| From: | Ereskanti@***.com Ereskanti@***.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | THANK YOU!! (Re: Simsense and Astral Perception) |
| Date: | Wed, 17 Feb 1999 22:29:18 EST |
SHODAN+@***.EDU writes:
> Anyways, I make a couple of clearly stated assumptions. I also move
> some stuff around, so my apologies if I've misinterpreted your words.
And in so moving, you have changed the bias or relationship of the wording.
That is part of my discussion/argument.
> My interpretation of what can and can't be done: Indirect
> illusion spells, and other physical spells record on simsense.
> Mana-based illusions, and other mana-based spells do not record,
> though their effects will record (the wound from a manabolt will
> register for example (it's real hard to miss), but the manabolt may
> not be visible.)
Please note, one piece of cyberware. Sense Link
> As far as actual rulings go, the only things I have seen are
> that things on the astral plane don't record. All other "Magic does
> not record on simsense" statements have been pretty vague.
True, but don't get "Simsense Recordings" and "Trideo Recordings"
mixed up.
> I missed this thread the first time. It's always been my
> impression that a blind magician, regardless of whether he was always
> blind, or his eyes were sewn shut 5 seconds ago, gains the ability of
> sight, as seen through the astral plane. For a blind magician, this
> is the same as normal sight, but the only one available to him. It
> does not, IMHO, manifest as a different sense.
BUT, how does "normal sight" translate to the mind of a person who has never
had "sight" in the first place?
> > Simsense is using ASIST technology, from both the playing and recording
> ends
> > of the business (literally in Shadowbeat's definitions).
>
> Now, here's my big point of debate. You see ASIST technology
> as recording further along than I have always seen it.
Actually, not really. I however have been *very* careful to not get "ASIST"
and "Trideo" mixed up.
> > Simsense is a recording of (meta)human experience, nothing else,
> > nothing less.
>
> Is it? I've always seen simsense as a recording of the input
> your body receives, recorded as it enters your brain. You don't
> *feel* the happiness in the person who has been recorded. You feel
> the endorphin rush that the simstar felt, because one has been
> triggered in your body.
And thus, your mind (re)creates the experience of it all. What's the phrase?
"...from a certain point of view?"
> > They will perceive "the aura of their subject",
> > and in so doing their mind, having been trained, developed, and biased,
is
> > going to attempt to translate that into the one thing it understands the
> most.
> > Visual Sight. Which then in turns fires the visual cortecis of the
> > (meta)human mind. Hence, the ability to record. Simsense is NOT going
to
> > record the actual "light sensory" that is incoming, that is what the
"
> Video
> > Link" or "Eye Camera" are there for. No, it is recording the
interaction
> of
> > sensations with the (meta)human mind.
>
> I disagree here. I see a raw simsense recording as the
> sensations a body feels, as it enters the brain. IMHO, if a simsense
> signal can place a signal in after it has been translated by the
> visual cortex, the same recording technology could be used to scan
> surface thoughts, dig through memory, or produce a
> visual-cortex-on-a-chip.
Actually, it can, especially in lue of the concepts of skillsofts (any
category) as well as Cyberdeck technology and "BTL/Psychotropic"
considerations.
> I also like the idea of a more unified technology, so that a
> Video Link/Eye Camera combo are the same sort of technology used in
> simsense, or perhaps derived in the oppposite order. I don't see the
> two technologies as being unlinked.
This is what I was referring to as getting "Trideo" and "ASIST" mixed
up.
> SR also lists the brain (and spine, to a lesser extent) as
> being the big things still mysterious to science in the SR world. I
> find it more plausible that simsense can reecord the input as it
> enters the brain, rather than recording a brain map, and feeding the
> same mapping onto the viewer of the simsense.
I'm honestly afraid you have lost me in this paragraph? What exactly is the
difference? "record the input as it enters the brain" vs. "recording a
brain
map" and then continuing with "feeding the same mapping?" Tell me, what's
a
"MAP" at this point in your discussion? It would help me understand what you
are saying.
> So, what you're saying (I hope), is that the emotional state
> of the caster and the damage the body receives will show up on
> simsense. The first, to me, is a completely psychological thing, and
> has nothing to do with the actual casting of the spell, except for the
> act of casting as a catalyst. The second, well, that's going to show
> up on simsense, it's bodily damage. However, without being attuned to
> the astral, that's all it is, damage. You didn't see it coming, you
> don't know how it got there, and you don't know how to instinctively
> try to dodge it.
True and Not True all at the same time. Sadly, IMO, "Emotions" are reflected
in pscyhoreactive chemical interaction that occurs within your (and mine and
*their*) body. Sure, we'd like to liken them to a higher function, but to
Science, that simply isn't going to be happening anytime in the near(distant?)
future. By manipulating broad PR Chemical ("...tropinism" terminology abounds
here) interaction and/or even the neural "firing" of various synaptic
activities, it becomes possible to "simulate" the various
"stimulations" of
another target.
> Besides, if all that shows up on simsense is the psychological
> effect of "yay, my spell worked", followed by a migraine, *I* think
> that's a good example of magic not recording very well. Another
> magician watching the experience might recognize the effects and why
> they're happening, but the recording itself is going to give none of
> the how or why that a spell has been cast. You could get the same
> effect with a hologram (or another actor crumpling, in the case of a
> manabolt) and a blow to the head.
No, actually that's a recording that works well, but is simply not understood
by the person who is experiencing the recording. What a way to experience
your first exposure to "drain", especially devastating levels of it.
Experienced magician is using the "recorder" at the time of the spellcasting,
and suffers the drain for the actions. Simsense Editorial Staff takes the
recording, replays it through a modulations console (not completely unlike an
equalizer for one's stereo, except that the input/output is different) and
makes certain to include certain "safety overrides" in the final recording,
just to make certain someone doesn't have a coronary at the time.
There is a movie, it's been mentioned before. "Brainstorm" is an AWESOME
concept paralleling much of this. Sure, it's a fictional thing. BUT, so is
Shadowrun.
-K
