Tomorrow is only a day away

I am going to focus on 3 core articles to find my direction:

1. At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence

Matthew Lombard Theresa Ditton

Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications, & Mass Media Temple University

Written in 1997! It examines the key concepts of presence and looks at these from 6 conceptualizations:

1. as Richness
2. as Realism
3. as Transportation
4. as Immersion
5. as Social Actor within Medium
6. as Medium

It also looks at factors that encourage or discourage a sense of presence in media and the physiological and psychological effects of presence 

I am hoping this is going to map somethings out for me.

2. I am very excited by the following article:

Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being

Paul Ekman, Richard J. Davidson, Matthieu Ricard and B. Alan Wallace Current Directions in Psychological Science 2005 14: 59

and it's bibliography truly lead me down all sorts of paths.

I have entered into this Masters knowing so little, Buddhism calls this "Beginner's Mind". Because of it I am floundering as I grapple with so many new concepts and technologies but because of it I hope I have something to contribute. Anne Schaef, in a little gem of a book,  When Society becomes an addict,  (the title is misleading), posits a fundamental change in our society. 

From a system that believes 

• it has the only true handle on reality
• that this reality is totally logical, rational and objective
• no other reality exists
• if something emerges from another "way" this System usurps it and fits it into its paradigm, owning it and changing it through this ownership

To a system 

• that is open, that lives and can let live.
• that accepts many facets to a perceived reality
• that can function within supposed chaos and finds it way

Buddhism sees emotions quite differently from "us". I want to delve into their notion of Presence to see it from this different angle. Only recently, thanks to MIT, has the buddhist perspective been given academic attention. I think there is a lot to discover.

3. As a continuation from the previous reading I need to get my head around a very interesting dissertation by Caroline Nevejan entitled PRESENCE AND THE DESIGN OF TRUST. She has a fascinating background, her father, the domain she has been working in, her other writings etc. Unlike Michael Jacobson, I have absolutely no memory. He remembers every writer, their entire academic careers, every project he worked with them on - a memory like an elephant! I am just the elephant with the memory of an ostrich. Take me for my word, all she has done is interesting.

I think Nevejan approaches this topic from an Open System view - Schaef's Open System view, not Bertalanffy's,. I think she is the link to the Buddhist perspective. 

I am not sure if this is going to lead me down a new path or give me a different perspective of the path that I am on. I am not even sure if time permits such a luxury, nor if others consider it even relevant. But my heart is drawn to it.

Just to wrap up with a insy, winsy little point.

I don't even know if this path fits in with what the assignment asks for - a literary review. I will surely not have the time needed to delve into it like I would like to.

I will deal with that tomorrow.