Getting Lost in between the simulating and real world

1. Getting Lost in between the simulating and real world SIMUALTION-- Hao-Chien Weng

2. Overview • ….for distinction Sake, a Deceiving by Words, is commonly called a Lye (lie), and a Deceiving by Actions, Gestures, or Behavior, is called Simulation…(Robert South 1697) • Simulating- Imitating, Similar

3. Computer Simulation • The history of computer simulation media (ex. flight simulation, artificially intelligent, battlefield simulation) includes an extended intimate connection to the military. (First Person p.71) • Simulation is a cultural phenomenon, not a computational one, and as such is fully existent in old media as well as new. ( Jean Baudrillard )

4. A simulation is characterized by blurred boundaries between the viewers’ proximate space and the virtual space of simulation, as well as by the scale being the same in both spaces. ( Lev Manovich ) • Simulation is seen to be continues with the artistic traditions, a immersion in a virtual world; and the history of simulation is also a series of attempts to model the orders of reality beyond the virtual world.( Lev Manovich )

5. Two Types of Simulation (Celia Pearce) • Training-based simulation. It comes out of military world, and puts players into a first-person view in controlling. Ex. flight simulator • Dynamically modeling an entire system. Ex. The SimCity. It has been described as a human behavior or psychological simulator.

6. Blurs in Simulating Environment • Behaviors learned from simulating experiences might be expressed in situations which resemble the virtual context matches the conditions of the training context. ( Simon Penny) • It is potentially building behaviors in a real world.

7. An interactive representation is more than a representation. • When a soldier shoots at simulating target, it trains him to shoot a real people. • People can trade their items in the online game with the real world money. • People can have any kinds of relationships online as same as they have in the real world; for example getting married with their game partners.

8. Self-Portrayal in a Simulated Life: Projecting Personality and Values in The Sims 2 by Thaddeus Griebel • Hypothesis 1” Personality characteristics will relate to gameplay”: he suggested that gameplay would be related to personality traits such as extraversion and conscientiousness.

9. Hypothesis 2 “predicted that participants would transfer their personal values to their Sims” : The paper shows that participants who valued wealth were more likely to report that it was important for their Sims to be wealthy; however, their Sims were no more likely to actually earn higher incomes than participants who did not place a great importance on wealth.

10. Younger participants were more likely to spend their Sims’ money impulsively. • Does the Sims really reflect the lives of the players who created them?" According to the paper, there is supportive evidence to show that, yes, people do indeed project some aspects of themselves into their Sims.

11. Getting lost or voluntarily Staying? • Cocoons: A new group of people; their homes is their castle, their shield and their entire world. From “the popcorn report” by Faith Popcorn. • Less interpersonal communication • Cocoons, otakus, electronic eremite, SOHO, digital individual, virtual self.

13. Otaku

14. Excommunication(Robert S. Fortner) • Ascetic excommunication: voluntarily doing it; Playing game • Pleonastic excommunication: Overload, too much new information. Only choosing one that really interested in, ignoring others. • Impedient excommunication: Due to the difference of education or economic condition, people have different ability to communicate, especially in the information age.

15. Conclusion • The people who are addicted at simulating world are possibly lack of the ability to communicate with people interpersonally. • According to a report from Carnegie Mellon University, when children spend more time on the virtual world, they have less time to communication with friends and family. It would be easier for them to augment their feeling of loneliness, anxiety, and frustration.

16. It is important to balance the humanistic values and Instrumental Rationality for us, modern people. • The behaviors learned from simulating experience might be expressed in a real world. • We play simulations or simulations play us?

17. References • Baudrillard, Jean. First Person. “Critical Simulation”. P.71. • Fortner, Robert S..(1995) Excommunication in the Information Society. Retrieved from http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/faculty/pweb/excomm.pdf • Griebel, Thaddeus. Game Studies. Self-Portrayal in a Simulated Life: Projecting Personality and Values in The Sims 2. Retrieved from http://gamestudies.org/0601/articles/griebel

18. References • Manovich, Lev. (2001) The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. • Pearce, Celia. First Person. “Toward a Game Theory of Game.”P.150. • Penny, Simon. First Person. “Representation, Enaction, and the Ethics of Simulation.” • Popcorn, Faith. The Popcorn Report 2002. Retrieved from http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retail_trends/a/bl_trends2002.htm • South, Robert. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation