It
is well known that archaic societies lived a double life, one dedicated to
ethical-practical issues, or as Morin (2008, p. 169) addresses it, linked to
the empirical-logical-rational answers to deal with the day-to-day affairs:
feeding, protection, construction, collection, hunting, etc., and another life
dedicated to critical-pragmatic questions linked to the answers in the scope of
semantics, therefore Morin names it as symbolic-mythological-magical (2008, p.
169). Such intellectual sphere dealt mainly with the demands of uncertainty, of
the future, of loss, of death, of life, that is, of the meaning of all things
around the individual and his/her community. This noological[1] sphere was dedicated to understanding the world through
gods, spirits and entities, summoning them when necessary, satisfying their
desires and appetites, building temples, shrines, sacred places, or performing
prayers and other rites to obtain blessing and favor at the beginning of the
harvest, at the sowing of fields, at battles, and at all kinds of undertakings.
The
two spheres were nourished, there was no separation between the myths and logos, their relation was complementary, competitive and antagonistic.
Thus, for the archaic men and women in ancient ages have to deal with two
imbricated spheres, in open communion. Morin (2008, 174) clarifies that myths
"... constitute the discourse of subjective, singular and concrete
understanding of a spirit that adheres to the world by feeling it from
within." In fact, modern science excluded men/women from this connection
with the cosmos, so in order to decipher its mysteries, he/she made reality an
inhospitable place.
In
the world of myths, the inanimate has subjectivity, that is, the mountains,
lakes, rivers and seas have a story, a narrative, a subjectivity, a meaningful
proper name that imbues with the story of men and women, of their families,
their origins and destinies, as well as their community. That is to say that
this whole - animate and inanimate - participated together in a macro narrative
of the cosmos. They were integrated to this, because there was a purpose that
hovered above the clashes, uncertainties, doubts and questionings. Everything
made sense, nothing was by chance, everything ran for unknown reasons above
those that men/women could foresee, but that in due course, everything would
reveal itself as part of an original and beautiful project. In fact,
participating in such macro narrative gave them psychological comfort and thus
their earthly actions were not devoid of semantic value, on the contrary. For
they were part of a larger plane that gave them the certainty of even
overcoming death, of living a full life after death, whether in Valhalla or New
Jerusalem.
However,
men/women who walked through this symbolic world had to learn to read such
signs, if not isolated, together, in communion with the communities to which
they belonged. If they had not had such a gift, they sought help from oracles,
seers, and shamans, experts in interpreting such messages that came from the
cosmos, gods, and spirits. Because,
"All events
are in fact signs and messages that ask for and obtain interpretations."
The mythological universe is a constant emitter of messages and every natural
thing carries symbols. Semantic proliferation and an excess of meanings
"(MORIN, ibid., p.176)
Returning
to our time, this mythological environment surrounded by points of access and
meanings on all sides is all that the Augmented Reality aims to be, or walks
toward it. Through the AR, inanimate reality is becoming lively, subjective,
and re-inhabited "again". In fact, the Transmedia and also the
Augmented Reality traverse precisely this gap left by mythology in modern
society.
Finally,
what the AR proposes is an experience of immersion into possible worlds, by
dilating the biological Umwelt
towards a noological Umwelt. It must
be understood that the noological reality of the AR does not exclude the
reality in which the user lives, on the contrary. The two axes - Reality and AR
- coexist and nurture each other, it is not necessary, therefore, to abandon
one to live the other, as if to submerge in a noological ecosystem of this
magnitude the user had to leave the body inert in a corner – the Matrix Paradox
– while the mind would migrate to other worlds. In fact, both spheres are
imbricated, in an uniduality.
And
this can be even more complicated when both start to nourished each other, like
self-organized living systems. With stories and narratives produced in all sides:
from developers to users, from users to users, etc. And this can be even more
complicated when both start to nourished each other, like self-organized living
systems. With stories and narratives produced in all sides: from developers to
users, from users to users, etc. Integrating also the Artificial Intelligence
within this process in a near future… but, this is a subject to an other
article…
References:
MORIN, Edgar. (2008) O
Método 1 – a natureza da natureza (“TheMethod 1 – The Nature of
Nature”). Porto Alegre: Editora Sulina.
MORIN, Edgar. (2007) O Método 5 – a humanidade da humanidade (“TheMethod 5 – The Humanity of Humanity”). Porto Alegre: Editora Sulina.
[1] “(...) designates
the world of ideas, of the spirits, of the gods, of the entities produced and
nourished by the human spirit within the culture. These entities, gods or
ideas, endowed with dependent autonomy (of the minds and culture that feed
them) acquire a life of their own and a dominating power over humans." (Morin,
2007, 208).
