Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Opening Post: Real life fiction, game/story fiction, and being an expanded person through exploring stories



Just a quick post after setting this thing up so it isn't empty until I write something more substantial.

As to what I might write here, well, it depends on the day. Basically, humans create and immerse themselves in narratives and stories that they use to interpret the world around them as well as to understand themselves. We have many aspects, or sub-personalities, that form as a result of these stories as part of our reaction to events, so we can be somewhat different people under different circumstances.

Knowing that, I'm not bothered when I am conflicted about how to react to something, or unsure how to respond, or when I suddenly switch frequencies between one aspect of personality to another. Reading fiction (books, comic books, etc), watching fiction (plays, movies, television) and playing fiction (tabletop games, video games) allow us grow and become more interesting, versatile people. We may not always directly pretend we are in that fictional universe as an original character (except for maybe many video games where that's part of the fun), but even vicariously we still learn to see through the eyes of characters we didn't create and don't control.

Beyond that kind of fiction, we have the fiction and pseudo-fiction from our ethnic, political, and religious identities. That isn't to say no political or religious statements are true, but that they too use stories and metaphors that introduce artificial concepts and objects into our consciousness. These can be constructive tools, like negative numbers in math, or they can be obstructions or even dangers. And whatever type of stories we are talking about, people can get their identities so wrapped up in them than they become belligerent or openly violent (see religious and political extremists, members of fiction/gaming fandoms who tweet death threats and dox people seen as "the enemy", etc).

So yeah, there are immature, unaware/unenlightened, small minded turd-farmers out there who try to ruin things for others, but that's the downside. Again, there is much to the upside in terms of expanding who we are, being comfortable with our stables of selves (even the aspects we sometimes find embarrassing or annoying), and connecting to/bringing fun and joy to others.

For me, the journey can be through any medium. If it means exploring esoteric currents in atheism, Christianity, and Buddhism, so be it. If it means observing (or criticizing) how some US conservatives/far right evangelicals continue to develop a separate narrative as their own version of reality gets further from the rest of the world, that's fine. If it means taking a stroll through Tamriel as an Argonian or wandering through Eorzea as a Miqo'te, great. Or maybe on some occasions it might mean visiting the strange, sometimes unsettling worlds of Haruki Murakami or Neil Gaiman. I've explored thousands of stories and the worlds they create, and each expands my horizons and insights.

So I can't really say exactly what will come up here at any given time. But you are welcome to tag along.

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