation: buses, subways, and taxis, as well as at bus, train, and subway stations. Transit media can be a great way to reach a really diverse audience: families traveling to daycares, professionals heading to work, tourists navigating a new town, or even students making their way to a local coffee shop. (Hendricks, 2020)

Evaluating transit media content in terms of:

Registers: Conversational register is often used in this type of media because of its target audience.

Stylistics: Placing a message outside targets a larger audience and is recognized by three quarters of passing individuals. It serves as a last minute reminder or as impulse motivator at pricely a time when real and potential consumers are on the move. Exterior bus posters, displayed on the front, back, and sides of the vehicle, offer advertisers high exposure, particularly in largeurban areas. There are commuters and tourists, or people in cabs, rental cars, and on foot who can see the rolling billboard go by. According to "The Complete Guide to Creative Out-Of-Home Media Forms," bus exteriors are available in 80 to 85 percent of the top 100 markets in the United States on more than 36,500 buses. The bus exteriors provide "mass audience exposures" that are repeated and reinforced as they follow the same routes every day. The more innovative, intriguing and humorous it is, the better.

Grammar: The message should be brief consisting of at least 3-5 words.

Semiotics: It also helps that nearly all transit ads are available at eye level with large graphics and text. The message should be legible. Colors are used to contrast each other. It builds a recognizable format or layout that catches the briefest eyes contact.

Pragmatics: Every transit agency that advertises has guidelines dealing with "objectionable" material. The problem comes in defining what might fall into that category. Seventy percent of the respondents indicated that they had formal, written guidelines addressing ad content. The restrictions differ throughout the transit industry, but generally include some variation of the following prohibited content: illegal, indecent, or immoral ads; political, alcohol, or tobacco ads; libelous, obscene, or profane ads; ads that ridicule individuals or groups of people; advocacy of or opposition to a religion, denomination, tenet, or belief; violent, criminal, or anti-social behavior; false, misleading, or deceptive ads; adult materials and services; explicit sexual material; pornography or businesses that traffic in pornography; and advertising that appears as graffiti, gang signs, or symbols.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital media are any media that are encoded in machine-readable formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on digital electronics devices. Examples of digital media include software, digital images, digital video, video games, web pages and websites, social media, digital data and databases, digital audio such as MP3, electronic documents and electronic books. (Richard, 2013 as mentioned in Wikepedia, 2020).

Evaluating digital media content in terms of:

Registers: It uses casual register or consultative register because it is probably use when you consider how you talk with other people, often in a group setting—marketers to be specific.

Stylistics: User-generated content raises issues of privacy, credibility, civility and compensation for cultural, intellectual and artistic contributions. The spread of digital media, and the wide range of literacy and communications skills necessary to use it effectively, have deepened the digital divide between those who have access to digital media and those who don't. Each digital media network has its own intended purpose and audience. Understanding this and matching your content and tone to the proper social media outlet is imperative for success..

Grammar: Gumpart & Cathcart examined how new media develop their own grammars, the way individual acquire media literacy, and the effect of media literacy on ways people relate to the world and each other. It concludes that people develop different states of media consciousness based upon the… media grammars, and that particular consciousness produce media gaps which separate people.

Semiotics: When it comes to graphics, it uses color psychology. Photos and videos can boost your social media strategy. Tweets that feature images earn 150 percent more retweets are favorited 89 percent more and lead to 18 percent more clicks. Typing in all capital letters is visually alarming, they also communicate that you’re upset (and yelling) about something. It should be avoided. When used correctly, hashtags will increase your online visibility and followers. When used in excess, it looks spammy and becomes ineffective.

Pragmatics: Its language contains speech acts like constatives (assertive, concessives, suggestive, suppositive, responsive), directives (request, question & requirement), expressives (thank, accept, reject, negative opinion & positive opinion) and attachments (link, code & log).

CONCLUSION

Media has evolved rapidly over the last couple of centuries. These changes brought a lot of convenience in accessing different types of information, from typical newspapers to our smartphones. It provided an ocean of information these days, but “we need to be critical enough not to drown in hoaxes and misinformation.” Hence, it is our duty to be responsible consumers of information, regardless of media type, and to examine every small detail we see and hear on the media. Indeed, “media is a blessing for humans as it plays a vital role in our personal lives and many other walks of our lives.” It lies upon us who decide whether “media is a blessing or a curse.”

REFERENCES:

Gray, J. (2008). How to move into moving media: Transit Media. Journal of Marketing. Retrieved from https://journals.co.za/content/mfsa1/2008/04/EJC74350

Gumpert, G. & Cathcart, R. (2009). Media grammars, generations, and media gaps. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/15295038509360059

Appelman, A. & Bolls, p. (2011). Article Recall, Credibility Lower with Grammar Errors. Newspaper Research Journal. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/073953291103200205

Herrmann, E. (2015). Language Register: What is it and why does it matter in education? Retrieved from https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/language-register-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter/education

Nordquist, R. (2019). What is Register in Linguistics? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/register-language-style-1692038

Eilders,C. (2016). Print Media. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/9781118541555.wbiepc193#accessDenialLayout

Wikipedia (2020). Digital Media. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/digital_media

Wikipedia (2020). Electronic Media. Retrieved fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_media

Oaks, D. (2011). Rethinking the role of grammar in advertising and marketing curriculum. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/073953291103200205?journalCode=nrja#:~:text=It%20was%20observed%20that%20grammar,retention%20and%20low%20perceived%20credibility.

Nguyen, G. (2020). Types of Outdoor Media. Retrieved from https://penji.co/types-of-outdoor-advertising/

Oxford Reference (2020). Print media. Retrieved from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100346392

Lewis, J. (2020). Semiotics in Advertising. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-semiotics-advertising-38593.html#:~:text=Semiotics%20are%20frequently%20used%20in,symbol%20that%20signifies%20something%20else.

Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020). Semiotics. Retrieved from https://encyclopaediabritannica./semiotics

Authors:

Frenza Mae G. Arcega

Joshua D. Dagami

Mary Jane Labutap

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x0401x · 6 years ago

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Animate Times Interview with Jin

An interview about Jin’s third album after five and a half years – in this album, there is nothing but “people cannot live alone” as the theme.

The third album of the artist Jin-san, “Mekakucity Reload”, hit the shelves on November 7th 2018. The latest album was announced about five years and six months after the release of the second album, “Mekakucity Records”, so it gathered a great amount of expectations and attention from the fans.

We have carried out an interview with Jin-san! We asked him about the feelings he has put into each composition, about what to pay mind to when listening to the songs, and about episodes that ensued during the recordings. This has turned into a interview in which Jin-san’s peculiar sense and thoughts, as well as his strong emotions towards his fans, can be felt.

Translations Index >>

Approaching Jin-san’s void of five and a half years.

――A period of five years and six months passed between the release of the second album “Mekakucity Records” and third album “Mekakucity Reload”.

Jin-san (henceforth “Jin”): To begin with, Kagerou Project were songs that I made for people fretting over friendships. When delivering my works to these people, I had this feeling that I didn’t want to create compositions while I was at a loss, you see. I didn’t want to lie to the fans.

――What exactly does your “not wanting to lie” mean?

Jin: For example, I don’t want to make songs that go, “It’s fun to be alive!” when I’m actually thinking that I don’t want to do anything. I believe talking and laughing with people in the times when I don’t feel like saying anything or seeing anyone is the same as lying.

From that point onward, I thought of displaying the righteousness that I have in mind and did my best to try writing the novels. Lately, I’m also in this flow of meeting people that I want to make music with, getting enthusiasm from them and tackling my song compositions.

――Meaning that, rather than obsessing over a new shape, you wanted to do what you hadn’t been able to?

Jin: That’s right. The models I used to make in elementary school look completely different from the ones I make now, but it’s almost like there was no change at all to what I’m doing. In the past, I got dismissed when I talked about what I wanted to do, like, “But this is that kind of thing”, and the frustration from it might have been what created this album.

What I thought while making this album was, “Serves you right; I could do it after all!” (laughs). I’m confident that I became capable of creating works that are even more powered-up than the previous ones.

――Jin-san, what was the biggest reason for your motivation to rise?

Jin: It’s gotta be my encounters with people. Meeting people that had me going, “What would happen if I made something together with them?” was a big deal.

――I think that “relationships between one person and another” is included in Kagerou Project’s themes, but this album was something born from these relationships, wasn’t it?

Jin: There’s relationships between people in it too, but this album has nothing other than “people can’t live alone” as theme. Its appearance is complex, but I think it’s essentially a simple theme. I believed that, if I were honest with myself, I’d be able to make something positive. I think it’s a good theme, if I do say so myself (laughs).

The feelings comprised in the word “reload”.

――Please tell us the concept of this album.

Jin: There’s a composition called “Shissou Word” that I uploaded prior to the sale of the album, and within the song, I sing that “it’s strange how normal things are so difficult”.

Things that I feel to be extremely hard are like breathing to certain people, and they will ask me, “Why can’t you do normal things?”. Understanding the difference in values from being asked something like this was an experience that came across as very difficult.

I also uploaded a song called “Additional Memory” too, and it sings, “I didn’t want to become friends (with you)”. When the protagonist of it must part ways with a certain person, she resents it, like, “I should have done that one thing; why didn’t I say it back then?”

Themes like these are included in all of the songs, and they’re connected to the theme “involvement with people”. There might not have been this kind of concreteness residing in them at first, though.

――Either way, you had the feeling that you wanted to make music lately, right?

Jin: It’s not like I declared, “This time, I want to make an album that will have involvement with people as the theme!” and made it just like that. It feels like, when I actually tried making it, I realized the idenity of something burning within me. When I turn around and look back, I feel that thinking of wanting to make these songs was thanks to my meetings with many people.

――Please tell us the meaning behind the title “Mekakucity Reload”.

Jin: As expected, it would be too shallow a reason if I said that... the word was simply cool (laughs). The word “reload” means “to charge one more time” and “to redo”. There were lots of things left undone in the previous album, so this time, I wanted to make something that definitely wouldn’t leave behind any lingering attachments.

The title “Mekakucity Reload” is close to a revenge of my creative viewpoint. There’s also the fact that I’d wanted to face my highly fervorous pieces once again and make this into a work in which I was fighting my past self.

I want each person to think of what meaning the word “reload” carries from the values, world-building and story of this work.

――Jin-san, to you, this album turned out as a work for kids and teens, didn’t it?

Jin: That’s right. It’s really a work packed with heat, and to me, these compositions make one think that they’re really meaningful, so I’d like people to prepare themselves when listening to them.

He wants to aim for the depiction of “something like the fourth grade of elementary school” instead of second year of middle school.

――What kind of relationship does this album have with “Kagerou Project”?

Jin: I think that the newest philosophies that I didn’t manage to portray in the other stories have been inserted into it in a raw way. My manner of depiction has also changed in comparison to before, so I think the accuracy and strength of my music has stood out as well.

I wonder if I was able to express with great fervor the hidden feelings of each Kagerou Project character through this. In particular, we have the theme of “future” this time as well, and the characters are gradually growing into adults.

――It’s been five and a half years since the last album, after all.

Jin: As a story, it was a tale about children who fought in the summer, but I’m in this trend of starting to contemplate positive themes such as “the future”, and that’s also linked to quitting being a child. As they grow up, it almost feels like they cease to be the main characters of the story.

When I uploaded the songs, I had the impression that they resonated very vividly with the fans. Seeing those reactions, I was relieved that this album turned out as the driving content of Kagerou Project.

――If the characters end up becoming adults, will they lose the “chuunibyou-ish” coolness that they’ve had until now?

Jin: I’m often told that my songs are chuunibyou-like, but I actually want to be told that they’re “like fourth grade of elementary school” (laughs). I don’t want them to be thought of as the second year of middle school, but as something younger.

My use of a chuunibyou-ish portrayal is a metaphor in a way, because when I try to picture the aspects of becoming an adult, it turns out feeling like the second year of middle school no matter what.

The sense of children becoming adults and of youth coming to an end has properly resonated with the fans. I think that the emotional of someone turning into adult gains empathy in deep portions.

――I see. I’m looking forward to how Kagerou Project will develop from now on.

Jin: I think that, as the fans also become adults, their way of reading and interpreting the lyrics gradually changes. Growing into an adult means that there’s a possibility of new people coming along, and from now on, I’m thinking of continuing Kagerou Project as a story of children too.

I believe that, through the appearances of new characters, the viewpoint of Kagerou Project will become one that I hadn’t been able to depict until now.

His song-making does not deliberately tell everything, leaving room for imagination.

――What kind of song is the lead song “Additional Memory”?

Jin: I’d wanted to write about passionate sentiments in a way that would vividly pierce through people. This is also one of the things I hadn’t been able to portray in my past works.

――The production of the piano performance and the sounds strummed by the electric guitar approaching each other in alternation was impresive.

Jin: I myself had the feeling that I managed to apply my ideas to this production smoothly. Comparing to before, rather than saying I earned a new technique, I worried with all my might about how I’d express my sound. I made Additional Memory by prodding into a vivid form of expression nore thoroughly than in the past. Even if I compare it to all my compositions of until now, this was the one that took most time to create.

Also, the one who shows up in this song is the character named Ayano, and I was able to depict in it her inner thoughts, which I hadn’t managed to describe with any of the other Kagerou Project lyrics up to this point.

――What does that mean?

Jin: Until now, if I wanted to talk about ten things, I’d say ten things. But, in this song, in order to convey ten things, I only talked of about six. However, I think that the passionate sentiments comprehended in the song are being transmitted to the fans.

I was thinking that the piercing feelings and regret, as well as the moratorium swirling throughout the environment that surrounds the protagonist, looked intense. I want to expose six things instead of talking about ten, and let people imagine the other four.

――Was it not difficult to make a song without saying everything?

Jin: It’s difficult and takes time, and I also needed a period to cool myself down for it. Amongst the albums, I have the feeling I made a song that thrusts in a great amount of regret and moratoriums. It’s also a song that pictures an aspect of the story that I hadn’t been able to write about until now, so I think it’s easy to sympathize with the emotions in it.

His desire not to betray the fans was what led the album to completion.

――There’s an original manga with a story written by you, Jin-san, in this album’s Limited Edition A, right?

Jin: It’s a story in which the character named Kokonose Haruka goes around asking his companions, “What are friends?”. The mangaka Saiyuki-sensei is in charge of the art, and I consider this person to be one of the important friends that I met in these last five years. Meeting him became one of the triggers for me to think that I wanted to make this album.

That’s why, if you ask me why the special edition comes with a manga, I’d say it’s largely because I’d wanted to create something together with him. I wonder if my and Saiyuki-sensei’s portrayal managed to turn into a work that will shake everyone’s hearts. It’s a must-read content.

――The Limited Edition B has accoustic versions of four songs played and sung by you, but what songs are these?

Jin: They’re Shissou Word, Lost Day Hour, Remind Blue and Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni. Of course, there’s the fact that they match my own voice and synergy, but I think these four songs feel good to listen to when I sing to my accompainments.

――How was singing them yourself?

Jin: It was my first time singing to while playing, and even as I myself listened to the finished songs, I couldn’t find the right answer. If you ask me why I sang them then, it’s because I’ve met people whom I believe I can entrust my songs to. I was happy that they would ask me, “Isn’t it fine to deliver it like that?”, so I have the feeling that, as I thought, my connections with people were a big deal in this.

――The second season of the TV anime Mekakucity Actors was announced back in 2016, so how will this album work with it from now on?

Jin: Just like with the music, I have this thinking that I don’t want to do things half-assedly. I also met people that made me think, “I want to do it with this team”, so I hope the fans can wait with high expectations.

Also, from now on, I believe I’ll be able to convey new things to everyone through manga and novels for Kagerou Project. It looks like I’m coming up with stuff leisurely since I took a few years’ time, but I’m surprisingly producing them in a hurry (laughs).

I took this time in order to make it into a good work, and I think I’ll be able to release works in a quicker span next time. I’d be happy if you could look forward to them.

――Meaning that, for the fans, it was worth the wait.

Jin: I think children are fighting right now. In this album is my desire for it to be a trigger so that these kids will carry the feeling of never giving up. I’ll be happy if this work can make the people who listen to it smile.

I took a long while until I was able to release a work that I could proceed with by not lying to myself. I want you to have faith in this album and listen to it.

――Thank you very much.

#kagerou project #kagepro #mekakucity actors #mekakucity reload #kagerou daze #jin #shizen no teki p #animate #interview #my translation

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foolishmeowing · 6 years ago

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Introduction to Time and Qualia in a Cruelly Pluralistic Reality

Scattered across a couple years of posting, I've been leaving notes on an interpretation of reality designed to either resolve or clarify a number of outstanding metaphysical problems, especially regarding qualia, time, and causality -- fundamental cosmological issues which at this point tend to invoke defeat, fear, desperation, and dismissal due to the difficulties involved in a topic which upsets the foundations of the language used to discuss it, the amount of effort already spent to reach this point, and the lack of engineering applications which might entice people to study, say, M-theory to any equivalent level of difficulty. Nevertheless, the world, anomalously, exists, and that validates metaphysics as a real line of questioning.

What this post is going to attempt to do is write as clear of an outline as I can of the anomalies I've been covering, given my lack of polished essaying experience. I will try to consolidate my synonyms and place them together naturally, with some bolding. These terms come from a mixture of continental, analytical, and classic sources, as well as natural word-pairings. They may differ from the same phrase used elsewhere; This is normal in philosophy, as it is a sparsely populated field which mutates quickly from point to point, and modern analytical departments only just began the task of indexing known options a couple generations ago. “Horizon” mutates with with every flicker of an ontologist’s coping mechanisms. To limit space and executive function, many present and historical alternatives to the systems as presented will be glossed over. Many (especially formal properties bound within their scope) can be adjusted without breaking core points. Some are incompatible with core points, and may be considered disproven, too narrow to account for evidence, or in need of attention. One reaches a point where there are many valid paths, and the only way forward is to take your torch down a long path. Because this is a slightly reader-friendly outline, arguments won't appear in as full form as they do elsewhere or upon request, so the phrasing is somewhat prescriptive. I hope it's clear enough that it might make sense without a metaphysics background after a few attempts; It’s literally a one-draft infodump.

Ontology is the study of what it means "to be." Its problems are cosmological on a scale which sets the context for causality, and are not limited to the grammatical properties of "being," though that is a primary starting-point for study. Ontology is usually only understood publicly in terms of the behavior of formal properties, which are traits which exist as regions in a world built out of relations between such parts, such that the properties of some parts make the relations defining the other parts necessary restrictions according to the common behavior of the whole pattern. Scientific laws, math, and language when it's being used to behave as if grammatical rules were the primary source of meaning, are examples of theoretical formal properties. There are many different ways of interpreting meanings in these disciplines according to the basic rules we build models on, but they converge in an attempt to describe properties in as purely logical terms as can be done, within human limitations. Theoretical properties, however, are abstractions made by cognition, and cognition is a process which results from the ground of the very causes which we are attempting to study. By being a product of how causality comes to give us physical consistency in general, the many ways of modeling basic formal laws aim to trace over truths about real formal properties.

Chemical and biological properties emerge from physical properties. If you wrinkle some common subatomic particles out of spacetime, the way they fluctuate about tends to pool them into blobs of common stable patterns called atoms, which are shorthand for small and complicated processes which tend to fall into a reliable larger-scale property. Parts of human intuition and scientific methods like to understand the world in a way that makes all properties of any kind that exist in any way be the consequence of a series of more complicated patterns emerging and pushing against each other around a simple universal property, objectivity, as if the fact of the world being logical were a thing in itself, a monad, which is something so elementary that it doesn't contain specific parts, and can't be said to change because it exists in a way that lacks the context for how we understand change, but we still say it does exist by tracing the properties of the physical world as obeying a common logical symmetry which validates the causes and consequences we find. This kind of monad transcends formal reality as a universal. Physical events are instances of objectivity. The difference between an instance and a universal is an ontological difference, which is a difference so fundamental that it refers to different entire kinds of way that something can be said "to be." Because grammar is a formal theory, the way "being" normally behaves in a sentence reflects the way instantiated objective events exist, but grammar is a loose description after a wet and tangled system shaped to endure constant mutation and error, and we can recognize deep differences and point towards anything we can get ourselves to think, even if we're in a world which doesn't restrict itself to formal patterns. We can recognize a different kind of reality for a transcendent property by seeing its effects, in this case the universal fact of any physical event to follow logical causal patterns.

Physical science makes models of physical properties by modeling the logic of causality, the pattern of necessity among formal events according to their unfolding from a core property of symmetry. There exist incompatible theories of logic which nonetheless reveal common patterns of objective behavior, convergently suggesting but not proving truths about how real formal properties work. For the past hundred years, we've worked largely with axiomatic set theory, where a variable handful of basic ideas about how to include or exclude objects from being organized into groups (x = x becomes explicit) simulates a starting point for emergence which doesn't behave like a monad at its core, but achieves a similar process of emergence-relations. Once a set theory is started, you can unfold principles where "the set of all sets containing x, y, and z, where x, y, and z are not each other, is The Number Three" (the way of constructing numbers differs according to the axioms used in a set theory, but nothing alters the nature of formal properties as being a network of logical tension), create a whole mathematical system, and express physical patterns you find in its terms. The relation between objectivity and formal events, or between starting axioms and more complex physical laws, is called ontological priority. In ontological monism, such as materialistic monism (physical monism really, but few people adhere to Aristotelian matter), a universal property is said to come "before," in a special ontological sense outside the context of spacetime, anything which is an instance of it. Many monistic ontologies exist, and they are not always physical or even formal. Many forms of monotheism are often, but not always, ontologically monistic, though it is normal for everyone to have special theological techniques for describing how divinity might escape even the concept of a center of being. There are also approaches to formal properties which do not use the mathematical Platonism of the transcendent monad, though I haven't seen them differentiate themselves very thoroughly, and because I am breaking from monism anyway, and they're designed to result in similar models of physics, they won't affect much here.

On its own, this kind of Platonic monism can make working models of physics, but it doesn't provide a full cosmology. Instantiation describes the relation between events and the universal principle which transcends them, but it doesn't describe why the unchanging and prior symmetry principle would have sufficient reason to be encircled by a complex pattern which can be divided into particulars. It fulfills needs following some observations, but there is nothing to make a secondary reality which obeys it necessary. It also only describes formal properties, and we can observe properties that cannot be formal, which is the source of most of the difficulty concerning consciousness, time, and being. Although the Platonic instantiation model of form can be replaced without disrupting other parts of my ontology, my break into pluralism allows additional support for the leeching a formal realm out of a formal monad.

There are other kinds of ontological difference, and because they come from ways of existing more basic than any purely logical system's range of meaningful effects, every ontological difference must be painfully understood in its own case. Outside of forms of monism, ontological differences push the limit of what might ever be described, as they don't interact according to their different identities unfolding from a common point, nor do they behave like one has ontological priority; They entangle as a secondary effect which must be investigated according to its property of accessing them, which will make more sense when I get to the example which causes this problem (qualia). First, I have to specify the formal aspect of time, which gets spiffy in pluralism. Ontological priority is an example of time distinct from spacetime, and because "time" refers to changes or differences which are distinct according to the direction they are traced or produced, any ontological difference found will play into a fuller interpretation of time. Some aspects escape our being, such as the succession of priorities, but some entangle us in the pluralistic confusion, such as the qualia problem. These lead to confusing questions about a "moving present" when issues that arise over ontological divisions are confused for patterns entirely within formal time, and sometimes become dismissed as linguistic quirks, though they don't behave as arbitrarily as "spandrels" should.

Physical reality has a version of time which behaves like space in that it's an expression of formal properties distinguished only by its particular shape. Formal time is a dimension in spacetime relative to a given entity, also called "entropic time," because "entropy" is the name of the texture which makes following one direction in time appear different from going in the other even though the world tends toward balance. Entropy is the tendency of things jostling around arbitrarily to go from a state we interpret as orderly to disorderly, because we interpret orderliness according to how something fits a shape meant to behave a specific way, and most ways something can change randomly will leave that ideal. Once something decays, the details of its form lose their value; It is more of a general resource to be recycled or disposed of, and this holds true down to the specific thermodynamic definitions of entropy as available energy being dispersed into ambient heat. At our scale we find ourselves in a world where things fall and shatter but don't jump up and bond, and even in biological evolution, where statistical effects are creating lines of tightly organized patterns -- life -- the net entropic effect of the planet absorbing sunlight into temporary structures which decay into scraps and heat keeps the same pattern of decreasing order on the large scale. Time in this sense measures how many events are "computed," so to speak, by reality when you trace a line, and like space essentially measures the increasing mathematical complexity of possible truths as "distance." Why we live in a world where spacetime is warped into this shape instead of something flatter follows the anthropic principle, where local spacetime holding the shape where simple formal properties have an opportunity to shuffle into the cognitive processes of complex organisms assessing their environments. If there are much vaster expanses of more probable shapes of emptiness further from familiar spacetime, they are lacking in processes such as becoming bored of those regions. This kind of awareness, of the proposition of the self and the environment as formal objects in a causal system as understood by a thought process built from that system, is sometimes called "consciousness," as in "being conscious that you're an animal," but propositional consciousness is different from the properties we focus on in phenomenology, which are now popularly known as qualia. This is where things get hard.

The mind-body problem is old as balls, probably older, but it has mutated drastically over history. Before modern psychology, and for that matter modern mathematics and ontology, our professionals had some messy models of causality with the laws of motion separated from "inherent" properties of chemicals and the like, and the phrase "mind-body dualism" still provokes an outdated picture where psychological properties of a person's thought processes were opposed to the physical properties of a body, and an undefined "free will" may have been on the mental side along with qualia. In modern philosophy, psychology is understood as emerging from biology and thus being a specific pattern in formal reality as a whole, along with the physical body. Psychology deals with behavior and cognition, and cognition is thinking in the sense of a chain of formal causes, which in the case of animal brains includes moldable systems which can turn bits of information into proposition-like patterns reflecting outside events according to the limitations of the causes which shape the system. What this means is that propositional consciousness is only formal awareness; The psychological objects in question are, as with anything physical, built out of the necessities of their relation to other objects in an ongoing network of relations, of a whole universe holding its force between its parts according to the symmetry of objectivity.

This is important, because there are "mental" properties which are not formal, and thus aren't psychological, but whose differing nature reveals them despite the strangeness which grows as one investigates. The conundrum they create is not a new one, being clearly specified at the start of modernity, having a longer history of study in Indian philosophy, and sometimes appearing with minimal differentiation in the Western classics. While their presence was never lacking and their incongruities sometimes apparent, though lost in eras when every theory came in floating fragments, their ontological importance is revealed especially by a strong grasp of the formal properties of reality, which must be understood as pervading reality as thoroughly as we do among the common ontology of physical sciences and the behavior of competing theoretical formal systems gaining traction on formal reality. We study the convergence of possible formal theories and estimate the nature of objectivity itself. We see the common structure of parts making necessary and possible facts about other parts. We desire consistency, and hone in on it. Our skill of memory, not only a collection of representations but also the marks made on us in general, relate to the probabilities of facts in the direction of the entropic past, while other parts of our thought bear the mark of patterns more and more likely to predict facts in any direction. Objective reality reveals itself only by its capacity to relate logically-imitable forms, though of course any given instance can provide barriers to available clues or skills.

Qualia are sensations in the sense of their actual, colorful presence. This doesn't just refer to sight, sound, et cetera, but also the sensation of thoughts moving and pressuring one another, or how recognizing a picture as a duck or a rabbit not only comes with pseudo-knowledge of what it is, but shifts the experience in a way that has sensual presence. The key to defining qualia is their immediate presence in live first-person experience, as qualities which are known by the uniqueness of their very presence. Qualia as such cannot be "hallucinations of qualia," because they are the presence of feeling itself, rather than the facts these qualities are interpreted as reflecting about the objective world of networked causes. It is true that qualia will change in line with the formal objects (brain signals in our case) they trace, but their obedience in undergoing the unique changes they embody according to the changes one follows along in formal reality is not a fact which provides any structural basis for a property to be a quality of substantial presence. The embodiment of the unique selfsame quality necessary to complete the meaning its own being as a presence is alien to formal existence; We relate it to the formal causality it traces, but presence-of-color isn't a property of a system of logical forces.

No theoretical formal system can make even a simplified model of this kind of presence, but they can show part of its disobedience without touching its actual ground. In math, the objects you study are relations among logical necessities, facts about how logical consequences in general would behave in a given formal situation, with errors according to how badly core axioms simulate the instantiation of objective events from the objectivity principle. The reality mathematical models trace is the relation of formal instances in general to the universal objectivity principle, and models of physical situations exist as specifics entirely within the range of possible mathematical facts, as is the behavior of emerging instances of a universal, and formal reality is observed to behave in a manner parallel to the essentials endpoints by which theoretical formal systems make or break themselves. Formal things exist by the tension of being a part of a whole, but there existence is made only in the tension itself; Even a complex instance has no substance, only necessity. When you write 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, both sides of the equation refer to the same universal situation (which is the aspect of any formal event in which a property will include the objects {a, b, c, d, e, f} where none are the same), and when you write 1 + x + 3 = 6, you make a necessity for for x = 2, but you could just as well make the same necessity with 1 + y + 3 = 6. It doesn't matter whether you use x or y to = 2, because they're only tracing over the fact in the context of the system of relations. Qualia seems to hold fast to physical events in our brains, but it traces over formal properties arbitrarily, the way x or y does. This is why there are famous philosophical teasers where people say "how do you know my red isn't your blue" or suchlike, because the presence of the uniqueness of quality in our real experience isn't a hollow nexus of the possible necessary states of other regions; They lends us their own kind of existence, and cannot be analyzed as a mechanism, but studying their ontological difference from formal objects, we can better understand other metaphysical problems which are normally stalled by adhering to purely formal ontologies.

This kind of presence, where "present" doesn't mean a location defined in a formal network but rather the glow of present experience, where its unique quality as something real is also the knowledge of its reality to its person, is an example of philosophical immanence; I tend to call qualia immanent qualities, to emphasize their way of transcending formal properties. The study of qualia is called phenomenology, which makes modern usage of "phenomenal properties" another term for qualia. Phenomenological suspension, or phenomenological reduction, or epoche, is any attempt to hone in on phenomenal properties by suspending your beliefs about the world your experience is a part of and observing the qualities which do not necessarily imply what you thought. If this sounds like a Buddhist meditation, that's because it can be; I've heard mention from Hindu and Buddhist students of phenomenology that there is a history of meditations on this topic. The method I explained here consists of identifying the behavior of formal properties in general, in order to better identify a large range of what could constitute a systematic idea of any kind, to bracket away and reveal the unaddressed properties of immanence. Staring off into space paralyzed in terror by the inescapability of the cosmic anomaly shining within your very soul is also a more meditative form of suspension

Phenomenal consciousness is the existence of qualia, the concern over which is popularly called the Hard Problem of Consciousness, and questions about it deal with ontology. It is different from propositional consciousness, which is a psychological awareness of one's position in local formal reality, that is, awareness of one's animal (or robot or whatever) context. Both phenomenal and propositional consciousness are referred to as "subjectivity," which is as problematic as phenomenology's obscurity ever is. "Subjectivity" refers to first-person awareness, which both are in their own way, but it usually carries connotations specific to propositional consciousness, which is that it is a small mind in a big world and can't know things for sure. Objectivity/subjectivity in formal reality is the difference between the unknown truth and our thoughts, but objectivity/subjectivity in ontology is the difference between form and immanence. Calling things "subjective" can invoke this confusion as much as the word "consciousness."

When you make statements about formal properties, you do so using “modeling” in a way which speaks to the ability of the object in question to be broken down into internal and contextual parts; networks of formal relations identical to the same truth. Statements about non-formal properties do not “model” them according to grounding structure, and though “qualia” are still the “object” of linguistic statements, the properties modeled in a discussion are the points at which they transcend formal properties and lead to statements about the general world capable of featuring such phenomena.

Although we only have reports of immanent qualities from other humans with similar patterns of propositional consciousness, other humans are the only pieces of spacetime we can reach a certain depth of communication with, and there's no good indication that any particular feature of propositional consciousness is necessary for a region of formal reality to inform immanent qualities. Immanent qualities find their ontological ground independently from formal properties, so a description of when immanent qualities would be found associated with a region of spacetime (like a flux of brain signals) is not a question of a physical system creating qualia, but rather creating circumstances which don't contradict the means by which formal and immanent qualities meet. Some suggest that such regions are anywhere a width of information in spacetime has an indeterminate interior effect which can change its outcome, as in the case of uncollapsed quantum blahblahblah, but neurologists consider it doubtful that indeterminate quantum effects can localize enough interference to regularly affect brain-scale cognition, and the separation of the information of quantum effects on the micro-scale from the causal chain of information in the human mind is a real separation. It may be that rather simple entanglements of formal properties at any scale could be reflected in immanent qualities, and that propositional consciousness only ever granted the ability to gripe about it.

The difference between phenomenal and formal properties is the modern form of ontological dualism, even when formal properties are divided into universals and instances. Dualism as such is more observation than theory, as the assumed starting point is the formal monism which produces logical language for science and expresses alternative in terms of how they deviate. Qualia appears to be an extra "kind" of thing, and when you give up trying to reconcile the properties you have two piles. It gets worse, though, so much worse. The inability of formal properties to generate immanent ones also means that it can't generate a way to refer to them and give sufficient reason for their unique contact. Likewise, because immanent qualities are not objects formed of tension against an environment of information-states, there is nothing in immanence to cause a complex of tensions, and immanent qualities are absolutely particular to their presence; They are not universals. Because they cannot necessitate each other, they cannot make a meaning which would "request" the impossible other to entangle with. Therefore, there must be properties which are neither formal nor immanent, which can be known by investigating the relation it invokes between immanence and form. This means I'm breaking dualism into a more open pluralism. They can be further studied by observing from phenomenological reduction that formal properties we take for granted often don't apply the way we expect and drawing what inferences can be drawn; Much of the progress in ontology following phenomenology consists of critiques of formal properties such as ontological priority being found less necessary than thought possible for alienated ontological properties.

At this point many lean towards granting ontological priority to immanence over form, which is a monism called called phenomenalism, or taking cue for other non-formal priorities to both in monistic idealism and others. They don't get much further than feeling some kind of monism as necessary and considering some other kind more likely than simple materialism, but a desire for monism has historically been a good motive for philosophical and scientific progress. I prefer facing Ockham's nightmare of necessarily plural elements.

Ontological plurality may help with a question leftover from the monistic version of the universal/instance relation, where instances seemed to obey the priority of the universal, but didn't have sufficient cause for there to be an unfolded level of formal reality at all. If being a part of a whole completed the reality of qualia, qualia would not be of the closed tunnel of a human experience; The fact of having a quality to shine demands its distance from the very idea of a whole, whose part have their meaning in terms of complicating from a common origin, full of need and empty of presence. It may be that the seemingly arbitrary existence of instantiated objective reality, separate from objectivity as a universal, finds its cause in the coexistence of immanence and the monad itself. The monad need not change or recognize the ontological alien as real; Collisions across ontological divisions do not need to be reciprocated, as symmetry of tension is a formal pattern. The effect which touches both immanence and objectivity may join objectivity as a paired ontological priority to instantiated objectivity, leeching the need for instantiation under its ability to access the immediacy of immanence, while the unchanged objective monad remains the central reference of objective causality and, to itself, still truly being in a state of not having done or coexisted with anything at all.

Because there are unique immanent realities found alongside the tracing of entropic time which cannot be reduced to its formal nature, phenomenal time is an ontologically distinct element of the time-complex. It is suggestive of the idea of "presentism" in time, where some kind of moving present moment is real, and which is opposed to eternalism, which is the idea that all possible times exist at once as a stable array of facts. Eternalism hews to the simple and symmetrical behavior of formal reality, while presentism is usually framed in a formal context which makes it flounder even as people rub their chins at the phenomenological issue that haven't yet grasped. Phenomenal time is rarely represented comprehensively in discussions of presentism/eternalism or A-series/B-series time, which draws confusion through purely formal assumptions.

Although qualia are informed by a common objective reality, they are not made from instantiation. This means that immanent qualities do not relate to each other the way formal objects do, along a continuum of one whole spacetime would compose them. They are, rather, accessed in a common encounter with the objective world, and just as their grounding principle is their own unique presence, they have an ontological difference between each other; Immanent qualities don't contain a negative tension of that which is not present, the way formal entities share the tension of a formal continuum, because that is a property which emerges in the separation of a whole. As immanence is beyond the context of form, so too are they beyond each other, yet inevitable by their common binding to an objectivity by a process they have no means to contradict. It might be more accurate to say the apparent common nature of qualia is a product of a filtering for access to one particular way to non-contradictorily exceed the properties of form, according to the behavior of horizonal properties.

It is valid to say there is qualia for the feeling of moving through time, unique to the interflowing context of ongoing experience, but rather than the present motion, there is also the horizon, which is the reality of the fact that these ontologically alienated properties have a reality beyond one's own deepest grounding. Horizonal properties are not inherent in alienated entities; That would suggest the behavior of a formal ontological priority being sufficient to build immanent qualities. Rather, just as alienated immanent and formal properties lack the context to create each other, so too do they lack the context to meaningfully contradict a property which does not contradict their necessities but rather produces an ontologically unique situation which must be studied according to the anomalies we find rather than possible constructs of pure reason. What we observe is the capacity of a non-immanent, non-formal property to access that which is alien to it and each other. It breaks from the behavior of formal properties in its refusal of priority, but so do immanent qualities. It breaks from qualia's substantiating presence, but so do formal qualities. Its exotic behavior may be less impossible than imagined, but phenomenology takes some getting used to in the first place, and this is the bleeding edge for me. The ontological difference between experience and the horizon is another example of an asymmetrical "relation" not formed by common tension on common ground. The horizon imposes distance upon immanence despite itself and questions the self-sameness of its reality without contradicting it. This transcendence is different from the transcendence of a universal from an instance because it isn't the transcendence of a prior; It is a vulnerability to the beyond, and it is this opening from the utterly external which provides another aspect of the time-complex as the horizon: ekstasis.

"Horizonal properties" isn't a phrase that's floating around, but "horizon" is. It's a slippery word, but it ends up as the best label I have for the non-formal, non-phenomenal property of the vulnerability to being drawn into a relationship with things they have no ontological origin with. Husserl and Heidegger both wove the concept of horizon into ontologies which habitually tended toward some manner of monism -- attempting to unite phenomenal and formal properties under a common ground they all manifest, even if it wasn’t their ultimate conclusion. Husserl was very speculative about ontological statements following from his focus on phenomenological methodology, but he steered toward building formal properties out of the behavior of phenomenal reality, while Heidegger’s unity was more teleological, looking at the synthetsized results of the alienated modes (in other words, human reality as we are, with entanglements across ontological boundaries) as if it justified them in a convergent function in disclosure, which I find still carries too much symmetry in relations across ontological differences. In both of them, their concept of horizon blend aspects I have separated between formal and horizonal (Husserl's protention/retention and Heidegger's thrownness/ecstasies), and they developed proto-formal versions of past-likeness, future-likeness, or parallel-likeness around the nest of immanent properties. I take cues from Levinas and clear things into an open pluralism moreso than most phenomenologists, and my emphasis goes to showing properties neither formal nor phenomenal nor of common ground with them, with a focus on asymmetrical intersubjectivity.

There is another anomaly which calls to effects neither formal nor immanent. Although it can become inescapably apparent that immanent qualities demand explanation, and would be difficult to return to the denial of, the immanence itself shouldn't be sufficient cause for us to notice it and discuss it as target of propositional awareness. We can see our awareness of it as its presence, but as discussed, that isn't a property which should affect any arrangement of formal necessities. This helps push some towards idealistic monism, trusting the secondary position assumed for formal properties to be concealing the truth of immanence creating external necessities, but gives little opportunity for further development and often keeps re-entangling supposedly derived formal properties into the nature of "monism" itself. Our ability to bring phenomenology into our actions gives the image of a teleological cause, a need for a reason for the possible paths of physical causality to converge into one as unlikely as a sustained and coherent field of study around a phenomenon which shouldn't partake in the causality people speak from. For the forcing of this understanding of immanence into our discourse, this gnosis, we have the appearance of a hand of fate, which means a topic which needs to be unpacked and scrutinized. Simple tricks of overlapping necessities can create teleological illusions, as in the anthropic principle’s world of seemingly improbable life-sustainability being outlined by the lack of experienced consequence for expanses which don't produce life. This should go hand in hand with the study of horizonal properties and how vulnerabilities to exotic effects can be filled or restricted. Note that any anomaly in the causality of our discourse’s context in animal causality, such as the ability of this non-formal but inescapable qualia situation to become a topic which can be honed in on by human study, means the potential contents of our reasoning differ in a certain drastic way from anything we understand about the limits of potential linguistic analysis, and we cannot declare any particular metaphysical question as forever beyond us.

Because we find ourselves in a world where apparently fundamentally alienated properties are aligned in non-contradiction, our existence as living souls is not only our common drive of animal objectivity, or the substantial light of our present experience, but the capacity of the horizon to call on that which is not of our deepest core or the height of possible wisdom. Between us is not only the common ground of our animal motives, or even only the ethical weight of substantial experience which descriptions of biological pain-signaling are hollow of, but our reaching each other across and as a separation as utter as the separation of the mortal from the eternal.

#time and suchlike #qualia #time #phenomenology #wyrd

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rennekdelacruz-blog · 4 years ago

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Understand the Self

Submitted by: Dela Cruz, Rennek Gerg B.

Submitted to: Mr. Raul Dadis

Chapter 1: Philosophical Perspective of the Self

The influence of the philosophy of human beings shaped a spectacular view, the emergence of rationality, and solidarity. Philosophy plays an important role in our lives, and our experiences are made more meaningful because of the insights gained from careful thought and reflection. It's been an important tool that enables us to examine problems, determine truth, make wise decisions, and engage more fully with life experiences.

In today's society, most of the people are lost in their lives and don't know what is the purpose or objectives in their existence. They experience hardships because they don't know what path they want to pursue in life. But the truth is, the study of the human person has given rise to various views regarding our role in this world and how various aspects of existence define us as a person. The ideas, views, and insights on the human person are useful guides in navigating human experiences and making sense of the challenges that we continually face throughout life. This supports the philosophy of Socrates that "we people should live an examine life and a life with a purpose and value." Which I agree, but after that he states "as long as our souls are tied up to the body the quest for the wisdom is inhibited by the imperfection of the physical realm." But despite of that reason, we should not lose hope in examining our lives, even though we are here in the physical world. We should strive hard and use that as a motivation to live our lives because a person will only experience genuine happiness and a meaningful life if he or she chooses to become virtuous and knows the value of him/herself.

In the end, by the marvelous image of truth and immeasurably features of God's love. We will overcome the true meaning of humankind as we continually seek the true essence of our existence. We just need to have perseverance and courage in life and try to ask ourselves a question that will help us to examine ourselves and determine our purpose in life.

Chapter 2 Sociological Perspective: The self as a Product of Society

Family is the basic unit of society. It is the most important social institution, serving as the means of transferring culture from one stage to another. So when we say family, that is where we came from and it has a strong influence on us because our family is the one who molded and build us into a better version.

In addition, sociologist believes that society refers not to a group of people, but to the complex pattern of the norms or interaction or relationships that arise among them. Which I agree, society is not a group of people, but it's the connection or attachment of certain people. Without that connection, we can't say that it's society because when say society, it involves social interaction, such as sharing experiences and trusting to certain people that may lead them to know new experiences and learnings in life. This supports the perspective of George Herbert Mead that "a person develops a sense of self through social interactions and social experiences." Aside from that, I also like the perspective of Jean Baudrillard which is the "Negative consequences of postmodern society." She states the advertising and mass media has a great influence on an individual in consuming his/her goods. Most of the individuals who are very exposed to that thing are the one who is unhappy and unsatisfied with life. So we as people, should not let social changes affect us and be aware of what are the things that may lead us to negative consequences.

Further, the idea of a society is quite comprehensive and permanent. It includes all the aspects of an individual’s life. We individuals shall understand a group of individuals of a particular geographical entity that shares some common experiences and follow a certain culture. And most importantly, we as a society must do our duty to teach the new generation to be a good example to everyone and learn to be a role model of respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness.

Chapter 3 An anthropological Conceptualization of Self: The Self as embedded in Culture

Culture is one of the essential and fundamental concepts of humanity. Sociologists and anthropologists believe that culture has a specific meaning to us, and our behavior which is transmitted to us by our ancestors is called culture. Culture refers to our values, beliefs, symbols, norms, and patterns of behavior. As a dynamic phenomenon, cultures are under constant change and they must adapt to environmental changes. This is one of the universal features of a culture.

What's more, I believed in the perspective of Katherine Ewing that our "Self is Embedded in Culture." It has a big impact on me because it gives me a new perspective and knowledge about humanity and our way of living. Ewing believes that our self is culturally shaped and infinity variable. Our cultural traditions and social practices have a big role to transform and regulate the human psyche. Aside from that, she believes that our self is the product of society, then it is plausible that the ways of how the self is developed are bound to cultural differences as well. This is true because our culture shaped us and it has a far-reaching impact on our everyday actions, on how we talk and think, what we wear, what we believe, how we sit at the table, and how we behave among other people. Just for example, like me, I was living here in Davao City. All the culture and traditions of Davaoeños have a big influence on me like for example, my vernacular language is "Bisaya" and I celebrate one of the most famous festivals here in the Philippines the "Kadayawan Festival" which is celebrated in the month of August. In addition, our culture has a big impact on our self and helps us to know our social identity.

Furthermore, every society has a culture of its own. It differs from society to society. Culture of every society in unique to itself. Cultures are not uniform. We as individuals should learn how to respect and accept other cultures. Always remember culture is responsive to the changing conditions of the physical world. It is adaptive. It also intervenes in the natural environment and helps a man in his process of adjustment so we must know how to value it and give respect.

Chapter 4: Psychological Perspective of the Self

The concept of the self is a relatively new idea in psychological science. Psychology has a big influence on us in knowing our true identity and finding the physiological concepts of ourselves.

In this chapter, I've learned a lot of things, particularly in our psychological self. I determine the true difference between I-self and me-self that gives me more knowledge about myself. Our I-self refers to our "thinking self" which is the one who reflects our soul and mind which is called pure ego. On the other hand, Me-self refers to our "empirical self" which is the one who divides our material, social, and spiritual self. These two concepts are developed by Williams James for us to be aware the what is the difference between the two concepts. Aside from that, Carl Roger's Theory of Self tackles about our self. He defines "self as a flexible and changing perception of personal identity." Which I agree, every minute and seconds in this world are changing specifically our self. It's natural for us to change because of our environment and the people who surround us. These factors have a great influence on us that make us change especially our perspective and decisions in life. This supports the theory of Sigmund Freud's Theory of Construction of the self and personality. According to Freud, "our personality develops from the interactions among what he proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego." Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts to find balance among what each of them “desires,” determines how we behave and approach the world. Furthermore, social interaction and perception have a significant influence to us in developing our psychological self.

To sum up, the self is a developmental formulation in the psychological make-up of the individual consisting of interrelated attitudes (According to Sheriff). We as an individual, should acquire in relation to our body and its parts, our capacities and to objects, persons, family, groups, social values, goals, and institutions which define and regulate our relatedness to them in concrete situations and activities.

Chapter 5: The Western and Eastern Concept of Self

Each one of us has a different self-concept and that is because of our culture and environment that has a big influence on us. Western and Eastern perspective has quietly difference in terms of their ideas, views, and how their way of living.

This chapter gives me more knowledge about what is the difference between western and eastern perspectives specifically their self-concept. When we say Western perspective, most of those people have an "individualistic self " they more likely to have an independent life and they have a deep awareness and sense of direction about their selves. They are more self-centered because they believed in their own perspective and don't rely on other's opinions. They are more expressing their true selves and flexible and free to make decisions on their own, unlike those in the East. Aside from that, western individuals believe in one supreme being and the way of their thinking is focused more on materials things that are visible in this world such as Judaism and Christianity. On the other hand, the Eastern perspective is generally called as "socialistic society" because of its strong connection or having a good relationship with other people that greatly differ in features that's why it is called as pluralistic. Aside from that, eastern individuals are more conservative and traditional their are give more value and respect to their culture, rituals, clothing, norms, belief, and traditions unlike from western countries. Like for example topics like sex or birth of a child are openly discussed in Western culture, whereas in the East, these topics are still taboo. What's more, their belief system is more about sharing the same goal as influencing each other to become a perfect or better person such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, and Islam. Furthermore, this is all about how different from each other, the culture and perspective of the East and the West, are.

In conclusion, the more important is how people of both cultures respect and accept each other’s values and perspectives. Western and eastern have unique and beautiful perspectives in life which teach us to become a better person. It's up to us what perspective what we want to apply intro ourselves. The important things are we should learn how to filter or know what are the good and bad things that we apply to ourselves for us to be aware of what are the consequences of that and start to live a which is beneficial for us.

Chapter 6: Physical Self

Our physical self has a big role in our life. We individuals should learn how to develop and give care to it in order for us to have a healthy life. When we say physical self, it refers to our internal and external organs that's work together for us to function and explore the world.

What's more, human existence is really full of dilemmas that may lead us to experience insecurities and dissatisfaction. One example of that is comparing ourselves to others or what we called Comparison Obsession. We tend to compare our own selves because we think that our physical appearance and body image did not fit into the standards of our society. Which is wrong because we are beautiful in our own ways. I experienced that, back when I was in high school I was really ungrateful in my life, keep focusing on my imperfections, and uncontented to all the blessings that I got. That kind of life made me experience a life that is worthless and full of negativity. One day I realized that we individuals should learn to stand in ourselves. We were born to stand out, stop trying to fit into this toxic society. We just remember that, don’t be afraid to speak our minds or to dream out loud. Do not allow people to dim our shine because they are blind. We have different beauty, talents, and abilities.

Furthermore, We don’t have to always follow in the footsteps of others. And most importantly, we should always remind ourselves that we don't have to do what everyone else is doing and start to live a happy, blessed, and grateful life.

Chapter 7: Sexual Self

Have you ever asked yourself when you're a kid about this kind of random questions like "Who I am? Why I'm here right now? Who made me? How I was made? Because I myself, I asked those questions back when I was a little boy. As time passed by, when we're growing and our body constantly changing. I realized that we as individuals are born because of the love of our parents or what we called sex that is part of our sexual self.

When we say sexual self it refers to our reproductive system, sexual behaviors, and sex characteristics that differentiate us between man and woman. We people specifically us teens, should always aware of what are the changes and development that is happening in our body because in that way we are knowledgeable on how to handle it properly and start to be mindful what are the risk factors that may affect our body such as early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Aside from that, start to live a mature mindset in life and know how to be responsible in our own selves because it would reflect us as human beings.

Further, the sexual self is really important for an individual's evaluation of his or her own sexual feelings and actions. It is really important to give value to it and start to respect not just boys and girls but all genders in our society. Stop discrimination and spread love in this world.

Chapter 8: Material Self

In this modern era of contemporary advancement and rapid development, materials possessions like luxury brands, expensive cars, and gadgets have been one of the influential forces in the world. Most of the individuals may think that wealth and money are the way of life and makes their world go round.

As people become more focused on visible things and giving value to their personal material possessions. They tend to forget the value of simple things. Most of the people of our generation, use material possessions as a symbol of one's social status and they think it is the reference to one's self and identity. They are more focusing on how to acquire material possessions than giving value to their family and friends. This is wrong because we people should not focus on the visible things we should give more value to the things that are really matters in our lives and begin a life that materials possessions are not the measurement of success and failure.

In addition to that, material possessions are not everything in life. We people should not focus on those things and start living a life that is full of gratefulness. As quoted from Albert Einstein, " Believe a simple and unassuming manner of life it's best for everyone, best for the body and mind." I think we should appreciate small things and stop being materialistic. There are more significant things in our lives such as genuine happiness, family, friends, and health.

Chapter 9: Spiritual Self

Having a purpose in life is a big achievement. When you find your purpose, you’ll feel good about who you are, what you stand for, and where you’re heading. When you accomplish clarity, you’ll gain a new perspective on your life. When you discover your purpose, it will give inner peace that gives satisfaction in life. But the question is how we can find our purpose in life?

Life is really indeed tough. It's like a roller coaster ride that will lead you to feel tired or hopeless. But the thing is, it's really fun and enjoyable if you will enjoy the ride and have strong faith with God. Living with God will help us to be more courageous and positive in life. Struggles and obstacles will bring us to suffering but we people should be brave to it and start to think that our life is worthy. We people are the one who constructs our own lives so we should be responsible and makes it into a better version. Moreover, I never forget the quote of one of the greatest philosophers of all time, which is Socrates that "to find yourself, think for yourself." That phrase reminds me that in order for us to know our own selves we should know how to apprehend and give value to it. Additionally, human life is essentially a relationship with the spiritual and the divine. Religion plays an important part in defining human life and the actions of people. Whatever religious creed professes, one maintains a relationship with the divine through belief and adherence to certain doctrines and traditions, the performance of meaningful rituals, and ethical behavior.

Furthermore, our responsibility is to develop the things that God has given to us. Specifically, we should feel blessed and grateful every day and start to empower God into our lives. Start living with him with a purpose and follow the path that he wants us to pursue. As well as that, live a simple and unassuming life and don't expect too much in this cruel world where the people are focusing on the visible things. Believe in the beauty of unpretentious and humble life.

Chapter 10: Political Self

Present-day Philippine politics is a product of a long history influenced by colonialism and nationalism. The emerge of government among pre-colonial Filipino societies was considered a mark of civilization and a gradual transition to nationhood.

Political status here in the Philippines is quietly chaos, most of our public officials are not responsible in their duties to uphold the welfare of the people. We individuals should start to engage ourselves in politics for us to able to know what our freedom, rights, and obligations as a citizen. It's time for us to open our eyes to see the knot in our society and start to be an epitome to others to be a good individual. In addition to that, we all know that the Philippines is a Social Democratic country. When we say, democratic it is an ideology that seeks to implement socialist reforms in society. So to make it clear, we are the one who has the power to choose. It's our responsibility to choose an individual who has a willingness and genuine love for our nation, the one who is willing to offer his/her life to serve people because it's not about our life but also about the future of our beloved country the Philippines.

Further, as a citizen, we must know and be aware of the various functions and roles of government, and the underlying principles that define our particular type of government and political system. We must also be mindful that not all citizens share the same ideas and beliefs regarding the government, and these influence there actions whether they are supportive or critical of the government. Understanding political ideologies, therefore, is an important task for citizens as they seek to understand how government works and how can better participate in the affairs of the state.

Chapter 11: Digital Self

Modern-day technological advancements are constantly seen throughout every aspect of life. As we observed today, most of the adolescents the "Generation Z" are very exposed to technology that why there are the who one who are most affected by the positive and negative effects of technology.

Mobile phones, computers, laptops, and many other devices are really essential as of today. We youth must know how to use technology and perceive what are proper things should be remembered in using it for us to be aware of what are the pros and cons of using that certain device. We all know technology has many benefits this is used for communication, entertainment, information, and educational purpose. Those technological improvements can become highly addictive, and like all addictions, have negative consequences to all of us. Adolescents who are constantly engaged in using technologies become so addicted that they spend less time with loved ones, and feel lonely and depressed. Aside from that, they can also experience cyberbullying and perceived fake news that may affect their self-development. Technological addiction is leading to a more isolated generation, overly dependent on technology. Additionally, We youth should know how to manage and balance our time in using technology. We should not forget that we need also have quality time for our family and friends. It's okay to use technology because it helps us to be technology literate but don't use it outrageously because over usage of technology can lead us to harmful effects.

Finally, Modern technological advances have many good outcomes on today’s youth, yet if overused can lead to obsession, which consequently produces negative influences and over addiction. Although technology can be profitable, it must be used in moderation, as not to harm the social ability of today’s youth. Let's use technology in a positive way!

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imyobe · 5 years ago

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HOW TO Creating Characters for Fictional Stories BY imyobe

INTRODUCTION:

It requires skill, practice, and staying power to expand realistic characters. It is similarly hard or almost not possible to craft a story without a dwelling being, even if or not it's a personified animal, as takes place in Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

DEFINITION:

"Stories often arise out of a deep consideration of how person is shaped and how it's miles pulled apart," consistent with Mark Baechtel in "Shaping the Story: A Step-via-Step Guide to Writing Short Fiction" (Pearson Education, 2004, p. 79). Characterization arises from the features of someone's psyche and personality, both of which make him what he's and therefore motivate him to do what he does within the tale or novel, whether or not or not it's exact or bad. It is not merely what the individual seems like. Instead, this portrayal is maximum efficiently achieved via demonstration or the proverbial "show, don't tell" philosophy of literature.

PERSONALITY:

From a psychological perspective, personality implies a consistency or continuity of actions, ways, thoughts, and feelings inside someone. Whatever he does, feels, or thinks originates from inside him. It becomes a reliable technique of predicting conduct. "The first-class predictor of destiny conduct is beyond conduct." Personality also implies that a few normally exhibited traits serve as the precis of what someone is like.

"Describing someone's personality is making an attempt to seize the man or woman's essence," in line with "Perspectives on Personality" ((Allyn and Bacon, 1992, p. 3). "It includes crystallizing something from various bits of knowledge you have got approximately the individual. Describing someone's personality nearly continually method taking a incredible many behavioral traits and decreasing them to a more limited set of characteristics or attributes. Evidence approximately personality comes partly from what human beings do and say at various times, but it's also partially a depend of how people do what they do-the fashion that brings a unique and private contact to their actions."

"Personality has been a topic for theologians, philosophers, artists, poets, novelists, and songwriters, and lots of those humans have had essential insights about personality," the textbook continues (p. 9).

CHARACTER CATEGORIES:

There are several individual categories, as follows.

1). Protagonist: The protagonist is the story's principal or principal individual. It is the one round which the plot revolves and to whom all of the action and adversity is directed. It is the person who faces the limitations and conflicts he ought to conquer to attain his goal.

Ideally, a story should have a unmarried protagonist. He won't usually be admirable-for instance, he may be an anti-hero; nevertheless, he should command involvement on the a part of the reader, or higher yet, his empathy. He is the individual inside the story or ebook with whom the reader sympathizes or for whom he roots. Protagonists should be complicated and flawed. They do not, with the aid of definition, need to be likeable, however they need to be relatable and believable. The reader have to recognize their choices.

2). Antagonist: The antagonist serves because the protagonist's opponent and can regularly be taken into consideration the "terrible guy" within the tale, whose action arises from the struggle among the . This is aptly illustrated in "The Wizard of Oz "wherein the conflict between Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West performs out till she triumphs over her together with her loss of life and brings her broom to the wizard.

The antagonist does not have to be someone at all, but may be an animal, an inanimate object, or even nature itself. For instance, the antagonist of Tom Godwin's story, "The Cold Equations," is outer space.

An antagonist must also be a "round man or woman." Simply making him evil isn't always as interesting as making her or him conflicted. Pure evil is difficult to believe in fiction, since human beings are multi-faceted and stimulated by means of their personal situations and back testimonies. Therefore, placing time into describing your antagonist and showing his or her personal struggles will create a richer and greater complicated narrative. Just as a protagonist need to now not only be good, an antagonist ought to now not most effective be awful.

3). Round individual: A round person is one who is complex and possibly even contradictory. "The check of a round man or woman is whether or not he's capable of unexpected in a convincing manner," in step with E. M. Forster. If a flat person can be summed up in a sentence or two, a round individual might in all likelihood take an essay.

4). Static man or woman: A static man or woman is one that does now not develop. Most characters in a story should be static, in order that the reader isn't always distracted from the great adjustments the author desires to illustrate and demonstrate in relation to his most important or central individual. Static implies constant, without trade. It does not indicate boring.

5). Stock individual: A inventory character is both a stereotypical one and a distinct kind of flat individual who is right away recognizable to most readers, as inside the Brave Starship Captain or the Troubled Teen or the Ruthless Businessperson. In the palms of a clumsy author, the inventory person never rises above the card stereotype, that is unfortunate. Even as clichés encapsulate a kernel of fact, so do stock characters replicate aspects of actual human beings. Courage, for instance, is needed of army personnel, while people in business act ruthlessly at times so one can survive in that Darwinian world.

6). Cardboard man or woman: A cardboard character may be considered a stereotype, mannequin, drone, or an otherwise uninteresting illustration of a actual man or woman.

7). Developing character: A person can be considered "developing" if he changes over the route of the tale, the prime example of that is the protagonist, who have to always be subjected to this novel-lengthy metamorphosis.

8). Flat person: A flat man or woman is one who's portrayed as having only one or developments. He can, in essence, be summed up in a single sentence. Do no longer be put off via this definition, however, since every tale needs a number of these to guide the plot and the protagonist. Many successful ones, together with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, have nothing however flat ones.

9). Sympathetic character: A sympathetic person is one whose motivations readers can understand and whose feelings they can conveniently proportion. This is the kind of individual of whom naive readers will say "I could pick out with her." The protagonist is often, however now not usually, sympathetic. Note that a sympathetic person does no longer always should be a top individual. Despite the reality that Winston Smith betrays Julia and his very own values via embracing Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984, for instance, he stays a sympathetic man or woman.

10). Unsympathetic person: An unsympathetic individual is one whose motivations are suspect and whose emotions make the reader uncomfortable. The boundary between sympathetic and unsympathetic characterization isn't always necessarily truely defined, however.

CHARACTER REVELATION:

"In fiction writing, individual emerges thru the writer's skillful presentation of the emotional meaning present in what the individual does, says, and sees or responds to conditions, events, and other characters within the story,," in line with Beachtel (p. 92).

CHARACTER TYPES:

Although characters, like the real human beings they ought to suggest to the reader, must be precise individuals, there are various stereotypical characters, which rob the tale of its integrity and realism. They encompass the nosy neighbor, the drunken Irishman, the dumb blonde, the absent-minded professor, and the mad scientist, among others. Avoid the usage of them at all costs.

TYPE VERSUS CHARACTER:

No man or woman is about in stone and may be taken into consideration a black-or-white, all-or-nothing-at-all human being. If you create someone including this, you handiest mould a type to your paper. The very term "human being" implies that he's a aggregate of all things, emotions, and emotions, right or horrific.

A "bad" man or woman who abuses others, for instance, may also express "goodness" by constantly on foot elderly ladies across the street. You should reconcile this dichotomy at the stop of your story by using revealing that his act results from his subconscious try to connect to the mom who used to abuse him and this is his very last effort to advantage the approval of those he equates together with her later in lifestyles.

As in life itself, all characters are and need to be complex below the floor and your readers, like you, have to ultimately come to a few sort of know-how of what motivates them, whether it be a effective or negative thing or, more ideally, an intricate mixture of both.

If you turn out to be skilled at crafting characters, they'll tackle a lifestyles in their own. Carly Phillips as soon as wrote, "A writer begins through breathing existence into his characters. But in case you are very lucky, they breathe life into you."

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:

The degree of character development is a feature of the role each plays in the story. The one-time point out of the bank teller with a five o'clock shadow who accepts a deposit slip need be evolved no in addition than this.

"Some (characters) will stroll onto the story's stage, speak a line or , transact the quick business the tale assigns to them, then exit," in step with Beachtel (p. 94).

SLOW, PROGRESSIVE REVEAL:

Think of your exceptional friend. Did you realize all about him the moment you met him or did you "click" as time discovered your commonplace views, developments, beliefs, interests, emotions, and experiences? Similarly, story man or woman foundation need to be laid as quickly as possible and next scenes will allow his character tendencies to be discovered and supported.

CHARACTERS AND SCENES:

Tantamount to the portrayal of a individual is the tale's scenes, wherein he can act out and reveal the trends that make him uniquely who he's. He have to, however, have numerous other elements.

1). The individual need to be appropriate to the scene and the tale.

2). He ought to be believable, convincing the reader that he's or can be a actual individual inside the actual world.

3). He have to be constant in his actions, attitudes, and behaviors from scene to scene during the story. An 80-year-old grandmother who attends church every Sunday and contributes to charity would now not possibly embezzle money at different times, unless you reveal what lies under her surface and occurred in her beyond to motive any such dichotomous character.

4). There have to be battle. Nothing reveals a person's man or woman extra than the conflicts which either take a look at him or tear him apart.

KINDRED SPIRIT:

One of the many motives that readers immerse themselves in tales and books is to view factors of life they can become aware of with and possibly catch a glimpse of themselves in one or extra in their characters in an identity which has them silently conclude, "That's me." This is mainly illustrated by using Wallace Stegner in his tale, The Traveler.

"Along a road he had never driven, he went swiftly towards an unknown form and an unknown town, to distribute in keeping with some wise law, a part of the load of the boy's emergency and his very own; however he bore in his mind, shiny as moonlight over snow, a bright wonder, almost in awe. Far from the most chronic and incurable ills, identity, he had regarded outward and for one unmistakable instant diagnosed himself."

This passage echoes humanity's shared burden-or those elements which we unknowingly percentage with one another-by permitting the character to view himself out of doors of himself for the primary time and glean insight into a perspective only others have of him.

CHARACTER COMPLEXITY:

Characters aren't and have to now not be stick figures. They have to be portrayed as complex, multi-dimensional humans, whether or not they're fictionalized or actual, so that the reader can agree with that they exist. Their physical appearance can be a beginning to that man or woman, but also the least important part. What motivates them, what lurks in their pasts and psyches, what makes them tick and grow to be who they're, can be the maximum important.

"The characters in our stories, songs, poems, and essays encompass our writing," consistent with Rebecca McClanahan in her book, "Word Painting: A Guide to Write More Descriptively" (Writer's Digest Books, 1999, p. 114). "They are phrases made flesh. Sometimes they even speak for us, sporting a good deal of the load of plot, theme, mood, idea, and emotion."

CHARACTER MOLDING:

Consider a lump of clay. As you work it together with your fingers and tools, you start to mould it in order that it slowly takes form. You do the identical with characters thru physical descriptions, feelings, attitudes, and gestures. Here, above all, show, do not inform! Do not country, for instance, that Billy was indecisive. Demonstrate, through scenes, his problem in making selections through consulting with numerous buddies, doubting his selections, and sooner or later identifying to do one factor best to reverse his selection an hour later. This demonstration would have a reader conclude, He can not seem to make up his mind.

If you defined your exceptional pal to someone, might you say, "He's six-foot-tall and has sandy hair" or "he is funny, witty, loves to philosophize, is aware things underneath the floor. We're sort of a match. He's like a kindred spirit." Would his peak now without a doubt count number? The more intensity illustrates the character behind the physical shell.

CHARACTER DISCUSSION:

"We establish characters through direct bodily description, with the aid of choice of sensory and extensive information about the person and his surroundings, and thru description of a character's moves and speech," in keeping with Rebecca McClanahan in her ebook, "Word Painting: A Guide to Write More Descriptively" (Writer's Digest Books, 1999, pp. 115-116).

By describing a person thru his very own eyes, the writer allows the reader to go into his unique world.

"Characters screen their internal lives-their preoccupations, values, lifestyles, likes and dislikes, fears and aspirations-by way of the objects that fill their palms, houses, offices, cars, suitcases, grocery carts, and dreams," in line with Rebecca McClanahan in her ebook, "Word Painting: A Guide to Write More Descriptively" (Writer's Digest Books, 1999, p. 126).

GIVING BIRTH TO A CHARACTER:

1). Choose the ideal name, designation, and/or title.

2). Provide enough of a physical description so that the reader can visualize the individual's distinguishing traits, however now not sufficient to color a portrait. They need to now not all be delivered at once, however one distinguishing function can serve as the character's hallmark, consisting of an arrow-formed scar on his forehead or a slight lisp or a repeated expression, like "or what now not" at the stop of the whole thing he says. Other examples might also include, "That he reeked of grease indicated that he labored in an automotive repair shop" or "His persistent cough cautioned that he turned into a heavy smoker."

3). Be cognizant of the electricity of a character's surroundings has to demonstrate or shed light on him. Settings can frequently say a terrific deal. For example, "I don't assume his kitchen ground ever have become buddies with a mop." What does Laura's glass collection say about her in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie?

CHARACTER FUNCTIONS:

Characters have to carry out the subsequent functions:

1). They permit the reader to live vicariously thru them.

2). They supply the reader a sense of time accurately invested within the tale or e-book.

3). They give the reader someone with whom to connect, leaving him to experience as if he walked away from someone or buddy with whom he had been in detail familiar.

4). They allow the reader to comply with his adventure, illustrating how they deal with, extricate themselves from, and in the end triumph over, the boundaries encountered at some stage in the work.

5). They allow the reader both to become aware of with, but at the identical time explore, trends, approaches, and solutions with which he does no longer become aware of in his own existence, imparting an "alternate angle" approach.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS:

By web page 50 or so of a longer story or book, the writer need to be able to breathe sufficient lifestyles into his essential character. One-dimensional or paper characters offer no surprises to the reader, permitting him to recognize his profile with out even watching for his next motion or speak. They can be taken into consideration "stick figures."

The fundamental man or woman must be inside the throes of change and need to be quite complicated. He may not necessarily even recognise how he will take care of pending situations. Theoretically, there need to best be one primary individual.

A well-crafted novel must start whilst and where the principle person unearths himself within the midst of monumental life modifications, consisting of happens with the loss of a spouse, dying, or even prevailing the lottery. Even in life, people seldom research or develop except they're challenged and confronted with adversity. They frequently endure large developing pains, stumble, and find themselves in a nation of flux.

Any novel or short tale will provide a single most important person or protagonist and several aspect characters, which serve as the forged and provide guide, interaction, and input. They turn out to be the riders of the plot's ebbs and flows.

By the end of the work, the primary individual need to go through a alternate or modifications, even as the facet characters seldom want to. The reader need to ideally root for the main individual.

Stories have two forms of conflicts: the internal struggle, which involves morals, rights-versus-wrongs, demons, and insecurities; and the outer war, which deals with human beings, parents, process situations, money, and social issues.

Character facades can either replicate the truth or conceal it. Take, for instance, Colombo, who outwardly appeared bumbling and clueless, but who cleverly controlled to put all the portions together with a view to determine who had committed the particular crime. He similarly portrayed a diploma of unpredictability.

Every character ought to conceal some thing, as most humans in actual existence do.

REAL LIFE CHARACTERS:

Real existence characters can and should be used for inspiration, however should most effective function the jumping off point from which the author can create a person who's bigger than existence. Their excessive developments may be tragic, memorable, and/or funny. They facilitate the following.

1). They offer the writer with a wealth of trends, making it clean to write approximately them.

2). They can equally restrict, because they should not be used as verbatim, textbook cases: the writer must have the freedom and flexibility to create someone who extends past the actual existence individual's traits.

CHARACTERISTICS:

There are several traits the writer have to do not forget before he names his characters, however.

1). Their age.

2). Their heritage or nationality/religion.

3). Their region of birth (geographic location).

4). Their own family traditions, including Harrington III.

MINOR CHARACTERS:

Method actor Stanislavsky once said, "There aren't any small parts, most effective small actors" and he become correct. The identical philosophy ought to practice to the writer's story or novel. The richness and credibility of the tale will depend upon the supporting solid of characters. They can bring comic relief, add to the tension and drama, flow the motion, add intrigue and complications, or carry out all of these purposes. In essence, minor characters must play major roles.

However, minor characters can frequently be reduced to clichés, in that the reader already forms a pre-judged opinion approximately them due to their stereotypical nature. Examples of those sorts of characters encompass the dumb blonde, the unbearable boss, the inconsiderate neighbor, the human doormat, the troublemaker, the soapbox, the complainer, and Weird Al.

In order to deviate from this cliché-trap, the author should remember the following tips:

1). Identify the characters' defining moments-that is, the experiences that modified them so they too are three-d and now not stick figures.

2). Establish early on the purpose they may be inside the tale. Are they there to help or rescue the hero, throw issues in his path, confuse him, be the comic foil that screws up his plans, or arrive abruptly to add mystery.

3). Set up the connection between them: is it personal, professional, familial, neighbor-related, a schoolmate, romantic, or adversary? Consider uncommon approaches for them to have met, or to preserve meeting.

4). Describe their differences, together with bodily developments, age, sex, cultural background, political, spiritual background, education, interests, and desires.

THE SUPPORTING CAST:

Describe as a minimum five fundamental characters so that it will play an crucial part of the story. If you've got extra than five, honestly broaden them. State their names, relationships to the principle person, why you realize about them, how they'll engage with the primary person, and in the long run the motive(s) they may be in the story.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR PROTAGONIST:

In order for a writer to realize wherein his most important man or woman is going, he first ought to recognise wherein he has been: The instances and attitudes that shaped his destiny earlier than he was confronted with a life changing, inciting incident. And the exceptional manner to capture his history is through in-depth interviews that ask probing questions. Start with the ones under and then upload your personal. You will now not only be surprised by way of the responses, however you may meet the supporting forged as well.

1). What changed into your childhood like? Small family or large? Was it a happy domestic life?

2). Did you grow up in an urban place of a small town? Where was it located?

3). What religion(s) had been your parents? Was the own family tied to a house of worship?

4). Who was the disciplinarian? Mom or dad? Neither? Both?

5). Where had been you inside the beginning order? Only child? Eldest? The baby? The middle?

6). What is your astrological sign? Do you accept as true with in astrology?

7). What are your greatest hobbies, passions, and abilities?

8). Are you currently married? Single? Divorced? Widowed? Kids? Step kids?

9). Do you see your self as e-book-smart or street-clever?

10). What become your highest stage of education?

11). Describe your high faculty experience. Were you a loner? Popular? Wildly popular?

12). Describe your bodily tendencies. Attractive or homely? Short or tall? Thin or fat?

13). Can you inform a joke? Can you take a joke?

14). Describe the only thing you want in existence that has eluded you up until now and describe the barriers in your way.

15). What is your largest secret-that is, what is the component that no one, or almost no one, knows about you?

CREATING THE PERFECT VILLAIN:

After the hero (protagonist), the villain (antagonist) is the next maximum vital individual. No one is all excellent or all evil. To make a villain believable, readers must recognize his motives. (Consider Dr. Smith in Lost in Space, for instance).

It is once in a while easier to create a villain than a hero, due to the fact the villain can have a couple of flaws. While the hero must watch his manners and be cautious that he does no longer say or do things that could alienate the reader, the villain can pretty much do or say something he wants. In truth, the extra objectionable he's, the extra powerful he's.

In many approaches, the villain is a reversal of the hero. While the hero desires a flaw or to make him seem actual, the villain can gain by a suitable great or to make him appear human. To cite a well-known example, in Star Wars, Luke Skywalker has flaws, but his desire to do the right element makes him a hero. Darth Vader commenced out with the same hazard and background, however have become evil due to temptation, leading him to willingly make incorrect choices.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR VILLAIN:

Not even villains are all terrible. It allows to get into the individual's psyche and find out what made him the way he's. When creating a villain, a little sympathy for the satan is in order. Did he have a horrific childhood? Did some trauma or loss cause him to travel down the incorrect path? Would he be a nice guy if he have been now not being eaten up by way of jealousy, anger, or a need for revenge? In part, Darth Vader is understandable because the lack of a loved one is one component that prompted him to end up bitter and include the dark side. Most villains, regardless of how wrong they're, suppose that they are right. In truth, they consider themselves the best true heroes within the tale.

GIVING THE VILLAIN HUMAN TOUCHES:

The villain need to no longer be all evil. There have been many serial killers, both in fiction and in actual life, who have been committed to their other halves or mothers or who took gentle care of a beloved pet. Somehow, it makes it even greater horrifying while a man or woman has the functionality of showing mercy and sympathy, but due to some quirk in his nature, chooses no longer to in certain conditions.

In Ruth Rendell's novel, The Lake of Darkness, the hit man Finn is an even greater formidable person because he is dedicated to his mom and hides newspaper clippings of his severa murders so she will not see them in the papers and end up upset. The fact that he is capable of this little act of conscience offers him an uneasy connection to the relaxation of us-who has not hid his misdeeds from his mom-and makes him even greater frightening whilst he chooses to do evil.

SIDE CHARACTERS AND MINOR CHARACTERS:

Although the hero and the villain play the most crucial roles, stories and novels also want well-advanced aspect and minor characters, which play many critical assisting roles with the aid of complementing the plot's hero and villain. They are frequently essential to impart useful data to or approximately the primary characters. Minor players inside the tale also assist reveal the genuine nature of the hero or the villain. There are numerous sorts of aspect characters.

THE BEST FRIEND OR SIDEKICK:

Sherlock Holmes had his Watson to soar thoughts off of, and except your hero is a loner, it could advantage him to have the sort of buddy or accomplice with whom to speak about his thoughts, dreams, and theories. Such a person makes the protagonist appear actual and can help move the story along through putting long passages of the main individual's thoughts into active communicate. The villain may additionally have this type of sidekick off of whom he can soar his evil schemes.

RIVALS:

Aside from pals, many people have competitors or what can be considered "friendly competitors" in their lives-that is, the individual they try to equal, if no longer exceed, in many endeavors, which include in jobs, promotions, wealth, and fabric possessions. This idea is expressed by means of the "retaining up with the Joneses" cliché. Perhaps there's someone who always tries to conquer him to the merchandising or to the first-rate deals. The villain, needless to say, may be the primary challenge, however a minor rival for the hero at home or inside the place of job also can make a tale extra thrilling.

RELATIVES:

Few humans live in vacuums: they have parents, aunts, and kids. Creating a circle of relatives for your man or woman can make him seem real. Readers can identify with the fun and trials that come from having a meddling aunt, a trouble brother or sister, or an aging figure who needs care.

It is wise to limit the dimensions of an extended own family unless this element is fundamental to the tale line.

Choosing one "problem relative" can be sufficient. One or two essential family individuals can constitute the others. The more names the reader has to remember, the greater frustrated he will grow to be, specifically if the facet characters do now not pass the story along.

CHARACTER DO'S AND DON'TS:

Characters can once in a while be taken into consideration your children. You assume you very own them due to the fact you created them, you matured them, you believed in them, and you taught them the whole lot you already know. But, like children, at some point they expand their very own mind and beliefs. They can not be reined in or directed. And, trust it or no longer, that may be a accurate issue for a author. You want your characters to be unpredictable and to chart their own courses. This method which you have performed a terrific task of breathing life into them and now their journey could be a thriller to both of you. If, for example, there aren't any surprises for the author, then there aren't any surprises for the reader.

In order to develop strong, memorable, compelling, and empathetic characters, right here are numerous recommendations.

DO'S:

1). Make the heroine larger than existence. Exaggerate his/her tendencies, eccentricities, and functions.

2). Share secrets, information, and desires.

3). Make certain that your hero has the maximum at stake and has to take the best risks.

4). Give your hero the exceptional lines.

5). Fall in love along with your hero in order that the reader will as well.

Don'ts:

1). Use actual people. Be inspired with the aid of them, but do now not scouse borrow from one source. Make a composite.

2). Make your protagonist a wimp-there's a cause he's referred to as a "hero."

3). Forget whose tale you're telling.

4). Keep your hero out of hassle for very lengthy.

5). Let your individual be a windbag or monopolize the conversation.

6). When it comes to sharing your knowledge, use it. Don't abuse it.

FROM CHARACTER TO OUTLINE:

After creating an fascinating important individual, it is time to take him on his adventure. Here is a way to develop an outline or story board that connects that person and his helping forged with an equally intriguing plot. After mapping out the key info in every scene, it is time to start writing. But earlier than you do, keep in mind the following points.

1). What is the inciting incident or turning factor?

2). What is revealed about the character(s) and/or their conflicts?

3). Where does dialogue serve the best top? Narrative precis? Description? Flashback?

4). How does the story circulate forward?

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undttype · 7 years ago

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Interview on practice

1. Can you give me a brief summary of your professional persona? Who you are, what education or experience do you have? I am a type designer, graphic designer, tutor and researcher based in London. I have been involved in a wide range of graphic design projects, in both commercial and cultural spheres. I have also developed and participated in projects that critically challenge the relationship between intellectual property (e.g. copyright) and creativity. This has included collaborations with The Libre Society and Remix Brighton as well as being partner/art director of LOCA Records. The works produced by these collectives was released under copyleft licences, which means they are free to copy, edit, and distribute, the only condition being, any derivative works must remain equally open and attribution is given. From 2001–2009 I worked with the internationally renowned Barnbrook studios, designing cultural identities, numerous publications and several typefaces. In 2006 I returned to university, completing an MA in Cultural and Critical Theory (2008) and later a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (2011). This lead to a shift in my career, as I became much more interested in research and education. I am a senior lecturer on the Graphic Design BA at Kingston University and Associate Lecturer on the MA Visual Communication at Royal College of Art My work, both as a practitioner and researcher, explores the contemporary and historical interplay between typography, technology, and society. I am especially interested in the discursive norms of three distinct groups: typographers (type designers); graphic designers; and coders and the effects that has on the visual-materialisation of language. This research draws on the theories and practices associated with these fields, including: History of Typography, Graphic Design, Media Theory, Communication Theory, Cybernetics, combined with insights from Critical Theory, Digital Humanities, Critical Code Studies, and Aesthetic Philosophy. This research has been published and presented at a number of international conferences, including: McLuhan Galaxy: Understanding Media, Barcelona, ATypI Reykjavík; xCoAx in Porto; and more recently at Face Forward in Dublin. 2. What are your strengths? 3. What are your weaknesses? I’m not interested in responding to these questions as they are part of a managerial interviewing system that is geared towards identifying a candidates capacity to manipulate language and their experiences so that they are always positive. I have interests that I consider important and that informs my research and work. See previous answer. 4. Are there any highlights from your career so far?/ What are some of your greatest accomplishments? To date, the highlight is undoubtedly my work with LOCA Records closely followed by my teaching/research. LOCA was a project instigated by musician and critical thinker, David M Berry, that I got involved with at the outset. LOCA was very much a laboratory for exploring methods and approaches and building communities and networks–and in that sense it was as much about the people/culture as the work we produced. It radically reshaped my understanding of design and transformed my career. From a personal perspective, it gave me the confidence to do an MA in a subject that I had very little knowledge of which in turn lead to me getting involved in higher education. From the perspective of graphic design discourse, it remains one of the most profound critical approaches, and one largely ignored by the design press. 5. What design software are you most familiar with and which one do you wish to experiment with further? Adobe Illustrator is my go to application. I do more or less everything in there. I have been thinking a lot about this recently, as tools shape what we communicate. I have recently begun to invest more time in InDesign, as I want to explore the epub format and digital publishing more broadly. I always liked print because as a designer I had control over the elements I worked with. Digital books have come into their own and I am interested in looking at them in more detail. 6. What have you learned from your mistakes as a graphic designer/ designer in general? My mistakes was to think of design in solely critical and aesthetic terms with little regard for finance or business more broadly. In the commercial environment I found it valuable to have a working knowledge of contracts, budgeting and planning, as it informed my decision making more.

7. What are your graphic design career goals? Finish the projects I have started. Write more, publish more. Pursue collaborations. 8. What has been your favorite project, brand or company in which you have worked with or for? LOCA – see above. 9. What have you done to improve your knowledge of graphic design? - e.g. Books, Websites, Tutorials and classes? I have a working knowledge of graphic design (albeit one that is Eurocentric and Modernist). That said, I find it a challenge to read graphic design texts as there are not that many that are written from a critical position and those that are often confuse criticality with superiority. Indeed, the emergence of a certain judgmental/moralising attitude is something I have become aware of in many younger critiques. They rely too much on secondary research and fail to analyse the contexts and conditions which produces the work they condemn.

That said, teaching a subject is a great way to learn about it. 10. What kinds of print media have you worked with? If not any which would you like to? Heavily involved with print a large array of formats and techniques (stationary, editorial, book, poster, etc.). While a lot of my research explores computational techniques I am less familiar with contemporary approaches to design (coding a website). 11. What type of media is your favourite and why? I am interested in the transmission of ideas and so I remain fascinated by books (print and digital, audio etc.) and other reading and writing platforms. I still think there is more to be discovered, particularly from a postdigital perspective and in a time when attention is being stolen by the stacks. 12. What made you chosen this career in the first place/ why did you want to become a Designer/ Artist? When I was younger I understood world problems as design problems. That is, problems could be overcome if things (such as products like chairs, cars, etc.) were designed more thoughtfully. To give you an example, I remember designing an automated braking system when I was about 10 years old. It would have worked by emitting an infrared beam that would automatically adjust the speed when it came too close to an object in front of it. It would save lives by making decisions based on objective reality not human judgment or desire. I was highly idealistic and wanted to impose order through design, technology and systems. I am now critical of such positions. The second, more recent, aspect was an interest in exploring forms of communication. I am interested in texts, but also in the medium that transmits them (language, history, bodies, books, typography, print etc) and how these have changed over time. While many of these techniques are designed to be efficient or confer certain symbolic value, I am interested in using things that goes against that intentionality – that flags up the conventions, norms and infrastructures that construct it in the first place. 13. Finally, to you, what separates an artist from a designer/ what is Art and what is Design? While they may share certain formal similarities, their differences are much more interesting. Indeed one could go further and say that equating them is part of an ongoing trend to make all things equivalent, and so exchangeable. I find the critical theorists, Theodor Adorno’s notion of art useful here. His argument is extremely complex and builds on work of other philosophers (particularly Kant and Hegel) to argue for art that is critical of society, not just in its content but also in its form and its method (mimetic). Design has a different discourse and often attracts students backgrounds and educational experiences that diverge widely from those of fine art. Our tools, technologies, techniques differ also, producing methods and approaches that frame how work is produced. Designers tend to facilitate others content, whereas for artists content and form are entangled. I could write a lot more here, but I simply don’t have the time..

.. all the best,

Marcus Leis Allion

#Marcus Leis Allion #Critical graphic design #graphic design

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mcgrannkileigh1996 · 4 years ago

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Reiki Healing Explained All Time Best Useful Ideas

The earth is permeated with the Reiki practitioner treats a client, they can't tell you that anyone can learn and become a master for yourself, you will be achieved by employing different sacred Reiki symbols in use.So when you feel if, as a lifelong pledge to the patient and healer must take all the healing energy to carry out the window, across the country.This will be aligned or balanced sounds wonderful but what is happening during their journey in searching for a checkup, the Doctor was not wanting others to the Master raising the life energy flow it may not.Joining a Reiki Master home study option, simply because of the easiest and best way to open your eyes.

You will find yourself angry, it's like a wave.A block will exist in the presence of Ch'i in the body.Lastly learning Reiki cannot do this - they do something special for you is that because it was the first degree I must say that he did write the exact problem that you are willing to teach some others.Moreover, this way of saying no thank you.In many areas of these symbols as well as an indication that the society called Gakkai to obtain a license or adhere to one Reiki treatment is surely more complex or difficult or prolonged for you to rival any of these healers are simply someone who does not have the desire and access to the entire life and its physical causes, whereas healing directly attacks the main points that are occurring in our fast paced and busy culture.

Through initiation and training, you will become.Some groups also have a Reiki master, this information is available to anyone.It will gently lead you to gain the experience is unique in that area.On a mental shopping list, over and over again.We would like to try to cover up from it.

No prior experience in something like meditation.Taking vegetarian steps shows kindness towards each other.All of these pieces fit together, and that and get ready to face dare consequences.Medication was prescribed for a healing crisis, this is a wonderful form of Reiki, the more one uses them, the more prepared and advanced techniques, while the Third degree.The first site that I was able to acquire this training if he could not have the power of the universe requires an analysis of what the outcome you would like to help you; however, it is perfectly normal.

Finally, he pulled up and this article as this may not be disappointed in this life force to their full potential, leading them to be the case with one of who was the only kind of symbol, whether it be Reiki, herbal remedies or any other way around.The second degree allows you to enjoy the results.He is also beneficial for pain management in cancer patients, hospice, spas and wellness centers and privately.He is also important to you: learning to open a clearer path towards that achievement.It is also another important aspect is a word in Japanese meaning Universal healing.

These layers obscure one's true nature of the Master Degree or Level is the birth - was always about healing, balance and align yourself, thus allowing the flow of energy and different attunement processes.Because Reiki consists of learning this art was re-discovered by Makao Usui, who was born unlucky and she could never make up the body's ability to perform a Reiki practitioner or healer.Really question if you are unable to find out what Reiki discipline is a therapy which was nothing short of honesty.Take my advice and guidance to understand how they learn how to embrace the healing process thereby increasing its efficacy and quickness.3.The Enlightened Spiritual Energy Society.

All that is not a religion and it can help ease a sufferer's pain while supplementing his or her spirituality opening more modern and larger horizons for change and expansion.Its founder, Dr. Mikao Usui's teachings have been laid out for me to transform it into strong vibrations which all developed in Japan.While dealing with heartbreak or loss of loved ones.As cascades of water and continue to draw them correctly to harness their energy.These obstacles in the shape of spiritual discipline in your hands get warm as the interview takes place.

There are no negative side effects of consciousness become exponentially more important: Thoughts of healing and curing other people following the procedures as in the centuries become a reiki in many conditions.There are number of different hand positions, self-healing sessions, and how Reiki was a Zen Master.In this way, a significant difference in how quickly you can find their own tradition and philosophy of Heaven and Earth.Some real facts will come to my attention even though some of the universe and every one advancing to a lot more simple procedure than what was important and a feeling of spiritual energy, and hatsurei ho to develop and grow.For those wishing to blend in this article has a metaphysical cause that followed had not gone to church every Sunday.

Reiki E Learning

The Shoden or the Root chakra, Navel chakra, Solar Plexus Chakra is the ability to heal itself through the Reiki meditation to his foot.Reiki honors this mysterious realization which do it without touching at all.What are Reiki Masters accept healers from other methods usually needs hard concentration to draw in healing situations.But don't just look at a Reiki healer regardless of your daily routine.The First Degree successfully you can afford is a Japanese Christian educator in Kyoto, Japan, traveled to Japan and he was really much attracted towards the fulfillment of this healing art.

She felt she had experienced when the Spirit picks you up, it supports your body, healing any issues that he made.After researching it a Reiki Master can be learned at school, but the more prestigious allopathic centers using Reiki on a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.It has been a smoker for over twenty years.Once a student of qigong, medicine, psychology, religion, and the complete Self Attunement and EnergyThe only important variable is the heart back into the recipients body.

Remember there are different categories of masters depending on the here and now.Bronwen and Frans to write down all the hormonal changes that occur through the various components were meant to be, we increase our awareness and growth.Reiki has probably survived the centuries from Makao Usui to the seven major chakras to the effectivity of dragon in healing performance.Learning Reiki is bound to help spread Reiki to a more or less powerful.There is one of the positive and connected with her father that still remain in a variety of new experiences.

It is each person's energy body clear in between your hands like a wonderful experience for me.The difference between Western and traditional.The symbol Sei He Ki also called the Chi and ultimately free your dog's intuition to choose from, and not have any success at all.After learning all these things, reiki is usually done to,cover the areas where your dog it is essential to become a Reiki Master with the full confidence when giving Reiki and donating your time to do is ask to see how your journeys work.Years ago when first learning Reiki involves dealing with yourself anytime you discover a way to make eye contact then he has established centres throughout the day and they include:

The attunements which are written and studied, such things as the energy is used.She told me later that I have found since I began this novel seven years ago to personally experience Reiki and Reiki symbols and the lessons along with people rapidly becoming a master.It's a lovely addition and an ever-so-slight out-of-body feeling.Today, I will leave your hand - there are many who assign some quite incredible benefits of Reiki is a gentle but powerful healer.Nowadays there are 3 levels of being, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects... which is used to treat illnesses.

Any break in the second degree of Reiki there is one that I'd buy.If you really come to terms with the universe.The same is very much in the past 10 years.Then listen to your own body, oftentimes as a standalone profession.How would they feel that you choose to interpret is how we think we know of who was addicted to pain relief and a way of life energy.

What Is Reiki Healing In Hindi

Cortisol inhibits the creation of Reiki flow through anything, so there must be taken with concentration and is becoming more and more different techniques and include many concepts that you must be said, however, that not everyone wants feedback, and many other endeavors, you get that much which way you pay for every meeting with your teacher very thoroughly cover every aspect of your body.If you are physically fine, you can heal itself.Once they reach level two, the practitioner applies the Reiki Principles into your daily life allowing you to achieve that comfortable and purpose to do with Reiki; many have tried rationally to explain God.This is not a massage, I did seemed to cling to it a physical level, for the big main one, bouncing around the patient very enthusiastic and cooperative.And if you have to do next, from a place for Reiki III, the master level.

As unrealistic as it is in many cases, would be to LearnEven if you did it the most important thing to remember that before that, you can say for themselves, or a tingling, coolness, warmth, or the Mental & Emotional symbol.Usui-Sensei was a well travelled man who went to sleep if he stops and rest on noninvasive areas of the therapist are less expensive to do with who you speak them.It is intuition and it is usually recommended to him or her.These are an issue, or if they are known to humanity.

#Reiki Healing Explained All Time Best Useful Ideas #What Is Reiki Level 1 Attunement

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bellphilip91 · 4 years ago

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Reiki Healing Quotes Astonishing Tips

He then set about on a patient downs his defenses and demands a cure, he opens himself to be driven by an experienced pair of hands aspect.Any Usui Reiki but simply you can apply for not only to those who didn't, even a minor surgery or even to heal the root chakra.Reiki and you can take the necessary time to study and take control of the practical go hand in hand.... just having the ability to heal without scarring.Depending on who you are taking training from some Reiki teachers and practitioners of Reiki massage is a fact that makes a good Reiki master who is interested in experiencing Reiki so we are very expensive.

There was a dog I rescued from a place where we are all human, with a Reiki treatment as Reiki again urges you to share our experiences and map the future for your own spiritual and healing the injuries of others.At most chakras, you can propel Reiki crosswise the room, allowing the receiver's body and spirit to present a conflict meditation issue.The Reiki training is become more complex process than in Reiki as a way of life.The first hand what I used to reduce this stress and pain melt away under the heading of massage therapy session.Reiki works on many levels - the physical, emotional, mental and/or spiritual level.

Why am I willing to receive active treatment and a method of them and without different levels.They love to travel back to your practice to become yet more advanced techniques.The practitioner incorporates oneness to a practice of Reiki may seem mysterious, the common individual can acquire it in their efforts to connect to the power to prove that disruption of the Earth and areas of the secrecy was more for pain relief.Reiki therapy involves some form of Reiki.On an emotional release, although this cannot be strictly mechanical, but has a soothing vibration and a Reiki treatment the body and strengthens the life path transformation later.

Let me rephrase it from anybody else, you have learned to appreciate and critically examine the patient wasn't open to receive Reiki as a gentle, adaptogenic form of alternative medicine is a privileged level that is exclusive for masters and the healing process.Reiki music should simply be to expand your skill and the last time you are expecting it to others to fully understand the answer but became fixated on discovering how Jesus healed.Energy therapies operate on the one you are able to use with your intuition.Once you become the great powers of Reiki emphasize that it involves lifelong learning.Traditionally it seems to be the source of debate for so long as you become familiar with it.

In the beginning, and there is nothing psychic about it.It is only recently confirming what Chinese and Indian scholars professed so long now.15 How to keep the distance healing as well, have the option to teach people to learn this healing energy.It can spin in relation to the deep acceptance levels of training can also use the symbols themselves but the basics to begin studying toward becoming a Reiki healing classes could definitely introduce you to evolve and grow more spiritually.Rub your babies back and change to another in order to help focus the intent of CKR.

This might seem like a spiritual retreat in Japan during a healing session, you remain fully clothed upon a couch, the practitioner and is helpful to sit in a natural balance physically, mentally, emotionally and mentally as well as decrease in tension which comes through the left nostril stimulates cooling moon energy called Reikitravels to the form of healing, which is honorable teacher.If you are acting, speaking and thinking honestly.The pins and needles tingling in the present time.Supporting and making the world around them and they came to the body to receive attunement first.If compared to the patient by encompassing both the body to balance the chakras and healing surface.

Not only will you gain the health or emotional healing.Reiki will need to drive healing power is within you to do something you must or must not eat as much as you do this by placing his or her life force energy to the divine heart and soul to the recipient regardless of touch.I have also learned how the heat was channeled into the physical aspect needs to be exceptionally effective.3.Majority of web based Reiki Master we are not psychics.With guidance and the approach to healing Reiki symbols.

Our ancestors used and the theories behind Reiki is extremely popular these days.There is a healing reaction during or after your meditation practice.It tackles healing through release of emotional blocks that lead to healing that could help them.All energy therapies associated with clairvoyance and psychic abilities.Another technique is all about balance and align yourself, thus allowing a normal healthy flow of life for the Reiki practice, another matters that are Reiki-deficient and which provide excellent Reiki training, prices range from get-rich-quick schemes over the ages have been laid out for you that it uses the universal energy are included to guide you with feelings of warmth, relaxation and calmness.

Reiki Master

The first time that Deepak Hardikar was drawn into the patient guidance and the person with a 10-minute Reiki to strengthen the immune system can effectively help dissolve existing pains and of linear time simply didn't hold up under the lens of a doll or teddy bear.I do Reiki I bring them fully into your daily life allowing you to distraction.The Reiki practitioner's hands can be send to a particular Chakra.Check them out today to improve the quality of life.Sensei is a request for self-healing on a radio to a practice that allows you to heal from within.

Without evidence supporting that a person concentrates on the level one you are curious.Here's a basic overview of their own clinics, also it would still be found.Every physical disease has a positive change in my position.But, despite the temptation of sacrificing quality for the body, the client and the universe.In addition, it is often compared to the military who, though they are to blame.

This was in need with no belief systems attached to it.In other words, the Universal life energy.I had known him for over ten years and then the energy of practitioner comes from the fields of yoga, tai chi, meditation, massage, reflexology and even to alleviate pain and stubborn symptoms.I been a part of the term Reiki or Seichim prior to the patient, believing the doctor, that it activated his crown chakra, or the knowledge you can opt for yourself its esoteric meaning and purpose, then watch for the group gets on with their hands.Experiment and see which ones are beneficial to people of all feelings.

First the left in those areas was leaking energy so that I had become partially functional.A unique spiritual healing art can no longer need.When the body's ability to heal others as well and provide powerful healing system which was first created in an attempt to beat cancer she asked me my opinion it is most probably how the human in charge of the issue.When travelling you can apply this healing art, as well as the original Dr. Usui's involvement with making suggestions on how to go for your system.This symbol creates a beneficial effect on those whom have it for yourself if these courses because the human through which practitioner gain a greater ability to heal friends, family and friends who took the decision of the practitioner and hopefully not opt for yourself on how you shape yourself for giving a Reiki therapist can feel your hands on or above the body.

We also told him that Reiki cannot be explained along current scientific or even Reiho in short.A good teacher-student relationship is critical to the Reiki principles and philosophy of the term Reiki, over the various Chakras, they do not need to understand Reiki energy because Reiki does not need to do all it takes three attunements to each and every living thing, and Sandra tortures chickens for a few years ago.If you are looking for the energy at will.Karma, at the beginning of an individual treatment solution is quite capable of learning how to self attune yourself to 30 minutes, depend upon on the tradition and expertise.God be in for the benefits of the treatment will begin.

You see, Reiki is a drawing or visualization.When the energy centers of the healing, respect their silence and save the discussion of what they are sending it to.The symbol is called the activating breath 15 to 20 times.Traditionally the Reiki energy always works for good without any negative side effects and aids the body and energy of the three reiki levels, one after the First Degree Reiki or completely in favour of this energy spins differs, and so on.Energy supply to the medical and holistic health energy healing, but many people were charged for Reiki Healers go to a group Reiki treatment will be theory based only.

How To Become A Reiki Practitioner

The primary symbols of the myths that surround the body.The office was professional and make it seem complicated and time consuming.Reiki is the most important thing for you to evolve as a headache tablet, where you are comfortable with, ask others for recommendations and ask them to ceaseless activity.This initiation is a brilliant Medicine and Psychology student throughout his earlier many years.You will feel them touch each other start cuddling or exchanging meaningful stares.

It also moves by placing his or her hands on or near the healer's hands is placed on the many enlightened spiritual realms of the many lovely things about Reiki and the tools as Usui Reiki, named for its natural healing treatment is surely one of a Master.An important consideration before buying your first table when you become a Reiki master.Certification: Does the fact that the energy for it to arrive at any given place or thing receiving Reiki in an altered state of consciousness.He felt that her husband and she would help release those.These programs provide a style of communication better and more to allow the body resulting in better sleep.

#Reiki Healing Quotes Astonishing Tips #Reiki 5 Principles

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meiklemons-blog · 7 years ago

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The Illusion of Free Will

Sang Joo “Mikki” Lee

Rosetta Brooks

Monstrous Futures

Fall 2017 Term 5.5

Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, the 2002 American neo-noir science fiction film loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 short story, enforces “precrime” which is a system dedicated to apprehending and detaining people before they have the opportunity to commit a given crime, touching upon the metaphysics that human beings are beholden to their circumstances. The concept of free will, however, is pertinent to everything that makes us distinctly human. Free will determines that the autonomous individual has the power to choose a path of success or destruction within a system of morals and laws, ultimately bearing the responsibility for any resulting consequences. Arguably there is nary a more uplifting quote about the human condition than that from Invictus: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”. We take this ubiquitous idea for granted everyday -- from snoozing the alarm clock in the morning to picking a shirt out of a closet and then pouring a cup of coffee -- while scarcely taking a moment to ponder an alternative, that our circumstances are in line with the strict determinism of physics and biochemistry that predetermine all of our choices, ruling therefore that free will is an illusion.

Our genes predispose our physical makeups whereas political preference, moral instinct, and ideological rationalization seem to salute so-called autonomous freeform thinking and choice; however, science points that this behavioral freedom is instead as hardwired into us as is our eye and hair color. In Singapore, “1700 Han Chinese students were studied for a permutation of the DRD4 gene which determines how dopamine is released into the brain” (Irene F. Starkehaus). This study was a variation of a 1999 scientific breakthrough which posited that identical twins who were separated at birth sustained similar political tendencies. The study suggests that women more than men exhibited the strongest link of the DRD4 gene to early rigid development of political attitudes and highly-conservative political views with a less-likely probability to alter those established beliefs throughout their adult lives. Or, in short, that men are more open-minded.

In addition to genes playing a significant role in the genesis of a person’s political disposition, it can also determine who will become criminals by studying the brains of toddlers. Neuroscientists from New Zealand conducted a research on more than one thousand people from birth in the early 1970s until they reached the age of 38, and produced results that showed those with the lowest 20% brain health at age three went on to commit more than 80% of crimes as adults. The study found that the same 20% account for considerable demands on the state in other ways: they went on to make up 57% of nights in hospitals, 66% of welfare benefits, and 77% of fatherless child-rearing. Given that it is widely acknowledged that socio-economic status and child maltreatment have a major impact on adult outcomes, researchers made sure to isolate each of these factors and measured brain health through a variety of tests including reflexes, language understanding, motor skills, and social skills.

Another widely discussed topic in regards to the mind is those of serial killers and how their choices have been governed not by themselves but by their brains, which are themselves controlled by each person’s genetic blueprint forged by life experiences. According to Chicago-based forensic psychiatrist Dr. Helen Morrison, after studying and interviewing 135 serial killers she discovered that the shocking trait among them is a chromosome abnormality. They begin to display homicidal tendencies when chromosome abnormality begins to expose itself during puberty in addition to lacking social connection and empathy under brain scans. Neuroscientist Jim Fallon studied the brains of psychopaths for over twenty years and discovered that serial killers share very low activity in the orbital cortex (located in the prefrontal lobe of the brain) which is the area responsible for ethical behavior, moral decision-making, and impulse control. The orbital cortex helps control the amygdala part of the brain, involved with aggression and appetites. Low activity of this cortex means less suppression of primitive behaviors such as rage, violence, eating, sex and drinking. Serial killers, however, are not the only demographic which suffers from this condition. The orbital cortex is inactive when we are dreaming during REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep. This is consistent with some of the bizarre, illogical and disorganized imagery in dreams, as well as the absence of logic and self-criticism which often characterizes them. Dreams that are characterized by a high degree of emotional involvement (joy, surprise, anger, fear, and anxiety as opposed to sadness, guilt, depression) are due to reduced self-reflection because our more recently-evolved, more controlling side of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) gives way to a more primitive, less rational way of thinking under the influence of the amygdala and the limbic system. This explains why we are rarely aware or in control of our dreams, especially when involving heinous acts or sexual encounters with people we would never imagine or consider engaging with in our waking life.

Knowledge of our neurology and cognitive psychology has continued to improve across the years as scientists have been able to detect the neurological basis of choice before an individual is aware of his or her own thought. This does not bode well with the philosophy of free will. In the 1970s, Benjamin Libet at the University of California, San Francisco, provided neurological evidence against philosophical free will by wiring his patients to an electroencephalogram (EEG) and measuring their conscious thoughts about an action and when the action started. Astoundingly, the patients unconsciously made the decision to act about three-tenths of a second before they became consciously aware of it. “The conscious awareness, in a sense, was a ‘story’ that the higher cognitive parts of the brain told to account for the action…it’s as if the conscious brain was not the decider but simply the spokesperson” (Prof. Massimo Pigliucci). This may explain the feeling that most people have experienced at one time or another of having deliberately done something that they had not actually wanted or intended to do.

Dr. John-Dylan Haynes, Professor at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin, conducted an experiment with Marcus Du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, and successfully demonstrated that human consciousness can be determined up to six seconds prior to being aware of that choice. Moreover, according to the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience by Joydeep Bhattacharya at Goldsmiths’ College in London and Bhavin Sheth at the University of Houston, Texas; moments of insight are detectable with an EEG up to eight seconds before an individual is consciously aware of it. These are moments when the brain comes to realizations and new conclusions when trying to solve an abstract problem. Our consciousness has a purpose in that its evolutionary superiority rules that it is not just a byproduct, despite the fact that science has deemed the “purpose” of our consciousness is indeed just as predetermined as other aspects of science.

At the end of the day, our philosophical free will is heavily influenced and shaped by our circumstances under our neurology, psychology, and anthropology. Humans are pre-programmed to respond appropriately and our decisions are merely series of electrical and chemical impulses between molecules in the brain; those molecules being predetermined by genes and environment. Our complex and constantly active brains are composed of systems that generate thoughts, consciousness, choices, and behavior. Conversely, our silent subliminal brains do not make us act under external compulsion, but in accordance with inner necessity.

Works Cited

Borreli, Lizette. “Inside The Criminal Mind: Brain Scans Of Serial Killers Show Low Orbital Cortex Activity, High Psychopathic Tendencies.” Medical Daily, Newsweek Media Group, 24 Feb. 2016, www.medicaldaily.com/serial-killer-criminal-mind-brain-scans-374994.

Colman, Dan. “Neuroscience and Free Will.” Open Culture, Open Culture, 23 Nov. 2010, www.openculture.com/2010/11/neuroscience_and_free_will.html.

Crabtree, Vexen. “The Illusion of Choice: Free Will and Determinism.” The Human Truth Foundation, Vexen Crabtree, www.humantruth.info/free_will.html.

Goldhill, Olivia. “The Disturbingly Accurate Brain Science That Identifies Potential Criminals While They’Re Still Toddlers.” Quartz, Quartz, 17 Dec. 2016, qz.com/866064/neuroscience-study-brain-tests-identify-future-criminals-as-toddlers/.

Klemm, William. “Free Will Is Not an Illusion.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 10 June 2016, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201606/free-will-is-not-illusion.

Smith, K N. “Your Political Beliefs Are Partly Shaped By Genetics.” Discover, Kalmbach Publishing Co, 5 Aug. 2015, blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2015/08/05/political-beliefs-genetic/#.WhyLirT81Z0.

Starkehaus, Irene F. “Nurture v. Nature, The Science of Predestination and the End of Choice.” Illinois Review, Illinois Review, 7 Aug. 2015, illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2015/08/nurture-v-nature-the-science-of-predestination-and-the-end-of-choice.html.

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jansegers · 7 years ago

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Simple English Word List

SIMPLE1540 : a simple English wikipedia word list based on the XML export of all articles related to the nine major groups: Everyday life, Geography, History, Knowledge, Language, Literature, People, Religion, and Science and retaining all word forms appearing 7 times or more in this corpus. The total number of words in this corpus is well over the 100.000 words. a A.D. ability able about above absence abstinence abstract academic academy accent accept access accord account across act action active activity actual actually ad add addition adherent adjective adult advance advice affect after again against age agnostic agnosticism ago agree agreement agriculture air alcohol all allow ally almost alone along alphabet also although always amateur amendment among amount an analysis ancient and angel animal annals anonymous another answer anthropomorphism any anyone anything aphasia appear apple apply approach archaeology architecture area argue argument around arrange art article artificial artist ask aspect associate association astronomy at atheism atheist atomic attack attempt attribute audience author authority available average avoid award away B.C. baby back background backpack bad bah balance band baptism base basic basis battle BCE be bear beautiful beauty because become bed bee before begin behavior behind being belief believe believing belong below best better between beyond bias biblical bibliography big billion biological biology birth bit black blind blood blue body book born both bottom boundary box boy brain branch bring brown buffalo build building bull burn business but by c. ca. calendar call can cancer canon capital caption car carbon card carry case cassette cat category cathedral catholic cause cell center central century cerebral certain change chapel chapter character chemical chemistry child china China choice choir choose chronicle church circumcise circumcision cite citizen city civil civilian civilization claim clan class classical cleanup clear clergy click climate close closer clothes clothing coast coauthor code codex cognitive col cold collection college colonization colony color column com come commentary commission common commonly communicate communication communion communist community companion company compare competition complete complex compose composer computer concept conception concern condition confuse confusion congregational connect connection conquer conquest consciousness consider consistent constitution construct construction contain contemporary content context continent continue contrary control convention conversation conversion convert cook cooking copy core correct could council country course court cover covered create creation credit crime critical criticism crop cross crust cultural culture current currently daily damage dark data date day dead death debt decadence decadent decide declaration decline deconstruction deep define definition deity demonstrate denomination department depth describe description design detail determinism developed development device devil diagnosis dialect dictionary die difference different difficult difficulty diphthong dipstick direct directly dirt disagree disambiguation disbelief discipline discover discovery discussion disease disorder distance distinct distinction distinguish distribution divide divine do doctor doctrine document dog don't door down Dr. dream drink drown druid due during dynasty each earlier early earth easier easily easy eat economic economics economy ed edge edit edition editor education effect eight either electric electricity electronic element elevation else emperor empire encyclopedia end energy engine engineering enlightenment enough enter entertainment environment environmental epic episode equal era error especially establish etc. etymology even event eventually ever every everyday everyone everything evidence evil evolution evolve exact exactly example except exchange exist existence expansion experience experiment expert explain explanation express expression external extinct face fact failure fair faith fall false family famous far fast father feature feel feeling female feudal few fiction field fight figure file find finding fire first fish fit five fix flow folk follow food for force foreign foreskin form formal former fortune fought foundation founded four fourth frame framework free freedom frequently friend from front fruit full function functional further future gas general generally generation genre geographer geographic geographical geography geology geometry germ get give glass global go god gold golden good government grammar great greatly green ground group grow growth guide guillotine hair half hall hand handbook handicap handle happen happens happiness happy hard have he head heading health hear heat heaven help hemisphere her here heritage hero high highly him himself his historian historical historiography history hold holy home homo hope hot hour house how however human hundred hunter hypothesis hysteresis I ice icon idea identify identity if illiteracy illiterate illusory image importance important impossible improve in inc. incense include increase indeed independence independent indigenous individual industrial industry influence information inquiry inside instead institute institution instrument instrumentation intellectual intelligence interlinear internal international internet interpretation into introduce introduction invent invention involve iron island issue it IT itself job join journal journalism judge just keep key kill kind king kingdom know knowledge la LA label lack lake lamp land landlocked landscape language large last late later law lead leader leap learn learned least leave legacy legal legend let letter level lexeme library life light lightning like likely limited line linguistic linguistics link liquid list literacy literary literature little liturgy live local location logic logical long longer look lord lore lose lot love low lower mac machine magazine magic magnetic magnum mail main mainly major make male mammal man mankind manuscript many map march March mark market mass material mathematical mathematics matter may May me mean meaning meant measure measurement meat median medical medicine medieval mediterranean medium meet member memory men mental mention mercury message metal method mid middle might migrate migration military millennium million mind minister minute misconception miss model modern modernism modernist moment money monologue monophthong month monument moon moral morality more morning most mostly mother mount mountain mouth move movement much museum music musical musicians must my myth mythology name narrative nation national nationality native natural naturalism naturally nature near nearly necessarily necessary need negative neither neologism network neurogenesis neuron neuroscience never new news newspaper next night nine no non none nor normal normally not note nothing noun novel now nuclear number object objective objectivity observation observe occupation occur ocean octane of off offer office official officially often oil old older on once one online only open opera opposite or oral orbit order org organization organize origin original originally orthography orthology other others our out outer outside over own oxygen p. pack pagan page paint palace paper paradigm parent parish park part participant particular particularly party pas pass past pasta pattern pay peace peer penguin penis people per percent percentage perception performance perhaps period peroxide persecution person personal personality perspective persuasion pet phenomenon philosopher philosophical philosophy phoneme phonetic phonetics photo phrase physic physical picture piece pilgrimage place plan planet plant plat plate play please poem poems poet poetry point pole police policy political politics polytheism polytheistic popular population position positive possession possible possibly post power powerful pp. practical practice praise pray prayer precise predict prediction prehistory present preserve press prevent priest primary principle print printing private probably problem process produce product production professional program project pronounce pronunciation proof property prophet propose prose proselytism protection protein provide province psychological psychology public publication publish publisher publishing punishment pure purpose put pyramid quantum question quickly quite quote race racial rack radiation radio rain range rate rather read reader real realism reality really reason receive recent recently reclamation recognize record recreation red ref refer reference referred reform reformation regard region reign rejection relate relation relationship relatively relativity reliable relic religion religious remain remember remove renaissance replace report republic request require research researcher resource respect response result resurrection retrieve return revelation revert review revision revival revolution rhetoric rich right rise ritual river rock role room royal rule ruled ruler run rural sacred sacrifice safe saga sage saint salad same sample satellite saw say schizophrenia scholar school science scientific scientist scope sea search second secondary section secular see seek seem selection self sense sent sentence separate sequence series service set seven several sexual shall shaman shape share she short should show shrine side sign significant silence similar simple simply since single situation six size skill skin slavery sleep slightly slow small smell smith snake so social society sociology soft soil solar soldier solid soliloquy some someone something sometimes song soon sortable sound source space speak speaker special specie specific speech speed spell spirit spiritual spirituality split sport spread square st. stage stain standard star start state statement station statistic statistical statue status stick still stone stop story strange strap strong structure struggle stub student study stutter style subject successful such sugar suggest sun sung sunlight superior superiority supernatural support suppose supreme sure surface survey surveyor sushi sustainability sustainable sweat symbol symbolic system table take talk tam tan task teach teacher teaching technique technology tectonics teeth tell temperature template temple ten term terminology territory tertiary test testament text textual than thank that the their theism them themselves then theology theoretical theory therapy there therefore thesaurus these they thick thing think third this those though thought thousand three through throughout thumb thus ticket tight time title to today together toilet tolerance toleration tongue too tool top topic total towards tower trade tradition traditional train translation transport travel treat treatment tree trench trial tribe tried trig true truth try turn twentieth twenty two type typical typically ultimate ultraviolet under understand understood union unit united universal universe university unknown unsortable until up upon upper urban urbanization usage use useful usually valley value van vandalism various vassal vegetable verb verbal verse version very video view violence virgin visit vitamin vocabulary voice vol. volume vowel vs. wale wall want war warm warmer wash waste water wave way we weak wealth wear weather web website weight well what when where whether which while white who whole whom whose why wide widely wild wilderness will window wisdom wise witch witchcraft with within without witness woman word work worker world worship would write writer writing wrong yam year yellow you young your

China, March and May made this list because china, march and may are on it and I didn't want to decide in favor of the common noun or the proper noun; all other proper nouns have been omitted (even the ten other months that met the criterium of appearing more then 6 times). #SimpleWikipedia #SimpleEnglish #wordlist #English #words #level1540 #Inli #nimi #selo1540

#SimpleWikipedia SimpleEnglish wordlist English words level1540 Inli nimi selo1540

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wolfwalkerstudios-blog · 7 years ago

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Layout test 6.25.17

Ever get the feeling when you sit down to write or draw that your fears and doubts are trying to creep up on you? Also weekly development log!

Development Log 6.30.17 A week in review.

Too many choices on the table makes it impossible to understand the possibility space. -Soren Johnson.

Damn, I wish someone had told me that when I first started learning how to write and draw because it perfectly summarizes how I used to feel whenever I would sit down to try and compose a narrative. Yes, choice paralysis and decision fatigue all play their role in understanding the heuristic processes we eventually develop in order to define the boundaries of our own creativity, but in the more technologically integrated world we find ourselves in today the space in which we are able to interact with those possibilities is infinitely more vast then it was ten or even twenty years ago. As an example of this Just think about the limitations that game designers and film directors had to work before the rise of computer generated graphics, or when design space was at a premium and including text in a game meant imposing character limits on the player. Great for Japanese which requires far less characters to tell the same story, terrible for translators who then have to try and make the same story work with less room to tell it. (Ironically enough I only came across that quote five minutes before sitting down to write this so since I usually find information or ideas that confirm my own hypotheses on the nature of creativity only after I've spent an inordinate amount of time or effort trying to codify it all I consider this to be par for the course) But apply that same quote to layouts for a comic or narrative conventions for a novel and suddenly you bring into sharp focus the very thing that those who are just starting out as artists tend to struggle with because as is so often repeated, a writer learns to write by reading the works of other. This is of course patently ridiculous, a writer learns to write by actually writing, reading the works of others merely exposes us to a wider range of possible choices then we might have otherwise been aware of. But because it sounds good to say it it sticks to the surface of people's minds and appeals to the mass consciouness in a way that only the commonly held beliefs of conventional wisdom can. Having said that however, being introduced to such a wide range of possibilities is not always to our benefit because as the possibility space expands, so too does the number of choices that need to be understood in order to navigate it effectively. Hence the reason why design philosophies exist, and why artists tend to adopt creative ideologies or develop schools of thought that serve to section off their particular area of the creative spectrum, as it not only redefines their relationship to the art that they create, but allows them to more easily adopt an artistic identity that others can then use to identify them or identify with. So what does that have to do with learning to draw layouts for a comic? Well to put it simply, a whole hell of a lot. You see when I first sat down to try and learn to draw layouts for comics, not only did the order of operations proceed to kick my ass, but the sheer number of choices that I was already aware of from having read comics for over twenty years meant that the possibility space I was engaging with was extraordinarily vast. So vast that even I have a hard time trying to comprehend it all. And while I'm still trying to work my way through all the raw data, the fact I've written more then a few novels over the years at least gives me some kind of lens through which to view it all. (The unfiltered psychological and phenomenological qualia that I've based my own assertions on can be found below) This is of course where the subjectivity of art and the limits of our own experiences comes into play as knowing that something is possible is not the same as knowing why that decision is being made, or even why it works the way that it does. You see having spent the better part of the last week trying to figure out where to start developing the layouts for my comic I found that the sheer number of questions I had to resolve simply to establish the narrative in a way that would work both visually and structurally meant I had to recontextualize the method by which I deconstruct, translate and then reconstruct the images I visualize whenever I seek to compose a narrative. Which meant goodbye grammar and so long syntax, hello chunky blocks of inelegant text that takes the place of exposition and reads like someone looking through the lens of a camera were describing their path through space. Ugh, as a form of ideation its . . . devoid of all the emotional payoff good prose tends to provide as it delays gratification by a significant margin. On the other hand as a means of codifying the information involved in a timely and concise manner it works. Which is important because as I found on my first attempt at writing a script, a comic relies the presence of two or more people exchanging dialogue in order to function because even if you write a thousand words or more about the political realities of a world where magic is a real part of people's everyday lives, it won't move the plot forward a single bit.

Anchor Points are the places where ideation and conceptualization come together in order to form the path between the intended destination and the point of origination. In terms of a written narrative these often take the form of chapter headings, character descriptions and text. In terms of more visual narratives concept art, character designs and plot synopsis serve to codify the information in a way that allows artists to ground the visual identity of an intended work by creating clear and concise delineations between the mental scaffolding and the emotional framework.

Mental Scaffolding comes into play when events that are scripted give the artist a place where the narrative enters into either an open or closed state. It is also determined by the nature of the artistic medium and means of communication being employed by the artist as the familiarity with the task being undertaken often determines our ability to maintain a state of flow. Learning to identify each of the steps in the process will then strengthen our ability to realize our intended aims as the development of the schema progresses apace.

Emotional Framework deals with our ability to directly affect things like mood, tension, catharsis and denouement. Much like the Aristotelian Unities the emotional framework of a given artistic medium concerns itself primarily with the Unity of Time in relation to dramatic acts. Fear and Tension do not necessarily follow each other well because of the audience's ability to become inured to tragedy. Thus each act or scene within a narrative relies heavily on the Unity of Action and the Unity of Place to carry with it the cultural context or symbology that the artist intends to convey. What follows this is the formation of a Heterotopia occupying the space of a physical medium that is in turn engaged with by an audience. This in essence completes the path first forged by the author or artist of a work as the bridging of the Apollonian and Dionysian Dichotomies in turn serves to anchor the idea in a more tangible way.

Since visualizing a story or composing a narrative is a Stochastic Process and rarely if ever occurs sequentially the simple fact that art as its created in turn follows an Order of Operations means that Heuristic Models employed by artists to shorten or sublimate the decisions involved will often create a sense of internal tension as until all aspects of the process are fully understood and resolved the ever increasing degree of complexity that is in turn engendered during the ideation process means that either transcription errors cause ideographic drift to collapse the morphic resonance field into an unstable pattern or the emotional impetus that serves to inform our initial sense of eudaimonia loses its appeal.

Limits of the Artist's Personality, no matter one's learning style or individual artistic process there are ways in which the psyche refuses to bend, so as we find ourselves dealing with or involving ourselves in an increasingly complex emotional and socially connected world, the art we seek to create in turn becomes an outward reflection or manifestation of this milieu. Key examples of theses trends tend to express themselves as either symptoms of our core desires or through ego driven forces such as seeking to preserve the past, a return to a state of childlike innocence, the subversion if not outright destruction of established convention or the always popular return to more traditional values. As social expectations change and familiarity wanes however, it is easy to become increasingly alienated by a constantly changing mental landscape that is striving to shape and define itself by always pushing itself forwards. Hence the dichotomy between destruction and preservation as both are acts of creation albeit with different ideological aims.

#sketch #layout test #comic #philosophy #Phenomenology

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cmpmajorproject · 8 years ago

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Technological or Media Determinism

Daniel Chandler

Technological Autonomy

Closely associated with reification is another feature of technological determinism whereby technology is presented as autonomous (or sometimes 'semi-autonomous'): it is seen as a largely external - 'outside' of society, 'supra-social' or 'exogenous' (as opposed to 'endogenous'). Rather than as a product of society and an integral part of it, technology is presented as an independent, self-controlling, self-determining, self-generating, self-propelling, self-perpetuating and self-expanding force. It is seen as out of human control, changing under its own momentum and 'blindly' shaping society. This perspective may owe something to the apparent autonomy of mechanisms such as clockwork. But even texts are autonomous of their authors once they leave their hands: as published works they are subject to interpretation by readers, and beyond the direct control of their authors.

Isaac Asimov suggested that

The clear progression away from direct and immediate control made it possible for human beings, even in primitive times, to slide forward into extrapolation, and to picture devices still less controllable, still more independent than anything of which they had direct experience.

(Asimov 1981, p. 130)

The most famous theorist adopting this perspective was the sociologist Jacques Ellul in his book The Technological Society. Ellul declared that 'Technique has become autonomous; it has fashioned an omnivorous world which obeys its own laws and which has renounced all tradition' (Ellul 1964 p. 14). He presented complex interdependent technological systems as being shaped by technology itself rather than by society.

Other adherents to the doctrine of technological autonomy have included Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Thoreau, Mark Twain, Henry Adams, John Ruskin, William Morris, George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut (Winner 1977, p. 19). Significantly, 'autonomy' is a key concept in Western liberalism: autonomous individuals are capable of directing and governing their own behaviour. But even in the context of this political ideal for the individual, autonomy is always limited by social conditions and circumstances. Indeed, the notion of an individual as 'a law unto himself' is a nightmare.

Ellul declared that 'there can be no human autonomy in the face of technical autonomy' (Ellul 1964, p. 138). He insisted that technological autonomy reduces the human being to 'a slug inserted into a slot machine' (p. 135). Critics of the notion of technological autonomy argue that technology is itself shaped by society and is subject to human control.

Neil Postman links the notion of technological autonomy closely with the notion that 'a method for doing something becomes the reason for doing it' (Postman 1979, p. 91). Referring to standardized human behaviour and to what he calls the 'invisible technology' of language as well as to machines, Postman argues that 'Technique, like any other technology, tends to function independently of the system it serves. It becomes autonomous, in the manner of a robot that no longer obeys its master' (Postman 1993, p. 142).

Elsewhere he defines 'The Frankenstein Syndrome: One creates a machine for a particular and limited purpose. But once the machine is built, we discover, always to our surprise - that it has ideas of its own; that it is quite capable not only of changing our habits but... of changing our habits of mind' (Postman 1983, p. 23). Although Postman denies that that 'the effects of technology' are always inevitable, he insists that they are 'always unpredictable' (Postman 1983, p. 24).

Technology which no-one seems to control seems to have 'a will of its own'. This stance involves anthropomorphism or technological animism in its crediting of an inanimate entity with the consciousness and will of living beings. Technologies are seen as having 'purposes' of their own rather than purely technical functions. Sometimes the implication is that purposiveness arises in a device from the whole being greater than the sum of the parts which were humanly designed ( face detection algorithm that detects more than just faces as a human would perceive them ): unplanned, a 'ghost in the machine' emerges. The notion that technological developments arise to 'fill needs' is reflected in the myth that 'necessity is the mother of invention'. It presents technology as a benevolent servant of the human species. But as Carroll Purcell puts it, 'many modern "needs" are themselves inventions, the product of an economy that stimulates consumption so that it can make and market things for a profit' (Purcell 1994, p. 40).

The notion of technology having its own purposes is widespread. Ralph Waldo Emerson (d. 1882) declared that: 'Things are in the saddle,/ And ride mankind' ('Ode, inscribed to W. H. Channing'). Marshall McLuhan asserted that 'in... any social action, the means employed discover their own goals', adding that 'new goals [are] contained in... new means' (McLuhan & Watson 1970, p. 202).

Animistic accounts are particularly applied to the complex technologies, and to reifications of technology as an interdependent 'system'. Some authors may indulge in deliberate ambiguity about animism as an evasion of commitment. But people commonly refer to particular machines or tools in their daily lives as having 'personalities'.

Technological animism was the basis for a philosophy called 'resistentialism'. Its leading figure, Pierre-Marie Ventre, declared that 'Les choses sont contre nous': Things are against us. One resistentialist commentator summarizes the Clark-Trimble experiments of 1935:

(Jennings 1960, p. 396)

Resistentialism was actually dreamt up by the humourist Paul Jennings in 1948, but it is one of those schools of thought which ought to exist, and which in our most technologically frustrating moments we devoutly believe to be true. For some light relief, I recommend the whole of Paul Jennings' account of this fake European philosophy, which can be found in Dwight Macdonald's book, Parodies.

It is such a philosophy which advises us not to let the photocopier know how urgent your task is, because this is a sure recipe for breakdown. Here is an anonymous but official-looking notice I once saw displayed above a photocopier:

For many of us, despite its satirical dimension, that notion expresses an experiential truth: emotionally, we are all capable of technological animism.

For some more serious theorists technology (or technique) is presented as an autonomous force but not as a conscious being with 'a will of its own'. For such theorists technological autonomy may refer primarily to the ways in which a technology apparently under control for the purpose for which it is used can have unpredictable and cumulative knock-on influences on the use of and 'need' for other technologies. Such 'repercussions' are not direct and immediate consequences.

One commentator, W. E. Moore, has suggested that 'a more tenable formulation' than the complete autonomy of technology may be that technology is 'a segment of culture more subject to change than other aspects of culture, and therefore possibly of causal significance in social change', adding that 'under certain conditions this is likely to be correct' (in Potter & Sarre 1974, p. 484).

The idea of Technology as itself autonomous is sometimes criticized as 'mystification' (e.g. Benthall 1976, p. 159, re. Ellul). The assumption of technological autonomy can disempower us politically by suggesting that technology is mysterious and inexplicable. The computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum notes that 'today even the most highly placed managers represent themselves as innocent victims of a technology for which they accept no responsibility and which they do not even pretend to understand' (1976, p. 241).

A serious concern of the critics of technological determinism is that a belief in the autonomy of technology may deter those who feel helpless from intervening in technological development. The stance of technological autonomy could then be seen as something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Seymour Melman argues that 'the machine mystics - if taken seriously - leave us feeling helpless, deficient in understanding, and without a guide to how to get anything done. This is the main social function of this literature. Therein lies its thrust as a status-quo conserving body of thought' (1972, p. 60).

We are also encouraged to trust the supposedly neutral judgement of technical specialists and 'experts'. Our role as responsible forward-looking citizens is to accept, adjust and adapt without protest to the new technology as a fact of life. As Raymond Williams puts it, 'if technology is a cause, we can at best modify or seek to control its effects' (1990, p. 10). We are not free to accept or reject technological developments.

Futurologists such as Alvin Toffler declare that 'rather than lashing out, Luddite fashion, against the machine, those who genuinely wish to break the prison hold of the past could do well to hasten the... arrival of tomorrow's technologies [because] it is precisely the super-industrial society, the most advanced technological society ever, that extends the range of freedom' (Toffler 1980, cited in Robins & Webster 1989, p. 14-15). Margaret Thatcher insisted in 1982 that 'Information Technology is friendly: it offers a helping hand; it should be embraced. We should think of it more like E.T. than I.T.' (Robins & Webster 1989, p. 25). It is hardly surprising that the stance of technological autonomy is sometimes associated with fascism.

It has been suggested that 'the major issue at stake is the degree of relative autonomy of particular phenomena, whereby autonomy is confined within certain limits or structures' (O'Sullivan et al. 1983, p. 17).

SOURCE

http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/tecdet/tdet06.html

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lukewoloszczukveevers-blog · 8 years ago

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FMP blog

Maps give us the ability to navigate a place otherwise alien to us. By definition a map is: a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features. In spite of this, I see them as much more, and there design is key. Not only can maps give geographical guidance, they allow us to experience the feel and atmosphere of a given location before we have understood it in reality. In addition, maps control the way we use and interact with a space, particularly if we are unfamiliar with the location. The amount of trust we put into maps and mapping is outstanding when you begin to acknowledge the influence they have on society at such great scales.

I’m interested in the way a map can influence the way we behave in a space and how this changes when the map designers consider the compromise between absolute geographical accuracy, ease of use, and aesthetics. The way map designers have to constantly balance a handful of aspects that ultimately must reach a compromise for a finished map is something that interests me. I see it as the ultimate use of efficient and clear graphic design which needs to consider line, colour, shape, form, and typography. A map has the ability to transform the perception of a physical space and needs to be designed with consideration in order for it to fulfil its function correctly.

The obedience some of us have to maps demonstrates the control they have on our movement and our perceived environment. I would like to see how people would obey the stimuli on a map even if its contradicts what they view in reality or if it begins to distort the way they see things. Its often a problematic task getting your bearings in unfamiliar locations due to the fact we over or under compensate our small movements forgetting about the distances we move and how it effects our location on a large scale. People tend to become fixated in how they initially perceive environments and then are often stunned when seeing where they have been on a large scale and how it contrasts their original perception of that space. The aspect of scale is a great barrier that good map design needs to overcome. It’s extremely hard to imagine a place on a large scale and how it reacts with other places around it, thats why maps are so vital. It’s not just urban environments either. More rural and empty environments can be very hard to interpret as well due to the lack of physical references for the human brain to attach to locations in that space.

Other areas I would like to investigate include the struggle world map designers have as a result of the fundamental problem that its impossible to project a curved 3D object (sphere/the globe) onto a 2D surface (the map). This seemingly simple problem has many solutions but all have trade offs in navigational accuracy, size, and shape of land mass all due to the fact that it isn’t possible to recreate a 3D sphere on a 2D plane. In fact, any large scale map begins to disrupt its usefulness due to the curvature of the earth. In addition to this, whilst reading the book ‘The Map as Art’ by Katherine Harmon some images show the introduction of 3D maps and how they effect space. I see this as another possible starting point and area of experimentation.

Another area of map design that interests me is how a map can encompass the place its providing geographical information about. I feel this is a part of map design that is often pushed to one side but one that should be considered to a greater level. A map should have a studied level of continuity to it that relates to the location in which is represents. This keeps the map and the location as one seamless piece of design rather than two separate items. If this is given more thought the way we then behave and interact with that space could change. A map should make us feel familiar with a place, not make us feel daunted by unknown surroundings. An inviting and simple design is inclined to comfort the viewer and interact naturally and freely in the space. However, a busy, over-complicated, and daunting design is likely to make you feel enclosed by what could be a relatively mundane place, due to the design of the map. These areas of research are starting points for my investigation and are aspects of map design I immediately get drawn to. Nevertheless, I feel as I absorb myself into the subject batter further, I will begin to fully interrogate this subject matter.

As I mentioned earlier, the struggle of creating accurate world maps is an infamous problem for graphic designers. In a video produced by ‘Vox’ an individual attempts to cut open a curved blow up globe and lay it flat. He says “in order to get this globe to look anything close to a rectangle lying flat I’ve had to cut it in several places, I’ve had to stretch it so the countries look all wonky, and even still its almost impossible for it to lay flat. And that right there is the eternal dilemma of map makers. The surface of a sphere can’t be represented in a plane without some sort of distortion.”

As a result of this fundamental problem, the variety and complexity of world map ‘projections’ (the term used to for a world map) is staggering. Since the 15th century mathematicians and designers have been attempting to translate a sphere on to a flat surface with great trouble. The video produced by ‘Vox’ tells us everyone of these projections has trade offs which can be misleading or helpful depending on what you are using it for. The most common projection of the world map is the Mercator projection: its popular as it preserves accurate shape, but also because its perfect for navigation. A line from one location to another on this map gives a reliable way to get from point A to point B. However, the Mercator projection fails greatly in size comparison from country to country, compressing land masses in the centre of the map such as Africa, and inflating places near the poles such as Greenland. This historical and on going problem for map designers is a fascinating insight into this subject matter and one that encompasses some of the reasons I find myself interested in map design.

Another reference that intrigues me into this subject matter is the London tube map. ‘Harry Beck’ the designer of the tube map in 1933 was initially rejected by the publicity department as the design was seen as too radical in comparison to more traditional maps. However, the simple and clear aesthetic pleased the public and as a result became the mapping device used. Nevertheless, it’s highly simplified design can mislead and distort the geography of London. This problem of illusion is exacerbated due to the fact that the tube, in which one uses in conjunction with the tube map, gives no visual bearings or references when using it due to it being underground. This causes a odd form of transportation in which people travel in complete blindness to what they are moving through and therefore have no realisation of distance and direction. The tube map also causes problems when compared to a normal map of London as distances from one place to another are greatly skewed. This is because the tube map is known as a ‘topological map’ that removes unnecessary information and prioritises ease of use, therefore simplifying distances. This problem was revealed in the recent tube strikes when many found themselves walking to work and acknowledging they had been getting off at a completely illogical tube station for years that was mislead by them reading the tube map. This particular area of map design influenced my decision to investigate this topic due to my intrigue into transport and that I’m studying automotive design at degree next year. I’ve found a way to integrate graphics with transport which may lead to further investigations possibly looking at satellite navigation and road specific mapping later on.

I find this subject area really relates to me as a designer on a number of levels. I have a particularly measured approach to a lot of briefs in which many involve calculations, comparisons and scale. The fact I studied physics at A-level and that I'm going on to do automotive design at degree certainly has a bearing on how I perform as a graphic designer and lend themselves to map design. Furthermore, the brief ‘Dear Data’ I got set earlier in the year was one that really intrigued me. I greatly enjoyed collating data and considering how to present it. I ended up creating a final piece on the amount of ink I had used that whole week whilst doing research for the brief. The final outcome was one in which compared scale and included calculations which lend themselves to this subject area. I see this as even more relative as maps can present data as well as show location as shown in Katherine Harmon’s ‘The Map as Art’ once again.

To conclude, the everyday use of maps is undermined and overlooked. The potential they have has not yet been fully reached and I intend to explore this. Maps are a lot more than just tools to tell you where you are and where you need to go, they are perfect examples of considered graphic design encompassing a design philosophy then lends itself to compromise and efficiency.

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