Saturday, June 25, 2005 :::
 

Close the world - txEn eht nepO



En Japonais, l'expression 'sound of jewels' est composée de deux Kanji, le premier (Rei) signifiant 'jewels', le second (In) 'sound'.

Rei-In : sound of jewels.

C'est le même kanji, la même prononciation que pour le nom Lain.



J'ai fait la découverte d'un site consacré à Serial Experiments Lain, un anime dont je vous avait déjà parlé il y a longtemps. Moi qui pensait avoir décodé la plupart des mystères de Lain, je suis tombé sur le cul en redécouvrant la richesse de ce manga. Je n'avais fait en fait qu'en soulever la première couche. Je suis maintenant en train de me pencher sur la deuxième (dont je vous ai donné un aperçu dans mon dernier post). Même si tous ces travaux, évènements et chercheurs sont évoqués dans la série (surtout dans le Layer #9: Protocol, qui prend des allures de documentaire), la description reste sommaire et attaché à la compréhension basique de l'intrigue. Seul un approfondissement ultérieur révèle toute la maturité de l'anime.



Le type qui a fait ce site (http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lain.htm) possède un doctorat en sociologie et cyberculture. Serial Experiment Lain était le sujet de sa thèse de fin de cursus. Aujourd'hui Lain est devenue une icône parmi les informaticiens et ce type donne des conférences au Japon, en Europe et aux US rien que sur ce sujet. Parce qu'au départ Lain c'est l'histoire d'une adolescente introvertie qui, parce qu'elle reçoit d'étranges mails d'une amie qui s'est suicidée quelques jours plus tôt, commence à s'investir dans la vie du Net (le Wired). Elle découvrira beaucoup sur elle-même au cours de ses pérégrinations online.



La série est souvent obscure mais vu la quantité de sources et de références auxquelles il fait appel (des théories de Jung au Livre des Morts Tibétain, en passant par les travaux de Leary ou de scientifiques américains sur l'expansion de la mémoire, la franc-maçonnerie, l'hindouisme...) cela n'est pas surprenant. Lain part volontiers dans tous les sens avec pourtant un fil directeur: quelle sera la prochaine évolution du genre humain?



Le manga recèle de symboles et de significations que je n'avais pas perçu (j'ai pourtant vu tous les épisodes une bonne dizaine de fois) et qui me sont apparues grâce à ce site très fouillé.



Je vous recommande chaudement le visionnage de ce manga. Même sans trop d'investissement ni de recherche, l'ambiance de cet anime est hallucinante, les musiques sont trippantes, l'intrigue est époustouflante.

Bref, à voir absolument.


NB: Post de Tranx. Signé par moi pour cause de probs technique.

Labels: cyberpunk, Informatique, Japan is superior, Serial Experiments Lain

::: posted by Esamurai at 12:52 PM (0) comments

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 :::
 

The sound of jewels

Web

Network/Internet.

Interpretation:A reality that is on a continuum with Real World. The state of being connected (such as to a network).A consensual hallucination (as in William Gibson's description of the Matrix in Neuromancer). We all agree (more or less) to share (more or less) the hallucination that is the Web. Meaning, how much each person agrees to hallucinate the Web will vary, and furthermore, each person's hallucination will vary (more or less) from the statistical average "consensus Web."


Real World

Everyday human existence.

Interpretation:A consensual hallucination. We all agree (more or less) to share (more or less) the hallucination that is Real World. Meaning, how much each person agrees to hallucinate Real World will vary, and furthermore, each person's hallucination will vary (more or less) from the statistical average "consensus Real World."


Protocols

Internet protocols.

Interpretation:A protocol is a set of rules or procedures that people agree to use.Therefore, protocol implies consent, an agreement to believe in something and use it.


Protocol 7

The protocol that’d fully link the Web and Real World together. Protocol 7 is to utilize Schumann Resonance to connect everybody to the Web (and therefore each other) without devices. Protocol 7 makes the collective unconscious (as described by Jung) become the collective consciousness. As such, it may also be in reference to the Leary/Wilson 7th Circuit of the nervous-system/consciousness, aka the Collective Neurogenetic Circuit. Leary and Wilson describe Circuit 7 as the DNA memory/genetic archives whose total collective information (beyond the individual, gene-pool, and species levels) is the consciousness of Gaia, the living global brain. So the evolution of the 7th circuit is the evolution of Gaia. Those who develop 7th circuit consciousness gain awareness of the DNA memory/genetic archive and of Gaia.

The biosphere--Gaia--the DNA script--is more intelligent than all individuals, gene-pools and species. It has survived everything thrown at it for nearly 4 billion years, and is getting smarter all the time. It is on the edge of achieving immortality.--from Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson.

Note: Our current Internet Protocol is IPv4 and we are in the process of transitioning to IPv6. The number 5 is some other non-IP protocol. If Protocol 7 has anything to do with our current numbering system, it is unclear.

The Eight Circuits of Consciousness A model proposed by Dr. Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson
A multiple perspective view of the same model
Robert Anton Wilson page on deoxy.org
Timothy Leary page on deoxy.org
Robert Anton Wilson's official webpage
Timothy Leary's official webpage
Carl Jung An excellent summary of his ideas


Knowledge Navigator

John Sculley, the CEO of Apple from 1983 to 1993, described the Knowledge Navigator in his book titled Odyssey (1987). The Knowledge Navigator was his vision of Apple computers in the 21st Century. Accurately predicting many of the changes eventually brought about by the World Wide Web, the hypothetical Knowledge Navigator would allow people to communicate with each other from anywhere in the world, would be connected to a vast shared hypertextual (Sculley cites Ted Nelson in reference to hypertext) database of information (like the Web), and would also utilize intelligent agents or artificial intelligences to actively search out information of interest.

The Knowledge Navigator Sculley envisioned in 1987 would be suited for multimedia applications, utilizing large, high-definition, flat-display screens to support text, full-color, graphics, and computer generated animations. It would also feature high-fidelity sound, speech synthesis, and speech recognition. Sculley emphasized that the Knowledge Navigator would not need to take any specific form; it could be a desktop computer, a handheld, or even built into one's clothing.

John Sculley's vision of the Knowledge Navigator, even if not fully realized, was important for the technologies it inspired as well as predicting the change of the personal computer's role as a productivity tool to one which is used to mediate information exchange and transfer.


Devices

All devices extend and amputate us at the same time (see McLuhan link below). According to infoscientists, Protocol 7 would allow humans to connect to the Web without devices. With devices, we extend into the Web, but cannot fully enter it. As such, we are both enabled and handicapped by devices. If we enter the Web without devices, we potentially lose our sense of self. Good or bad, total connectedness also implies total loss of ego and identity.


Schumann Resonance

Put very simply, the resonance frequencies of the Earth's electromagnetic field as measured by W.O. Schumann. 7.83 Hz (which is an average of several measurements) is the figure most often cited as the fundamental (base) Schumann Resonance frequency, in that electromagnetic waves of that frequency can propagate extremely quickly with little attenuation around the planet within what is known as the Schumann Cavity (a thin membrane of non-conductive air between the surface of the planet and the ionosphere). Schumann Resonance frequencies fall in the range of 6-50 Hz. It may be of particular interest to note that Nikola Tesla, who first observed the existence of what would later be called Schumann Resonance, theorized that it could be used for "... power transmission and transmission of intelligible messages to any point on the globe." In other words, a wireless system of energy transmission.

"So astounding are the facts in this connection, that it would seem as though the Creator, himself had electrically designed this planet...." -- Nikola Tesla describing what is now known as Schumann Resonance (7.8 Hz) in "The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires As A Means Of Furthering World Peace", Electrical World And Engineer, January 7, 1905, PP 21-24.

Related links:
Schumann Resonance A textbook explanation
Project Tesla: Wireless Transmission of Power Tesla and Schumann Resonance
Wireless Transmission of Power More on Tesla and Schumann Resonance
Nikola Tesla Another interesting Tesla page
The Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, and scientist One more Tesla page for good measure


Mech drug

Upon ingestion, it oscillates at a particular frequency which causes the secretion of a hormone (neurotransmitter?) which influences the user's sense of time, causes the user to feel as if his consciousness is accelerated, and also improves the brain's speed of calculation. The drug disappears from the body after one day.

Interpretation:
"Machine" as "drug." Suggests that machines can produce altered/expanded states of consciousness.
"Drug" as "Machine." Suggests that "drugs" are technology.

Logical/rational thought is a function of the 3rd Circuit (Leary and Wilson). Computing is a highly 3rd Circuit-intensive activity. Therefore, stimulants are the most obvious drugs of choice for the Web generation. On Accela (a potential shortfrequency smart drug), one can move closer to the speed of the Web, so Real World seems slower. Accela might function by temporarily bringing the user closer to Schumann Resonance frequencies, and therefore closer to the Web even without the use of a Navigator. Accela possibly acts on Circuits 3 and 7 at the same time.


Douglas Rushkoff

Author, professor, consultant, radio commentator. A friend of Leary. Lectures on and writes about media, society, technology, computers, cyberculture, etc. He discusses the notion of the Global Brain (or Gaia) in his book, Cyberia.

The people you are about to meet interpret the development of the datasphere as the hardwiring of a global brain. This is to be the final stage in the development of "Gaia," the living being that is the Earth, for which humans serve as the neurons. As computer programmers and psychedelic warriors together realize that "all is one,'' a common belief emerges that the evolution of humanity has been a willful progression toward the construction of the next dimensional home for consciousness...Evolution is seen more as a groping toward than a random series of natural selections. Gaia is becoming conscious. Radzik and others have inferred that human beings serve as Gaia's brain cells. Each human being is an individual neuron, but unaware of his connection to the global organism as a whole. Evolution, then, depends on humanity's ability to link up to one another and become a global consciousness.--quoted from Cyberia (1994) .

Cyberia is the title of a book by Douglas Rushkoff (1994), describing various cyber-cultures and their philosophies, as well as discussing notions of an evolving Global/Gaian Brain (such as described by James Lovelock and Peter Russell), of which humans are the neurons.

Interpretation:For those who are unaware of connection, or who are forced to connect against their will: Cyberia->Siberia->feelings of coldness, isolation, being lost.


John C. Lilly

Scientist. Interested in human consciousness expansion. A friend of Wilson/Leary. Did isolation tank and drug experiments to study effects on consciousness. Famous for work on dolphin intelligence and long-distance underwater communication. Proposed ECCO.
Related links:
John C. Lilly page on deoxy.org
John C. Lilly's official webpage
E.C.C.O. John C. Lilly's explanation of the Earth Coincidence Control Office
John Lilly, Ketamine and The Entities From ECCO


ECCO

Earth Coincidence Control Office. John C. Lilly's model/metaphor describing an extraterrestrial/higher intelligence which determines our coincidences.


Roswell Alien(s)

Suggests that humanity was contacted by a higher intelligence which provided us with the ability/inspiration to create what would eventually become the Web. Either there is an alien influence that contacted us, or the "alien" was a manifestation of our collective unconscious preparing us for future evolution. The alien is the trickster figure as is commonly found in various religions. The trickster appears, but it is never clear if it is real or a part of our mind. People in altered states of consciousness have sometimes reported encounters with alien intelligences (see ECCO).


MJ-12

aka Majestic-12. Supposedly, the organization formed by President Truman to investigate downed UFOs and the possibility of alien life contacting Earth. Allegedly formed in response to the Roswell Incident. Even within the UFO theorist community, the existence of MJ-12 is highly uncertain based on the questionable authenticity of the "MJ-12 Documents" made public in 1987 by William Moore and Stanton Friedman (UFO analysts) along with Jaime Shandera (TV producer) who received the materials from an anonymous source in 1984. Specifically, the signature of President Truman on Attachment A of the MJ-12 Documents was shown to have been copied from a different document.
Related links:
The MAJESTIC 12 Documents Scanned images of the Majestic 12 Documents
Majestic-12, Part 1 How they were discovered
Majestic-12, Part 2 The debate over authenticity
Majestic-12, Part 3 Conclusion
UFO Terms Includes an entry on Majestic-12
Revelations Concerning MJ-12


Vannevar Bush

Engineer, scientist, alleged member of MJ-12. Truman's scientific advisor. Organized the National Defense Resources Council in 1941 and the Office of Scientific Research and Development in 1943 (which helped create the Manhattan Project). Considered the major player in the founding of the National Science Foundation. Invented the Differential Analyzer, an early analog computer. Proposed Memex in his landmark article, "As We May Think," published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1945.For more detailed information, see my summary of Endless Frontier, G. Pascal Zachary's biography of Vannevar Bush.
Related links:
Vannevar Bush a brief description
Vannevar Bush a more detailed summary of his work
As We May Think The full text of Vannevar Bush's landmark article
The Godfather A Wired magazine article discussing Vannevar Bush and his contributions to science and information technology
Vannevar Bush page with Memex conceptual drawings.


Ted Nelson

Outspoken member of the computer industry. Inspired by Vannevar Bush, he expanded upon the Memex concept and proposed the Xanadu system, where there will be a globally accessible electronic archive of all the world's text, possibly implemented by putting it in a satellite in space (though this latter idea has been more or less dismissed). According to Professor Nelson, the core Xanadu concept is "a specific family of data structures". Nelson's vision of Xanadu has never fully come into fruition, though many of his concepts have influenced and been incorporated into other technologies such as the World Wide Web. Ted Nelson coined the term "hypertext" and is currently a professor at Keio University in Japan.
TED NELSON HOME PAGE
Ted Nelson,Hypertext Pioneer


PK

PK is short for "Player Killer", a person who kills other players in online games, though the term is most often reserved for such players in games which are at least partially social in nature. People who play first person perspective shooters, for example, are not usually called PKs. The terminology may have originated from the early days of text-based online MUDs ("multi-user dungeons"). The term is still used today in the more modern (fully graphical) online gaming environments in which players can socialize, kill monsters, or (in the case of PKs) kill other characters. For online gaming worlds which allow characters to grow over time, PKs are controversial in that they add an element of risk to the game, where players who have developed attachments to long-term characters must constantly be on the lookout for dangerous PKs. As such, many people want to ban PKs, or at least weaken their effect on the games. PKs, on the other hand, consider the risk of combat a thrilling and vital part of the online experience.


Knights

Consists mostly of computer geeks and some people who like being in secret organizations. The Knights are hackers/manipulators/crackers. "Knights of Eastern Calculus" evokes the image of the Pythagorean mystics/mathematicians. The Knights possibly originated from the Knights Templar (or the Knights of Malta, even?) who were hermeticists/alchemists. The Knights' goal might be to unite human consciousness with the "divine" "true" consciousness."Knights of Eastern Calculus" also seems synonymous with "Knights of the Lambda Calculus".

Knights of the Lambda Calculus n.A semi-mythical organization of wizardly LISP and Scheme hackers. The name refers to a mathematical formalism invented by Alonzo Church, with which LISP is intimately connected. There is no enrollment list and the criteria for induction are unclear, but one well-known LISPer has been known to give out buttons and, in general, the members know who they are.... --from The Jargon File Alonzo Church, in 1930, introduced lambda calculus as a model of computation. In The Jargon File entry for "canonical,"
The jargon meaning [of canonical], a relaxation of the technical meaning, acquired its present loading in computer-science culture largely through its prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and mathematical logic (see Knights of the Lambda Calculus).--from The Jargon File


"Beethoven said...'Anybody who understands my music will never be unhappy again.' That is because his music is the song of Gaia, the Life Spirit, becoming conscious of Herself, of Her powers, of Her own capacities for infinite progress."--Robert Anton Wilson discussing the Collective Neurogenetic circuit of consciousness in Prometheus Rising.


Voilà c'est un tantinet long mais croyez-moi ça vaut le coup. Si vous voulez savoir sur quel site j'ai trouvé toutes ces informations, et surtout ce qu'ont en commun tous ces travaux et expériences, penchez-vous sur la signification du titre de ce post. d'ici quelques jours je vous donnerais la clé qui réunit toutes les pièces du puzzle que vous avez sous les yeux.

En plus maintenant que j'approfondis mes recherches à travers les liens je me rend compte que ce que je croyais connaître m'était encore en fait hermétiquement fermé. Je redécouvre un univers pour lequel mon admiration s'accroît.


[original message posted by Tranx]

Labels: cyberpunk, Informatique, Japan is superior, Serial Experiments Lain

::: posted by Tranxenne at 10:22 PM (1) comments