Less on the Sublime

Focusing on "On the Sublime" by Longinus, I still find myself lost in the definition of sublime however I find myself much more intrigued with his earlier statements about the author and the audience. He expects each to play a specific role in the text and demands much more from both the author and the audience. While reading through "On the Sublime," I tended to focus on the roles of the author and audience and less on the sublime.

He goes on to make claims about the author stating, "We felt that it was inadequate to its high subject, and failed to touch the essential points. Nor indeed did it appear to offer the reader much practical help, though this ought to be the writers principal object." It is clear what Longinus expects of the authors and simply because he found the previous work on the sublime to be ineffective, he chooses to attack it from his standards of writing.

Hypermediacy: Making Computers an Extension of Ourselves

I was interested in the concept of hypermediacy and how technology changes to suit our wants and needs. This reading was written in 1999, and technology has advanced a lot since then. Still, many of the technologies described were very familiar. By including computers in every activity, they become like an extension of ourselves. Bolter and Grusin don't seem to like the idea of computers being involved in everything, they have concern about how computer track their users. So, while these things give us great convenience, they believe they can be used against us. I would say that currently many people view some of their electronic devices as an extension of them selves, particularly when it comes to cell phones. We become so used to our screens that they may as well be a visual overlay over our world. I, personally, know I've been playing a video game for far too long when I begin to imagine the user interface around me in real life.

Technology as Reality-Shaping

Bolter and Grusin's article, though rather short and concise (and somewhat difficult to access, the website kept kicking me off the text for some reason, but I digress), touches on a very deep and multifaceted issue. The first class that encouraged me to reflect deeply on the ideas of virtual and augmented realities was my Philosophy of Mind class in 2009. The class was a combination of metaphysical and epistemological theories which sought to explain the concepts of mind and knowledge and their relationship to reality. Bolter and Grusin's section on virtual reality (those which alienate us from the physical world) contains very distinct parallels to Descartes' rejection of Empiricism. To paraphrase his position from his work Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes states that he cannot take the integrity or actuality of his sensory experience as granted because he has no guarantee that a demon isn't manipulating his senses, or that he could be dreaming. Many who don't read very much Philosophy see this as a very peculiar and unconvincing argument because they see the likelihood of such an occurrence to be extremely low. However, virtual (and augmented) technologies essentially produce the same dilemma by embedding "pseudo-realities" that are immediate and perceived through our sense faculties within our "actual" or "pure" reality, which is unmediated (or perhaps only to a lesser extent) by reality-shaping technologies. Virtual reality contains the most obvious parallels to Descartes' thought experiment, as it is wholly immersive and alienates one's senses from an unmediated reality.

Ubiquitous Hypermediacy

This scene to the left is not only one of the most prolific scenes in an already prolific movie, but also what I can come up with to most connect with the term "hypermediacy." For those who don't know, it's a scene from the film "Psycho" where Norman Bates is seen looking through a peep hole to gaze upon Marion Crane. Eventually the perspective shifts the camera to viewing through the peep hole, just as if we entered the mind of Norman. We become aware of the medium through this, thus achieving "hypermediacy."

How does this apply to the crazy world of ubiquitous computing? Well, Bolter and Grusin consider ubiquitous computing as an extreme form of "hypermediacy." I don't know though, because I thought "hypermediacy" meant we became aware of these things. Ubiquitous computing seems to have this intention to hide in the background. I mean, I get it, it sort of brings things to life, but that doesn't mean we're always aware of it.

The virtual reality of symbols

Through reading the article by Bolter and Grusin "Ubiquitous Computing", i have come to the realization that the concepts of "virtual reality" "Telepresence", "augmented reality" and "ubiquious commputing" all correspond to the concepts of the form and function of signs and symbols within the uses of language in human society. We are led to examine the format of "virtual reality" as a form of symbolic representation of the "natural" or physical world within a virtually  constructed format.

Medium vs Reality

After reading Bolter and Grusin I was able to get a grasp around the concept of ubiquitous computing and how it can creates alternate states of reality. It seems as if the state of virtual reality itself has been remediated into these new different forms of reality based on the mediums used. I didn't get a chance to look at the e-book due to the hassle of logging into the library system but I did read the pdf. It is safe to say having an e-book version of this provides an example of a remediation of reality as the library is replaced with a digital one or maybe even a book in itself.

Who holds the Most power in a Text?

Based on the class discussion the most significant question that has risen from our reading is the relationship between the author and the reader in a text. Many would say that the author holds the power because they are producing the text and there for can mold it to fit a particular genre and audience. On the other hand there's the fact that the reader is the one interpreting the text and therefore truly holds the power because while the author is the encoder the reader is the decoder, and regardless of what the intended signal is, if it isn't received properly then it defeated the intended purpose.

What is reality?

“The question becomes: If we have computers everywhere, why do we need virtual reality?”

This question really intrigued me, perhaps it interested the computer nerd part of me more than the English nerd. I was very interested in the idea of how the race for perfected technology is still in full swing, even inside virtual reality systems. The idea that the virtual world would mimic the real world up to the point of having virtual reality systems programmed into them is starkly unsettling from an existentialist mindset. It makes me think about our own thirst for knowledge and our own race for technology, isn’t the definition of technology somewhere along the lines of, tools that make our lives easier? That would make the goal of creating technology to automate every physical need we have leaving us to create a virtual world to satisfy our social and mental cravings, a world where we can do everything we want as our programmed houses kept us alive by pumping us full of the nutrients we need. If that is the overlying goal of technology then what would the point of having technology in a world that is supposed mentally challenge us? This idea blew my mind as I read this chapter. I had never thought about the fact that when I go past a computer terminal on a computer game, it was skirting a paradox.  

Sublime

Throughout last week I was introduced to Sublimity. Not being fairly familiar with it before, Longinus made it clear for me as to what it is and what it does. Sublimity is dependent on moral qualities of the artist. It can recognize moral positions. However, I only thought of sublime as it means something beautiful, I did not know sublime had more thought to it. Longinus made it clear that only sublimity can be spoken about, not taught, which makes absolutely sense. In Longinus’ text, he mentions critics of the student. He goes into detail about how sublimity cannot be taught, how to “write” sublimity, and so on. 

My only concern was if something was born beautiful does it create sublimity?

broaden your horizon

I think the piece by Bolter and Gruisn really brought up the attention that the medium can really become the message of a text and visa versa depending on how it is represented. For example in the text "Ubiquitous Computing" virtual reality was the medium and the message. it was both because of the sense that you needed to use the medium to understand the message. you could do this by collaborating with reality or having it on it's own but the text itself was the medium, so the computer was a text and a source to release the software of the text.

Writing Vs. Computing

As soon as I began reading this text, I immediately compared it to writing. I feel that writing can create a world that alters our view of reality. A book and a computer are two completely different mediums, but all in all they create the message that can give many perceptions. These perceptions the medium provides are ones that are not real. The computer allows for a “transparent world (213)” and with that comes this perception of what we see. Writing has similar attributes because the writer can decide what they want their reader to know and what role they have to play as suggested by Walter Ong. This perception the author creates become even more transparent when remediation is done.

I Hate Hypermediacy

Bolter and Grusin say on page 218 that "what is new, perhaps, is the overt expression of these choices and often the technological overkill involved. The overkill is almost animalistic because, by injecting media into every imaginable device, ubiquitous computing brings into these devices to a kind of artificial life. Ubiquitous  computing is an extreme form of hypermediacy." How right they are. Just in writing this blog post, I am surrounded by so many electronic devices. To my left I have another monitor which has many tabs open on it as well as a movie I'm watching. That monitor is connected to my laptop which also has numerous tabs open on it, one of which is Facebook. Then, on my bed to my right I have my phone which is connected to my computer so it can update my apps. That's serious overkill, but I imagine for a lot of people that's the norm. Bolter and Grusin highlight this on page 219 when they say that "we stay put figuratively and literally, while the computers bustle around opening files, opening windows, switching cameras and sound systems off and on to suit our needs." Think about your precious technological stuff. You hear people say "My whole life is in that laptop, or I'd like totally die without my phone." People put a LIFE value on these things, which is kind of pathetic. You don't NEED that phone to live.... How do you think people communicated before the Internet and phones. They managed.  Just like this guy.

Sublime

The biggest thing I took away from Longinus' essay On the Sublime was the part when he addressed the "five most productive sources of sublimity" (Longinus 350).  The five sources are as follows:

(i) The first and most important is the power to conceive great thoughts...
(ii) The second is strong and inspired emotion.  (These two sources are for the most part natural; the remaining three involve art.)
(iii) Certain kinds of figures. (These may be divided into figures of thought and figured of speech.)
(iv) Noble diction.  This has as subdivsions choice of words and the use of metaphorical and artificial language.
(v) Finally, to round off the whole list, dignified and elevated word-arrangement.
(Longinus 350)

I found this to be the most important because it was the prime example of Longinus explaining what is needed for a piece of writing to be useful. 

Transcendence

I would like to go back and make my post about "The Sublime" by Longinus. This was a particularly fascinating piece for me to read, but also, there are a few things that I could still need to work out in order to wrap me head around it. We defined sublime as exalted in thought, a spiritual state, tending to inspire awe including intellectual and moral worth. Longinus explains sublimity through writing. However, I find true sublimity to be divorced from the material world and pertaining to a mental state of mind. I suppose this mental state of mind could be expressed through writing and could be recorded. When I think of the sublime, I think of transcendence achieved through prayer, meditation and deep internal thoughts. I think just as Longinus was saying that our writing should include emotions that are necessary and only during the times that call for them pertains to us in life as well. We must not let our emotions get the best of us if we are going to have a higher consciousness and transcend into a better mind state. poor emotional states of being weigh us down and hold us back from our mental potential.

Ubiquitous Computing

Bolter & Grusin's "Ubiquitous Computing" describe and discusses differences in virtual reality, telepresence, and augmented reality. Within these texts, a relationship between the medium and the physical world is created. In virtual reality, the real world is replaced with a virtual one; in telepresence, the real world in one location is recorded and transmitted to another location through computer programs and screens with the potential of being manipulated by the user on the receiving end; in augmented reality, the images being transmitted are juxtaposed with the physical world in a way similar to windows on a computer screen. The aim in these cases is to interact "naturally" with the environment being projected--either by removing all external stimulation from the physical world in order for the user to become consumed by the virtual reality; or by allowing the human operator to manipulate the physical conditions of the location being observed via mechanical arms; or by allowing the user to simultaneously observe the physical world around them and the images being transmitted (215-216).

Do We Really Have Virtual Reality?

In Bolter and Grusin's piece, Ubiquitous Computing, they outlined the difference between several types of technologies:

-- virtual reality -- in which the user is completely immersed in the reality presented (213)
-- telepresence -- in which the user is present in an actual reality through the technology (214)
-- augmented reality -- in which reality is annotated by technology (215)

The major difference between virtual reality and the other two is transparency -- virtual reality has it, while the others do not. Instead, they have hypermediacy, which leads to the presence of ubiquitous computing. (216)

Tabula Rasa

After Friday's class I think we all agree that the genres of discourse are very interesting and intrigueing. However the triangular model is outdated and should change just like present day mediums should change. Someone mentioned in a post earlier that the modular should be 3D. I think thats a pretty good idea, proposing that the genres of discourse have now become a three dimensional theory.

How evaluate reality really does depend on the medium in which we view reality from. Mediums can include Television, Radio, the internet and human beings. We get informations daily, hourly and by the minute through hundreds of different submediums. These sub mediums are the actual TV station, or internet website. Some submediums have a hidden power to destort our perception on reality. We all start off with our own reality, and it slowly gets persuaded by different mediums. Its like John Locke's Tabula Rasa theory, that we all start off with a blank slate. What we learn and inherit from reality changes our knowledge and how we decide to live.

Where artificial stops and reality takes control.

Regarding the reading on Bolter and Grusin I found it pretty interesting and relatable being a child of the twenty first century it can easily be transferred to what our six year old kids are asking for on their Christmas list. Regarding telepresance it can be seen in what new discoveries or records our engineers and dare devils attempt to break this time. The authors explain that ubiquitous computing is virtual realities opposite number from the examples they give it made it clear to understand. It also allowed me to actually think of times I have experienced either types of technology. Through the use of virtual reality we are constrained to using one of our senses which is sight, and even then we are limited to what the computer shows us. The other day I was watching the red bull stunt man making a jump from space into the Earth’s stratosphere. To me this is a perfect example of virtual reality. Step by step I as a viewer from home sitting on my couch had a presence of what it would be like to jump from space. Here is where the issue with virtual reality begins continually the camera screen was switching from the perspective of stunt man to being outside the rocket. Although I could see him unclick his seat belt and leap off the air craft I was missing a few key things to make this my own reality. I did not get to feel the impact of gravity upon me as my foot left the ship. I did not get to feel any pressure or heat consuming my body as I fell from the sky, or the smell of water and gravel as I parachuted over landscapes.  

Everything is the medium

I found that the reading from Bolter and Grusin "Ubiquitous Computing" was out of the ordinary compared to other text that we have read so far. Even though the reality concepts were somewhat complex I was able to follow along with the rest of the passage. The concepts of remediation regarding computer games, digital photography, photorealistic graphics, digital art, film, and virtual reality were complicated but as Bolter and Grusin gave examples I started to somewhat understand the point they were trying to get across. The way we use media today has conquered our western views and demands of current media. The whole idea that technology has become so intricate in our lives that it transforms into normalcy, this is what Bolter and Grusin call immediacy. Immediacy is the want to forget the media’s medium. A person becomes entirely immersed in their technology and media that they forget the mode. As if virtual reality twisted inside out. If virtual reality brings the user into a virtual world, then what Bolter and Grusin are trying to explain is that “Ubiquitous Computing” brings technology to live in the world with the populace. Everything is the medium because a computer device runs so much of today’s world.

The Truth in Sublimity

Longimus discusses Sublimity and how it can be achieved, more specifically through text. "Sublimity is a kind of eminence or excellence of discourse." (pg. 347) Longimus states how this state of being in discourse can only be achieved when an author or a reader is being truthful and genuine with their emotions. Does exaggerating emotions in a text really place distrust between the author and the reader? “Turgidity is a particularly hard fault to avoid, for it is one to which all who aim at greatness naturally incline, because they seek to escape the charge of weakness and aridity.” (Pg.348)  I'm not too sure how to feel about this. Which makes me think, maybe Longimus has a point. He dramatizes this whole concept of sublimity ( he uses words like tragedy, lapse of dignity, etc) and because of this, it makes me doubt the legitimacy of the author (Longimus)

Bolter and Grusin

What I get from the reading is that "reality" is shaped by medium. That is, what we perceive as reality changes when we choose what medium we receive information in. The danger of this is that we are less aware of what reality actually is. In the examples about the robot and endoscope, the viewer can only see what is on their camera. They might be missing something that is off-camera.

I don't understand the part about Shirley, where it says, "there is eventually a rupture. If the story goes on long enough, Shirley is certain to come upon a television, a movie screen, or even a desktop computer represented inside the virtual reality, an acknowledgement that media are among the objects that make up our world (216)." It seems like they are saying that virtual reality doesn't need media, but I don't see why that would be true if virtual reality is supposed to mimic reality. Why can't a virtual reality have virtual media?

The Sublime and Aims of Discourse

From what was initially viewed (on my part, at least) as loose generalizations and spotty classification by Kinneavy, has, upon second reading, made more clear the argument at hand, and my own pitfalls as a reader. However, this aside, what is important to note about Kinneavy's argument, is that it is completely adequate. Not in the sense that it argues all available points of discourse, or hybrid genres, etc., but that in its provisions lay groundwork for future language excavation; organized digs into the aims and purpose of particular discourse.

As he has said, these are not "iron clad categories which do not overlap" (Kinneavy 297).

where would it fall?

I have been in intrigued by Kinneavy’s essay “The Basic Aims of Discourse” all weekend and where we left off with it during class on Friday. The idea that each type of discourse is categorized in 4 different genres that are then broken down into subsets is a very interesting way to view things especially with today’s media and the different forms of mediums we have. With this I am brought back to the question that was posed in class about why and how discourse changes and can’t help but think about this question in relation to how technology and our society has grown over the years. It seems that with the invention of any new type of technology we see the development of a new medium and with this new medium seems to come with the breaking up of Kineavy’s basic purpose of composition.

What's next? Willy Wonka's television room?

In terms of Ubiquitousness with Bolter and Grusin, they make reference that it is the act of remediating a text so that it is synonymous with a person's capability to instantly experience something first-hand. The example they used for this was through the movie, "Stranger Than Fiction", where a woman places a device on her head called "the wire" which takes one memory from her mind and instantly copies the experience so that anyone else who tries on "the wire" can relive the experience exactly as she did. However, despite the argument of claiming that artificial simulations or even enhancements via technology equal the same experience for the user, I tend to lean against the theory.

A dumb reality

The reading from Bolter and Grusin "Ubiquitous Computing" has to be one of the most interesting readings thus far in the semester. I think it was so interesting due to its applicability to our lives today. The conversation on "telepresence", robots, and digital video is extremely relatable to our social means today: "Telepresence can thus define a relationship between the medium and the physical world different from that of virtual reality" (Bolter and Grusin, 214). 

What is the different between telepresence and virtual reality? There are some physical differences, but what can one do differently than the other? Is it the use of the mediums or the delivery and acceptance of the audience?