Notice: this hybrid constellation of symbols, narratives, and competitive idioms is the central band and “strange attractor” of a probability distribution we might otherwise recognise or identify under some definition of entropy. In a complex system, the paths that emerge and persist are those that reproduce and sustain their environmental containers, contexts, and communication systems. (𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦.)
These symbolic artifacts, entities, and systems of mythological tropes are recycled, repurposed, and revivified to reproduce the contested narratives that culturally validate and procedurally regenerate them. This is the approximation towards an average value in a high-dimensional relational and referential network of culture, communication, and complexity. (𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 “𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.”)
Simple stories and tokens as the normative paragons of a subjective, performative individuation and competitive belligerence, are repurposed in new-ish technological containers, orbiting the adversarial insecurity that holds the narratives together and binds us to (and through) them. (𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧; 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 “𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴” 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.)
Communication systems are undergoing accelerated metamorphosis. It is true that I might be cherry-picking the facts that support my interpretations of this rapidly speciating technological complexity. However, self-selection for continuity and adaptive self-propagation in communications systems is precisely what complex sociotechnical systems do at scale, almost entirely without human agency, teleological intent, or choice. (A game is never “just a game”.)
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