Re: [xmca] latour

Dear Luiz,

Another quick thought:

I always liked this Jorge Luis Borges quotation, if I recall correctly:

"The real world is the world we pretend to be real when we read"

By extension, perhaps the real world is the world we pretend to be
real when we're online gaming. ;-)

In Peace,
K.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 7, 2008, at 8:56 PM, "Luiz Carlos Baptista" <lucabaptista@fcsh.unl.pt
> wrote:

> Thanks a lot, Mike. I haven't written anything yet, I am still in
> the "primitive accumulation" phase :) But I hope to have something
> before
> Summer.
>
> My interest in distributed cognition in games is due to the work of
> Constance Steinkuehler (btw, she has published a paper in MCA). As
> regards
> artifacts, basically I am not satisfied with the approaches to
> online games
> as fiction, or simulation, or what have you. The issue at stake here
> is the
> ontological status of such games. It is clear that they are artifacts
> (Searle's theory of institutional facts might be useful here), and
> even
> include some fictional elements. But since they are persistent
> (i.e., they
> keep on going even when you are offline; in fact, even if no one is
> online),
> they are a very peculiar sort of artifact, and a case can be made
> that they
> are, in a sense, real worlds - or at least parts of the real world.
> A case
> in point is the trade between game and "real world" currencies. As
> soon as
> this happens, game currencies become part of the economy, and as
> such, real
> (people actually make money by trading virtual coins, armour,
> equipment,
> etc.).
>
> I am still in a very early phase of my research, and ideas are still
> taking
> shape. But they keep coming.
>
> Best,
> Luiz
>
> **********
> "The brain is a wonderful thing. Everybody should have one."
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-
> bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
> Behalf Of Mike Cole
> Sent: sábado, 8 de Março de 2008 1:07
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] latour
>
> Hi Luiz-- Have you written anything about your online game
> explorations
> that led you back
> to distributed cognition and artifacts?
>
> The Latour article is in a book edited by Law. If someone has a pdf
> of it,
> please let us know!
> (off line is off line, but we are feeding each other tasty tid bits
> of ideas
> here, right?)
>
> Meantime, the following article may be relevant, its freely
> accessible, and
> it gives a pretty
> comprehensive overview of a bunch of related topics.
>
> mike
>
> http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v4_n3html/RAMMERT.html
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 4:48 PM, Luiz Carlos Baptista <
> lucabaptista@fcsh.unl.pt> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> While exploring the brave new world of online games, I rediscovered
>> the
>> pleasures of distributed cognition and the study of artifacts. My
>> bibliographical references in these areas are pretty much up-to-
>> date, but
>> I
>> am still looking for a few rarities. One of them is an old article by
>> Bruno
>> Latour, called "Technology is society made durable". Does anyone
>> have a
>> copy
>> (electronic or in print) that could send me? Please reply offlist.
>>
>> Thank you very much. All the best,
>>
>> Luiz Carlos Baptista
>>
>> **********
>> "The brain is a wonderful thing. Everybody should have one."
>>
>> Luiz Carlos Baptista
>>
>> Instituto de Filosofia da Linguagem
>> Universidade Nova de Lisboa
>> Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
>> Avenida de Berna, 26-C
>> 1069-061 Lisboa
>> Portugal
>>
>> lucabaptista@fcsh.unl.pt
>>
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Received on Fri Mar 7 19:19 PST 2008