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. (๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ.)
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. (๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ “๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ.”)
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. (๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง; ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ “๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด” ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง-๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.)
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”.)
Daedelus Kite 