User:Thijshijsijsjss/Human Parser/About Navigation

Necessary. This annotation should be the start of the thesis. It should set the scene and make a reader comfortable with venturing into the text. At the moment, it is written from a practical pov, very meta. This doesn't say anything about navigation thematically, while there would be a lot of connections (navigating choices in a TA, navigating 'your manual', navigation in new places and the dissociation it can bring).

Dear HUMAN,

I am THIJS. You are now reading my THESIS.

This is not an isolated story. This is a story about dissociation -- feeling like there's an involuntary mismatch between how you experience the world and how the world experiences you. It is a story told through the lens of text-adventures, hoping to connect questions of personal identity, 'living with a manual', the fast paced world (of content) and the virtue of the obsolete. This lens is made concrete with the Human Parser game central to this project: an embodied exploration of dissociativity. This game, this embodiment, is accompanied by a game manual, another old media. This thesis, in turn, is a collection of annotations to this manual -- defying the idea that a manual can be be all-encompassing, especially when it comes to a person. This text is a sprawling adventure, like life and identity not giving away its secrets all at once. You can explore them at your own pace, in your own order. This requires a little confusion, a little vulnerability, and a little imagination. This is a personal story, but not necessarily mine alone. You are encouraged to parse it in your own way. You don't need to be a confident navigator, just one looking for mutual understanding :)

[Once I am confident again when one would read the thesis (during the game, after, something else?), I will probably add that here (or in between the final sentences). In particular it is important to add how the reader will move from one annotation to the next. Ending should have a thematic tone, either identity or TA related. Probably About Thijs is the next section.]