Violence in the Virtual World

“How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society”   by Julian Dibbell

People on the Internet feel almost godlike when they are given the power over others. For this one group of people, the horrifying loss of control was taken from them, and they were forced into sexually violent situations. A MUD similar to second life, had been a haven for these players, and their alter egos were a strong part of them. The writer of this article also had an avatar on this particular site, and one could tell that she was truly saddening over what she had found out.

Apparently a person in the real world found a way to control various avatars in the virtual worlds, and symbolically, he chose the voodoo doll to be his symbol and controlling device. He entered a living room where a group of two female avatars and a male one were having a gathering. His appearance was sloppy and crude, with most notably the “cum” stains on him, and his belt buckle that read “KISS ME UNDER THIS BITCH”. He took control of the male first, and forced him to leave the room. He then forced the women to perform sexual acts upon him, and violent ones upon themselves, like eating their own pubic hair, and violating themselves with kitchen knives. The controller continued this until another player with also the ability to control, in the form of a gun, fires it and locks the man in a cage, stopping his control over the women.

This MUD, which is technically a MOO, has no set of laws to punish this man. So, he got away with his violation of these women, and all he has to do is to create a new avatar and do it again. These sort of violent acts are no watched for on the internet, yet they do have as much intent as a real rapist of murderer. They have the same psychological affect. People are not being watched for these acts on violence in the virtual world, but if someone checks out Mein Kampf out of the library, they are tagged for further watching. There is a serious problem here with this.  The only form of punishment available is to “toad” the criminal, which means to replace everything with toad like attributes, so they are pretty much whipped clean. Is that justice?

The women thought it was not, and so they pushed for a “deletion” of the avatar, and eventually they got their wish, unfortunately, things do not stay that way. Another avatar started to “voodoo” people, and take attack them sexually, which turned out to be the same man with a new character. This time he used a Nazi symbol as his “controller”. Eventually this character also met his demise, and never returned. This just goes to show the flaws of the system. The violent can always come back.

 

 

Virtual Violence 4/21

“Critical Simulation”

The military, it seems, has always been a part of our virtual worlds. Many people learn bodily actions by its repetitive nature. After a while, it all seems natural. Video-games do much the same thing, but in the virtual world. The same exacting attack movements are repeated over, and over, and over again in game-play, becoming virtually second hand nature by the completion of the game. The military has intertwined itself in entertainment, and has become a vital part to any video-game. In the article the game Quake is mentioned. Anyone who has played it knows that the main point of the game is to complete the missions through the ways of violence. The more immersive a game is, the more successful it is. The rest of the article focused on how necessary it is for a game to be immersive in order to work. Antisocial people have a way to interact with others, through violence. Some people will clearly have problems with this, but it does raise some interesting questions. Is violence truly necessary for video-games?

“Disenchantment”

At first, this article made me very confused. I am unfamiliar with the traditions of the Hopis, and though he does explain them well, it still left me with more questions than answers. I could understand that the Hopis children had various rituals to go through in order to become an actively religious member of society, but the virtual part was a little confusing. It seemed to me that, acting out the parts of gods, is a form of play, and sometimes that form of play is virtual violence. No one is hurt, but the children act out the violence. That was what I could make of it, but I suppose further research is needed on the Hopis tribe for me to fully understand it.

“Violence and the Sacred”

Humans are naturally violent. I agree. Within society, people watch boxing, play video-games, and watch action movies. People need violence. The release of this from our systems is vital, otherwise we will explode. Ritualistic sacrifice is one way to do that. People find it savage nowadays, as virtual violence can now replace it. We no longer need the physical violence, as long as the virtual violence is immersive enough. Sacrifices are used to get a whole community’s violence out, which is rather difficult to do in a video-game. Everyone can attack the victim and hurt him/her, and expect no reprimand for it. This act of such violence frees a community of their inner struggle for some time.

Identity

“Video Games of the Oppressed”

Once again, narration becomes key for understanding what video-games are for. Can they teach social and political issues, or are they just “trivial entertainment”? I doubt the creator’s of America’s Army think the game does not teach anything, nor will the army for that matter. By using narration as a tool for procedural rhetoric, the player can be immersive completely in a game and learn the procedural steps in order to achieve a specific goal. I sincerely doubt that one would ever come across a troll warrior in real life, so that procedural rhetoric plan is generally useless in the modern world, and that is why video-games are easily dismissed as a tool for teaching. No one can see it being actually applicable. The political logo is not something new to us, but in video-games, it has sneakily made its way into game-play. Subliminal advertising has always been a part of pop culture, and over time, it has become more frowned upon, but it is not being used in video-games. Does that not teach the player what products to buy? It may not teach, but rather influence, which is exactly what video-games do, in my opinion. Video-games influence people, but do not teach entirely.

“Women’s Stories, Women’s Symbols”

It seems like the field of ritual studies will never come into agreeance, as it seems this piece is just evidence of that. Bynum disagrees with the major theorists in this field, Victor Turner, in three major areas: dominant symbols, liminality, and social drama. Clearly from the title, one can assume that this is a feminist piece, and you are quite right. This piece suggests that woman are merely part of the theories, almost like a piece of the puzzle, but not the person putting the puzzle together. That job is reserved for the men of this field. She goes on to suggest that women need to be more included, and not just simply mantel pieces anymore. I agree with her, but I also have just general qualms with her ideas. I assume that there aren’t many women in this field in the first place, so making your voice be heard will be rather difficult. Secondly, she would have to rally all the women in the field in order to get proper attention and respect. This seems like a simple task, but really it is rather difficult, but she had already managed the first, most important step: get noticed and bring attention to the issue. she got her piece published, right? So, she is well on her way to being discovered.

“Women and Ritual in Family Therapy”

Apparently being a therapist was a hard job. Who knew? Quite seriously though, she describes how hard it is to bring a family together, specifically for a family intervention. Being present at multiple interventions, she has seen the role of women repeatedly, and she has not liked what she has seen. Women are the submissive, and men are the dominate in all rituals it seems, and yet that seems unfair as ritual is neither defined feministic or masculine. Ritual should be equally represented among all sexes, as it is neutral itself, and yet it is not due to the role of men in society. Ritual is reserved for those that are the dominate, and that is men. If women want this to change, they must first change their social and political roles, before assuming the position of total equality. Once that is done, there can be hope.

Virtual Embodiment and the Materiality of Images

 

“Virtual Embodiment and the Materiality of Images” by Harmony Bench

Being from the journal of Embodied Technology, I had high expectations. The start of the article was two quotes talking about the physicality of the human body. What is a body? Is it just a shell for our soul, or something more? From there, Bench came up with these main ideas: ” that we are in a post-human era, or simply that technology is inherently anti-body and actively destroys the body. These assertions only reveal the complicated situation in which the body finds itself in relation to new technological practice” The body cannot be in two places at once, but the body can in virtual reality, a distribution of cognition, and the distance a body can travel in now greatly improved, so the interactions and experiences of that person has improved as well.

What is our identity? It use to be just our body, and how other perceive us, but now it is so much more difficult to define someone due to the advances in technology. We are no longer identified thorough our image, because our image in cyberspace is not who we really are in the physical sense. She continues on to about a 20 more ideas about the meaning of the human body in the terms of technology, which are all based on specific circumstances. The human body can now go to two places at once, destroying the rules of physics, and yet not at all. Memories and dreams are other forms of out of body experiences, comparable to virtual reality. We are nothing without our minds, and yet our bodies are needed for our minds. The thing closest thing to virtual reality in the ideal sense would have to be the cinema, as it tries to meld most closely with our natural perceptions. We believe we are there, but we are not. New age media is demanding for the integration of virtual reality and physical reality. This demand is making the field broaden greatly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Identity

“Moving Through Me”

By using another source or thing through which we communicate to another, creates a paradigm. You see, By talking to a person who translates our words, a third step or receptor is introduced to the situation. The internet is another third step, which we can communicate to you, but not in the traditional sense. The problem arises of interpretation. Is it truly what you are saying, or what the third receptor is interpreting about what you are saying, or is it a matter of the final person’s interpretation that matters? Really, this is all problematic. How do we interpret these things? It was almost as hard as interpreting this article. Most in “First Person” are reasonably written, almost like they were intended for a layman. This was a few steps above that, and was a little tough to get through at first.

“The Pleasures of Immersion and Interaction”

Books have always been immersive for me, and videogames even more so. This article really just proved how much fun those things are. Videogames ask you to interact with it and give it direction, you feel like you are in control. This freedom of choice and total control makes the game immersive and almost real. But, unlike reality, we can shut it off or pause it at any time, and return later. It is the solving of puzzles or resolving of issues that makes the game fun. The game makers skillfully give wrapped up conclusions to things, to make it feel like a journey ended. This completes the immersive experience and makes the games, for lack of a better phrase, wicked fun.

“Unusual Positions: Embodied Interaction”

The virtual world may be immersive and realistic feeling to us, but for a computer, we are nothing more than “one eye and one finger”. The mind may wander to great places and experience all sorts of things, but the physical body experiences nothing, becoming almost a useless form in which we absorb information. The virtual world can mimic the physical world, but be nothing like it at the same time. For example, a virtual waterfall looks like real water falling and swirling among the rocks. It acts like water, but it is really nothing at all. So, this brings up the question of the sacred in virtual reality. How can it be sacred if it is nothing at all? Can anything be viewed as sacred if it does not exist in the physical sense? I truthfully have no idea, but someone might.

“Symbols in Ndembu Ritual”

First of all, I had no idea what “Ndembu” meant or even what it really was, so I was instantly interested. I am still not one hundred percent clear on all of the Ndembu symbols, but I think I got the basic concept. Symbols are the basis for ritual. Without the symbols, rituals would be meaningless. For example, taking the communion wafer is a symbol of taking in the body of Christ and accepting him into your soul. Without the wafer symbolizing the body of Christ, it would just be a person eating a cracker. There needs to be a significance to what you are doing in the ritual, otherwise it is just a daily activity.

 

Ritual Co-Location

“Ritual Co-Location: Play, Consciousness, and Reality in Artificial Environments” by Dan Pinchbeck and Brett Stevens

Despite its outrageously long title and seemingly difficult premise, it turned out to be okay. Of course, it was filled with terms and ideas that I was completely unfamiliar with, but it was very interesting, and that was what kept me going. So, the conscious of all of us is a linear thing. It goes one way. It is also, nothing and everything. There is nothing physical to it, and yet we are defined by it and are nothing without it. We created this artist understanding of it by giving it these characteristics. This thing that defines us can be easily tricked however, by virtual reality. Virtual reality uses artificial environments to trick our conscious into familiarizing itself with the environment, and then we feel involved. Our artistic version of our consciousness is a virtual state of being, which is very similar to virtual reality. Both allow for rule breaking and defining, as well as the feeling of control. We would like to believe we are in control of our minds, but our minds control us. We would like to think that we control the video-games we play, but the games are actually leading us.

They are also similar in the matter of time. Both function on a linear pattern, according to the article. What about games involved in time travel? Is that still considered linear? I’d like to think time is more of a set of loops. We can loop around, and sometimes go back or revert, but we still keep going forward despite the small setbacks. I suppose this is what they were thinking too. Our mind, in its progression through time, goes through the phases of ritual. This section was all about our readings for this week. Video-games pull us through the same phases of ritual. In a sense, our minds are video-games. Weird.

Liminality

“Can There Be a Form between a Game and a Story?”

With movies and books, the viewer and/or reader experiences the story, moves along with it, and sympathizes with the characters. The viewer becomes almost like a third person character, seeing everything that is happening, but never becoming a part of it. Video-games rely on the player becoming the character in order to play. To make a cross between the two different ways to take in a story, the person would have to interact with the movie, and still be a third person character. This seems almost impossible to me. You would have to combined an interactive narrative with a linear narrative. The closest thing to that I can think of is Interactive Fiction, or IF.

“The Obvious Aspects of Ritual”

So, this article was not so ‘obvious’ to me as I thought it would be. ‘Liturgy’ is a number of things. It can mean a form of public worship, a particular arrangement of services, or a type of Eucharistic services, something done in Eastern Churches. So, ‘Liturgy thoerists’ try to find the meaning behind such rituals and services, and explain it. Rappaport has a problem with this, as he believes that by defining ritual, you are desecrating the very sacrity of the ritual itself. He believes that liturgy is a very specific idea, and that the sacred is a byproduct of ritual. Of course, I have a few problem with that as I believe that the sacred is part of ritual, and not necessarily a byproduct. By saying that, he is suggesting that ritual is not sacred within itself, but the liminality to it makes it sacred over time. For me, in order to make a ritual meaningful to people, it needs to be the sacred as well as limited. Even now I am upsetting Rappaport, as he believes that rituals cannot be questioned, and that is one of the facets that add to its sacred byproduct.

“The Meaninglessness of Ritual”

So, now ritual is meaningless. Staal suggests that ritual are done no longer for meaning, but just simply ‘because’. The study of rituals has become a joke, as the meaning of rituals has been lost. Ritual theorists ignore the most basic rules to ritual, due to human evolution, rituals have become obsolete. I have to disagree. Sure, rituals allow for community building and moral boosting, but they still have a place in society. We may not need to do a ritual to ensure a good harvest, due to the advances of technology, but we still need to go through the ritualistic ways of marriage. We loose some rituals over time, but others become more entangled within our popular society, and cannot be removed as easily as Saal suggests. I do agree however, that ritual is the basis for religion. I believe I had written something like that in a past blog, but it makes perfect sense. Without any community builders or sense of control over chaos, religion would be nothing more than a some ideas and philosophies. Overall, I’m torn over Saal. He has some good ideas, but a lot of conflicting ideas with other theorists.

“A Performative Approach to Ritual”

This just seemed to be the bridge between all things. It seemed like he never said anything of value. “The distinction between religion and non-religion and ritual and non-ritual is not absolute”. Yeah, I believe everyone knows that. If you could define it clearly that easily, there woudln’t be debates about religion and what it means. Ritual is community, and activities done by the community. End of story.

“Territorial Passage and the Classification of Rites”

This article was really interesting, and it would’ve been nice to been able to read the book. So, rites of passages are only parts of rituals, and are rather phases instead of a repeated event or activity. Everyday people goes through different phases, or different rites of passage, and we must fulfill a rite of passage in order to pass on to the next “room”, or rather, the next stage of life. This seemed like a great idea, but not fully realized. I can only assume that the book covered it more deeply, because this left me wanting to read more.

Myths vs. Scared

When the directions said the reading was ’skimmable’, I was quite excited, and knew this was going to be an easy read. Well, much to my dismay, I open the link and it is 104 pages long!!! So, skimming the reading, I hope I got all the main points, but if not, please forgive me, as that seemed a little long.

This reading was definitely different from the other Eliade work. This seems to focus more on the physical hierophanies of the profane world, rather than the overall connectedness of all that is sacred. I definitely preferred this work over his “Myth and the Eternal Return”. His generalization here did not hurt him as much as the other one, and he could do it without offending me, which was a big step for him. The things he brought up, like how the sacred and profane are tied together in the real world, made perfect sense. He tries to do that in his other book, but his generalizations just defeat his point. Everything cannot be boiled down into a basic model in which everything can fit. It just does not work like that. However, this writing covers it quite eloquently, but on a different topic. He covers more of the sacred and profane, hence the title of the book, and the other more of the history of the past and how it is reflected in myth and the eternal return, hence the other book’s title. Overall, this one was a better read, and would suggest it over “myths” any time.

Ritual Development and Myths

It makes perfect sense to assume that rituals are instilled the most successfully when it is instilled as the individual is still a child. The sense of trusting one’s own parents is natural, and following their instructions, as long as they do not conflict with any other instilled ideas, makes perfect sense. Rituals develop in much the same way. It is both part biological and cultural, and it is maturing. The younger you start to teach the rituals, the more likely the rituals will still be used. Children are highly influential, and this reading simply made sense to me. It was fundamentally about the development of behavior, often lined with jargon I was unfamiliar with, but I managed and it all made sense in the end.

“Myths” had been a struggle from the begging with his simplistic and over generalization of things, and it had not improved by the end. I was withholding judgement until I had finished the book, and I see it as quite annoying. To understand the big picture, this book is ideal, but if you are one who needs the facts, this book is not for you. Apparently every culture, every religious idea, and everyone for Eliade, is the same, which in a sense is true, but not helpful. With a little research and some free time, I could have written this book. Overall: 4/10. Greta for an overall, watered down approach, and he is useful for that, but I know facts that she leaves out conveniently to make her model fit, and that became too much for me.

Archaeology in Cyberspace

Defined by the paper, cyber-archeology is “archaeology by systematically examining and modeling the framework for virtual community life provided by their cultural artifacts”. In other words, a cyber-archaeologist looks at the framework of a virtual community and the artifacts created by those people in the community. It is not so different than archeology in the real world. First step in this process is to develop a “taxonomy is to distinguish between virtual communities and their cyber-place”. Basically, they define what the virtual community is. Secondly,  they “define and operationalize the term virtual settlement so that they can be systematically characterized and modeled”, which means that the archaeologists use their definition of the community to categorize it. The art of cyber-archeology is defined by their “bounded hierarchies and material behavior”.

There are two forms of communities, group-CMC and cyber-place. Group-CMC is a virtual community created to be a community, whereas a cyber-place is the virtual settlement. Virtual settlements are defined by four characteristics : “1) a minimum level of interactivity; (2) a variety of communicators; (3) a minimum level of sustained membership; and (4) a virtual common-public-space where a significant portion of interactive group-CMCs occur.” These are necessary for a cyber-space, which in turn can also be a group-CMC. From there, cyber-archaeologists look at the virtual artifacts, and define the community.

Basically, this article was excellent, but quite a lot to read. Boiled down, it was all about explaining human nature, which the article repeatedly said has yet to be done, and is the hardest thing to define. Communities on-line are just an extension of our real lives, but in a virtual world. The cyber-archaeologists have to peel back the many layers of the Internet just to get to the basic structure of a community. This seems to be a new field that is developing rather nicely, but still needs a lot of work. Anyone with a good understanding of computers and sociology is well suited for this field.