Deepening Player Immersion with Jungian Symbolism

1. Deepening Player Immersion with Jungian Symbolism • Presentation by Stephen Schafer • Apology • Due to upload constraints, this presentation contains only 20% of the original. All graphic content and some minor steps in the logic of my argument have been excluded. Stay tuned to this site. A forwarding address to the entire presentation is forthcoming. • Thank you.

2. Psyche has rhetorical pattern • Symbols in images (what you think you see) tell a story • What we think we see is the subject of many fields of psychological research: linguistics, marketing, perception, cognition, dream research, propaganda, psychoanalysis, Jungian Amplification, etc • It is well-established fact that images focus attention in consciousness; but, according to Carl Jung the archetypal dimensions of psyche generate the images (like projections onto a screen) • Just as energy frequencies are ever-present for reception by our computer monitors, psychic frequencies are ever present for reception by the mind’s eye • Insight as to the premise in a dream story (what a character learns) leads to Jungian individuation or at-one-ment with the soul (Joseph Campbell’s term for the end of the hero journey) • The interactive process of extending symbolic metaphors is the key to a dreamer’s healing insight and to achieving meaningful player insight as to a game win

3. Jung and Einstein are of one mind • Both view reality in terms of unified field dynamics • Both understand uni-verse in terms of energy • Both initiated the Paradigm Shift into a mediated age of psyche-physics

4. We are at the beginning of a paradigm shift • A basic shift in the assumptions of science (Thomas Kuhn-1933) • Psychecology: a unified field of Psyche-Physics • Holographic reality • An interactive mediasphere

5. …if you understand immersion & interactivity in Jungian terms • Vital energy in a unified field of psyche-physics • The part contains the whole (DNA, fractals) • The unconscious is real and has autonomous purpose that it communicates (immersion) to consciousness with the symbolism of dreams • Mediation (interactivity) is a two-way process between unconscious & conscious dimensions • Good SBG writers are like the psychiatrist that helps lead the dreamer (gamer) to insightful understanding of the meaning of his/her dreams

6. All the world (psyche) is a stage • In the theatre metaphor the stage is the spotlight of consciousness • Upon this stage plays a mediated dream in which narrative structure is the common denominator and personae are avatars of our numinous Self • “All the world’s a stage” upon which our avatars play their parts • Like images in dreams, images in SBGs are the staging ground of consciousness upon which we use the props and settings to learn to navigate the psychecology

7. All models of mental functioning are theatre models (Bernard J. Baars, 1997) • The theatre model is a way to understand how the Jungian functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, intuiting) communicate in dreams and games • The theatre of consciousness is a metaphor used in global workspace theory (research in perception and cognition) • Stage: spotlight focus of conscious attention; access to any part of the brain (Recent estimates of brain activity is that 55 billion neurons are sending electrical pulses 40-1000 times per second.) • Audience:receptive unconscious • Backstage:directive unconscious • The theatre model is a good metaphor relative to Jungian definitions of psyche • This presentation has all the dimensions of theatre and psyche • Drama (narrative) as medium • Symbolic content (character masks, sets as graphic image) • Integrated holistic psyche (conscious-unconscious context)

8. Metaphorical resonance is the programmatic matrix for immersion & interactivity • To provoke player insight, video games could be programmed to simulate the functions and dynamics of the psyche • Games could simulate both dreams and the analytical feedback provided by the psychiatrist • As in dreams, amplification of narrative symbolism in SBGs leads to meaningful insight

9. Narrative is A Kaleidoscopic Flux of Psychic Energies • Narrative is a rhetorical-psychological kaleidoscope that contains all the potentials of the personal & collective search for meaning • In the present moment, it impacts multiple dimensions of human psyche • Kaleidoscopic psychic patterns may be deciphered using the symbols of alchemy such as cycles and the four elements that represent the functions of human psyche—flesh, emotion, mind, and spirit; earth, water, air, fire

10. According to Jung, dreams are symbolic images in the narrative form of Greek drama • A story • Dramatic unities (space, time, and action) • Character, plot, & their interaction • Character = the persona or mask of archetypes • Plot = Journey of the Hero toward psychological individuation or at-one-ment (Campbell) with Self • Meaning and purpose (premise) • Told in the language of “living” symbols • “Living” symbols are expressions of unconscious psychic energy—like spin types—and are metaphors • Unconscious spin types can be inferred by metaphorical extension—Jung’s Amplification Method of dream analysis

11. Symbolic mediation is the key to immersion • By the process of amplifying (extending) the metaphorical meaning of symbols, SBG writers draw players into the immersed dimensions of the personal and collective unconscious

12. Symbolic mediation is the language of interactivity between conscious & unconscious dimensions • The specific form in which energy is manifested in the psyche is the image • This creative activity of the psyche transforms unconscious contents into such images as appear in dreams, fantasies, visions, and every variety of creative art.” (Jacoby p. 58-59) • ‘The psychological mechanism that transforms energy is the symbol’ (Jung, Energy, pp. 39, 40.) • Like dreams, game images give form to contents of the unconscious (computational levels of a game)

13. Mediation is interactive • Unconscious, preconscious contents are projected outward and expressed as a symbolic image-map • The image grounds consciousness which then tests itself with interactive choices that engage the unconscious & alter the map • For example, the chess game is a symbolic map that grounds the conversation between opponents. Each move by each player is a choice that constitutes an interactive test of inferred unconscious states (that state of an opponent’s psyche that not known) • We are constantly navigating such game-maps and seeking immersed meaning by the process of grounding living symbols (imbedded in a psychic field) with the focus of consciousness • The result is evolution—constant transformation of unconscious material into consciousness

14. Meaning can be psychologically associated with a game win • [Dramatic] pattern, on which most dreams are constructed, forms a suitable basis for interpretation [of dreams]” (Jacoby, p 83) • Advertisements associate symbolic resonance with product • Writers can associate character premise and story purpose with winning the game • The more writing skill, the deeper the player immersion in unconscious resonance of symbolic meaning

15. The function of mediation in dreams provides a clue to interactive storytelling • Jungian dreams arise from a unified field (time does not exist) so they seem to have random order. However, their narrative structure incorporates all the dynamics of storytelling while amplifying immersion and interactive choice. • Manipulation of Plot sequence and View sequence (Andrew Glassner) constitutes complex and sophisticated interactivity • Premise maintains the integrity of the interactive story-line (Schafer) • Without losing the game storyline, SBGs can accommodate a dreamlike array of scenes triggered by imbedded symbols that prompt interactive choices yet lead to meaningful player insight (psychological premise associated with the game win) • The dream dynamic provides great flexibility of choice and content while retaining a solid storyline

16. Psychecology has purpose immersed in a symbolic map • Psyche is the spiritual component of physics • The energy of psyche is expressed as metaphorical resonance • Physicists tap sub-atomic energy with mathematical formulae • Writers tap the sub-conscious energy of psyche with living symbols & rhetorical patterns • Images (dreams & game screens) are expressions of meaningful archetypal patterns • Because SBGs have all the dimensions of dreams, they have the same immersive, interactive, and healing potentials

17. SBG writers can use the theatre metaphor to understand Jungian immersion and interactivity • To write stories for the spotlight (image) • Simulations can be loaded with symbolic meaning • The writer-director needs to understand how the symbols on stage affect the audience (unconscious) • Relative to meaning (premise—what a character learns) • And purpose of the story • The writer needs to direct from the pre-conscious (backstage) • Living symbols have more interactive versatility than language structures • Stories written with living symbols will have more interactive versatility