Kenna - Yamamoto: Intermission 2 - Story 2

a) In some ways, I think it is easier for me to develop relationships across virtual spaces. Like Mizuki, I find a degree of more comfort in the ability to present myself online. There is less pressure and you have more time to think about actions and words. That being said, I don't believe that virtual relationships are as authentic. I think that if any degree is virtual, it needs an aspect of reality as well to solidify the legitimacy.


b) Historical events

  • Intermission 2 reminded me of various war times and Tim O'Brien's 'The Things They Carried' (http://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/2017/06/20/the-textual-truth-behind-tim-obriens-the-things-they-carried/). The book centers around the concept of "true war stories" and essentially questions if such a thing exists. There are "happening truths" and "story truths", the difference between the two amplified in war times.
  • Story 2 reminded me of the rise of internet dating (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/susie-lee/timeline-online-dating-fr_b_9228040.html). The virtual reality setting presented in the book is similar to online dating profiles today. There is always a worry that users could not be presenting themselves accurately, whether in dress, real life persona, etc. There is also still a degree of trepidation when it comes to meeting in person, as our online selves typically are at least slightly different.
  • The passage also reminded me, of course, of the rise of VR (https://www.fi.edu/virtual-reality/history-of-virtual-reality). The world described in the story is not all the different than our world now. There really are virniture options, and avatars are common in everything from online games to Snapchat.

c) I think the fact that this text was translated and functions as an anthology adds a degree of complexity. Words and word order are incredibly particular, and some languages have words and phrasing we lack the ability to communicate in English. It adds a degree of curiosity as to whether or not each and every sentence and idea is being communicated exactly as the author intended. I also want to bring up the fact that I am reading this book on a Kindle app on my laptop. Not only was this book transferred from someone's mind to a page, then translated between languages, it was also uploaded digitally and now can be received with the click of a button. Someone's thoughts become instantaneously available, searchable, highlightable and annotatable. Not to mention, on the Kindle app you have to option to see what other readers have highlighted, etc. It can become more of a group activity whereas these ideas literally sprung up in the mind of one man, whose language many US Kindle users likely can't even understand.

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