From individuals to emotional drones: Technology-driven change in the collective conditioning of intimacy

Spatial media has received impetus in recent studies, arguing that its function as a mediator of meaning and enabler of intimacy are critical in late modernity. We suggest that spatial media not only liquefies key institutions of modernity but also replaces them. We conducted interviews with men who use spatial media to realize intimacy. In our analysis, we reference the fictional Star Trek universe to illustrate how spatial media may function as an institution. In the figure of the Borg, human-tech borders are eliminated, control is exerted through collective decisions, and bodies are assimilated into an expanding beehive-like community. Similarly, spatial media enables the liquefaction of human-tech borders, the creation of new sets of rules and hierarchies, and the assimilation of intimacy practices. We thereby conclude that digital media not only drive a process of liquefaction but also the forging of new institutional structures that condition the realization of intimacy.

El Modelo económico en Viaje a las Estrellas (Star Trek)

El mundo representado en las series y películas de la franquicia Star Trek trasciende muchas de las reglas que tenemos hoy en día para la sociedad como la conocemos. En ese sentido y como consecuencia de las distintas tecnologías avanzadas que presenta, ¿está ese mundo más allá de las reglas de la economía moderna como la entendemos hoy? A partir del análisis del impacto de dos tecnologías existentes dentro del universo narrativo de la franquicia (uno ofrece un bien y el otro un servicio) llegamos a la conclusión de que las reglas básicas de la microeconomía convencional se aplican en el futuro representado.

‘All the world’s a [post-apocalyptic] stage’

Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel, Station Eleven, follows the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe of actors and musicians who perform concerts and stage Shakespeare’s plays in the scattered communities of survivors of an influenza pandemic. Tattooed on the arm of Kirsten Raymonde, an actress in the troupe, are the words ‘Because survival is insufficient’, a phrase borrowed from Star Trek: Voyager, indicating that the works of Shakespeare and Beethoven can enrich the lives of the survivors of the pandemic. But even if survival in this post-apocalyptic landscape is considered insufficient, it cannot be taken for granted. In a world without electricity and modern technology, encounters with strangers on the road occasionally turn confrontational, even deadly. The novel thus dramatises a constant struggle that complicates the idea that survival is insufficient, and ceaselessly probes the notion that Beethoven and Shakespeare can enrich our lives in post-apocalyptic times.

‘I find this disgusting but I can’t help myself’

This paper examines the narratives and themes present in two pieces of sf media about videogames: a 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode entitled ‘The Game’ and David Cronenberg’s 1999 film eXistenZ. Both present a ‘moral panic’ narrative about videogames, using the futuristic imagery and technological speculation of the sf genre to explore contemporaneous concerns about the ability of videogames to manipulate the behaviour of players and shape their perceptions of reality. However, these narratives also mirror promotional claims used to market videogames, as well as foundational assertions of the field of game studies. Drawing on a close reading of these works, as well as the ‘material turn’ in game studies, the paper goes on to articulate contradictions between the ways in which videogames are theorised and experienced, and between the marketing and moral panics that accompany their production. It further suggests how these contradictions create a persistent ‘unhappy consciousness’ surrounding the videogame object that causes these anxieties to recur. Placing fictional depictions of videogames in sf media alongside public and academic discussions sheds light on the roots of these contradictions and allows us to better assess their cultural impact.