1. Deepening Player Immersion with Jungian Symbolism
Presentation by Stephen Schafer
Apology
Due to upload constraints, this presentation contains only 20% of the original. All graphic content and some minor steps in the logic of my argument have been excluded. Stay tuned to this site. A forwarding address to the entire presentation is forthcoming.
Thank you.

2. Psyche has rhetorical pattern
Symbols in images (what you think you see) tell a story
What we think we see is the subject of many fields of psychological research: linguistics, marketing, perception, cognition, dream research, propaganda, psychoanalysis, Jungian Amplification, etc
It is well-established fact that images focus attention in consciousness; but, according to Carl Jung the archetypal dimensions of psyche generate the images (like projections onto a screen)
Just as energy frequencies are ever-present for reception by our computer monitors, psychic frequencies are ever present for reception by the mind’s eye
Insight as to the premise in a dream story (what a character learns) leads to Jungian individuation or at-one-ment with the soul (Joseph Campbell’s term for the end of the hero journey)
The interactive process of extending symbolic metaphors is the key to a dreamer’s healing insight and to achieving meaningful player insight as to a game win

3. Jung and Einstein are of one mind
Both view reality in terms of unified field dynamics
Both understand uni-verse in terms of energy
Both initiated the Paradigm Shift into a mediated age of psyche-physics

4. We are at the beginning of a paradigm shift
A basic shift in the assumptions of science (Thomas Kuhn-1933)
Psychecology: a unified field of Psyche-Physics
Holographic reality
An interactive mediasphere

5. …if you understand immersion & interactivity in Jungian terms
Vital energy in a unified field of psyche-physics
The part contains the whole (DNA, fractals)
The unconscious is real and has autonomous purpose that it communicates (immersion) to consciousness with the symbolism of dreams
Mediation (interactivity) is a two-way process between unconscious & conscious dimensions
Good SBG writers are like the psychiatrist that helps lead the dreamer (gamer) to insightful understanding of the meaning of his/her dreams

6. All the world (psyche) is a stage
In the theatre metaphor the stage is the spotlight of consciousness
Upon this stage plays a mediated dream in which narrative structure is the common denominator and personae are avatars of our numinous Self
“All the world’s a stage” upon which our avatars play their parts
Like images in dreams, images in SBGs are the staging ground of consciousness upon which we use the props and settings to learn to navigate the psychecology

7. All models of mental functioning are theatre models (Bernard J
All models of mental functioning are theatre models (Bernard J. Baars, 1997)
The theatre model is a way to understand how the Jungian functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, intuiting) communicate in dreams and games
The theatre of consciousness is a metaphor used in global workspace theory (research in perception and cognition)
Stage: spotlight focus of conscious attention; access to any part of the brain (Recent estimates of brain activity is that 55 billion neurons are sending electrical pulses times per second.)
Audience: receptive unconscious
Backstage: directive unconscious
The theatre model is a good metaphor relative to Jungian definitions of psyche
This presentation has all the dimensions of theatre and psyche
Drama (narrative) as medium
Symbolic content (character masks, sets as graphic image)
Integrated holistic psyche (conscious-unconscious context)

8. Metaphorical resonance is the programmatic matrix for immersion & interactivity
To provoke player insight, video games could be programmed to simulate the functions and dynamics of the psyche
Games could simulate both dreams and the analytical feedback provided by the psychiatrist
As in dreams, amplification of narrative symbolism in SBGs leads to meaningful insight

9. Narrative is A Kaleidoscopic Flux of Psychic Energies
Narrative is a rhetorical-psychological kaleidoscope that contains all the potentials of the personal & collective search for meaning
In the present moment, it impacts multiple dimensions of human psyche
Kaleidoscopic psychic patterns may be deciphered using the symbols of alchemy such as cycles and the four elements that represent the functions of human psyche—flesh, emotion, mind, and spirit; earth, water, air, fire

10. According to Jung, dreams are symbolic images in the narrative form of Greek drama
A story
Dramatic unities (space, time, and action)
Character, plot, & their interaction
Character = the persona or mask of archetypes
Plot = Journey of the Hero toward psychological individuation or at-one-ment (Campbell) with Self
Meaning and purpose (premise)
Told in the language of “living” symbols
“Living” symbols are expressions of unconscious psychic energy—like spin types—and are metaphors
Unconscious spin types can be inferred by metaphorical extension—Jung’s Amplification Method of dream analysis

11. Symbolic mediation is the key to immersion
By the process of amplifying (extending) the metaphorical meaning of symbols, SBG writers draw players into the immersed dimensions of the personal and collective unconscious

12. Symbolic mediation is the language of interactivity between conscious & unconscious dimensions
The specific form in which energy is manifested in the psyche is the image
This creative activity of the psyche transforms unconscious contents into such images as appear in dreams, fantasies, visions, and every variety of creative art.” (Jacoby p )
‘The psychological mechanism that transforms energy is the symbol’ (Jung, Energy, pp. 39, 40.)
Like dreams, game images give form to contents of the unconscious (computational levels of a game)

13. Mediation is interactive
Unconscious, preconscious contents are projected outward and expressed as a symbolic image-map
The image grounds consciousness which then tests itself with interactive choices that engage the unconscious & alter the map
For example, the chess game is a symbolic map that grounds the conversation between opponents. Each move by each player is a choice that constitutes an interactive test of inferred unconscious states (that state of an opponent’s psyche that not known)
We are constantly navigating such game-maps and seeking immersed meaning by the process of grounding living symbols (imbedded in a psychic field) with the focus of consciousness
The result is evolution—constant transformation of unconscious material into consciousness

14. Meaning can be psychologically associated with a game win
[Dramatic] pattern, on which most dreams are constructed, forms a suitable basis for interpretation [of dreams]” (Jacoby, p 83)
Advertisements associate symbolic resonance with product
Writers can associate character premise and story purpose with winning the game
The more writing skill, the deeper the player immersion in unconscious resonance of symbolic meaning

15. The function of mediation in dreams provides a clue to interactive storytelling
Jungian dreams arise from a unified field (time does not exist) so they seem to have random order. However, their narrative structure incorporates all the dynamics of storytelling while amplifying immersion and interactive choice.
Manipulation of Plot sequence and View sequence (Andrew Glassner) constitutes complex and sophisticated interactivity
Premise maintains the integrity of the interactive story-line (Schafer)
Without losing the game storyline, SBGs can accommodate a dreamlike array of scenes triggered by imbedded symbols that prompt interactive choices yet lead to meaningful player insight (psychological premise associated with the game win)
The dream dynamic provides great flexibility of choice and content while retaining a solid storyline

16. Psychecology has purpose immersed in a symbolic map
Psyche is the spiritual component of physics
The energy of psyche is expressed as metaphorical resonance
Physicists tap sub-atomic energy with mathematical formulae
Writers tap the sub-conscious energy of psyche with living symbols & rhetorical patterns
Images (dreams & game screens) are expressions of meaningful archetypal patterns
Because SBGs have all the dimensions of dreams, they have the same immersive, interactive, and healing potentials

17. SBG writers can use the theatre metaphor to understand Jungian immersion and interactivity
To write stories for the spotlight (image)
Simulations can be loaded with symbolic meaning
The writer-director needs to understand how the symbols on stage affect the audience (unconscious)
Relative to meaning (premise—what a character learns)
And purpose of the story
The writer needs to direct from the pre-conscious (backstage)
Living symbols have more interactive versatility than language structures
Stories written with living symbols will have more interactive versatility