"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Perspective on Citizen X
Agent Dragar adds to the speculation on Citizen X. Most of it makes sense, but he says one thing wildly in opposition to what we know: He notes that it might be tempting to fall into black-and-white statements that don't quite mesh with reality. For example:
"Where EVOKE desires transparency, Citizen X seeks obfuscation."
Alchemy says: "We like our secrets... Secret is how we work." Evoke has its secret handsign, the symbols of Citizen X are (at least sometimes) overtly displayed (see the posters).
Alchemy calls Citizen X "irresponsible", not evil. And we have clear evidence that both Ember and Quinn (both Evoke Agents par excellence) use Citizen X as a source of information. Ember also seems to be the least secretive: Her students know she's up to something, and spelling out EVOKE and EMBER in the rooftop gardens is a bit obvious. (I suppose something has to keep the rumors going, Evoke's not much use if no one knows to call.)
Actually, we might reasonably conclude that Citizen X is more desiring of transparency than Evoke, they leaked government memos, they want information on the Evoke Network (so they can leak that, too?). "We reveal". They expose. (Xpose?) Maybe they take transparency to extremes as an ideal, maybe not.
Then again, they're also a secret organization. I wonder if they're lead by someone like Alchemy or organized in a more decentralized manner.
And why does Alchemy think they're "irresponsible"? Information can certainly be used irresponsibly, true or false, especially when there's no organizational structure to curtail malicious actors within the organization (much less exclude them). Think WikiLeaks but also think The Yes Men... then cross both of those with Anonymous. See why Alchemy might be concerned?
"Where EVOKE desires transparency, Citizen X seeks obfuscation."
Alchemy says: "We like our secrets... Secret is how we work." Evoke has its secret handsign, the symbols of Citizen X are (at least sometimes) overtly displayed (see the posters).
Alchemy calls Citizen X "irresponsible", not evil. And we have clear evidence that both Ember and Quinn (both Evoke Agents par excellence) use Citizen X as a source of information. Ember also seems to be the least secretive: Her students know she's up to something, and spelling out EVOKE and EMBER in the rooftop gardens is a bit obvious. (I suppose something has to keep the rumors going, Evoke's not much use if no one knows to call.)
Actually, we might reasonably conclude that Citizen X is more desiring of transparency than Evoke, they leaked government memos, they want information on the Evoke Network (so they can leak that, too?). "We reveal". They expose. (Xpose?) Maybe they take transparency to extremes as an ideal, maybe not.
Then again, they're also a secret organization. I wonder if they're lead by someone like Alchemy or organized in a more decentralized manner.
And why does Alchemy think they're "irresponsible"? Information can certainly be used irresponsibly, true or false, especially when there's no organizational structure to curtail malicious actors within the organization (much less exclude them). Think WikiLeaks but also think The Yes Men... then cross both of those with Anonymous. See why Alchemy might be concerned?
Views: 27
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Comment by Samuel Freilich on March 12, 2010 at 6:27am
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Noted. Seems I misread you the first time around, my apologies.
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Comment by Matthew Reinbold on March 16, 2010 at 5:55am
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Could the secrecy help prevent agents from seeking out personal fame? While we do have examples of celebrities attempting to use their stature as a force of good (think Bono and debt relief) starting as a change agent hoping for eventual fame would seem to muddy one's missions, no? Would the PeaceCorp attract people passionate at helping others if it was a proven path to book deals and morning talk show appearances?
By working in obscurity the Evoke network would seem to keep the priorities where they should be - solving problems.
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I like that argument. Well put.
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Comment by Wasserperson on March 17, 2010 at 11:48pm
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My thoughts follow yours, both about Citizen X valuing transparency more than Alchemy, and about there being more complexity than good guys/bad guys to the difference between CX and Evoke.
Right now I'm wondering--is Evoke a noun, but CX a verb? Outside of a few agitators, is CX something we become when we act as irresponsible broadcasters, instead of engaged responders?
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Really enjoyed the further complexity introduced to the story with episode #3. Not only did we see an Evoke "failure" (from their perspective, not necessarily from the residents) but we got a clearer insight into CX.
From that I'd guess that CX is, on the surface, similar to Evoke - they are a group, motivated by points, competing for score. But whereas Evoke uses their infrastructure to create sustainable solutions to basic problems (food, energy) the CX network encourages the most superficial and derisive behavior. Rather than being productive they're scoring is based on attention.
In this way 'breaking' an anonymous network of change agents would be very valuable for anyone in CX. They're not looking to purposely mess with Evoke - they just want to use it for the Digg/Slashdot/Reddit attention.
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I think Citizen X will probably turn out to be more benign than I'd like. But the more I brainstorm on its motivations the more I'm reminded of SlitScan from William Gibson's Idoru. In that book SlitScan is an infotainment company (think TMZ). Some choice quotes on SlitScan's thought process from Idoru:
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“Nobody’s really famous anymore, Laney. Have you noticed that?”
“No.”
“I mean really famous. There’s not much fame left, not in the old sense. Not enough to go around.”
“The old sense?”
“We’re the media , Laney. We make these a******s celebrities. It’s a push-me, pull-you routine. They come to us to be created.”
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"Anything that might be of interest to Slitscan. Which is to say, Laney, anything that might be of interest to Slitscan's audience. Which is best visualized as a viscous, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organism craving the warm god-flesh of the anointed."
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"Personally I like to imagine something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It’s covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting.
It has no mouth, Laney, no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote.”
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"Because Slitscan’s business was the ritual letting of blood, and the blood it let was an alchemical fluid: celebrity in its rawest, purest form."
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It's an interesting angle if Citizen X turns into a TMZ/SlitScan-like organization. However, going to the degree that Gibson did in his book would probably be overly intense and distracting for the story that they're trying to tell here.
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Comment by ninmah on March 18, 2010 at 4:04pm
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Ohhh, see, I was all set to put Citizen X in the "evil" category, and then you come out with this very reasonable view of that organization. Thanks for helping me remember that the world isn't black and white, even in a game. Good perspectives.
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Comment by Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys on March 23, 2010 at 5:12am
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Interesting theories . . .
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