Grolar Pizzly

This project explored magical thinking on today’s Internet using the paradigm of data art, generative graphics and experimental cartography. The theoretical part of this thesis examines collective reactions in the digital world, navigates through the epistemological problem of the human need for interpretation and people’s dissatisfaction with current narratives. For the practical portion of this project we are developing an interactive atlas of modern mythology using graph theory and semantic field analysis to coordinate data, and Python and JavaScript to visualize these cognitive phenomena.

This project explored magical thinking on today’s Internet using the paradigm of data art, generative graphics and experimental cartography. The theoretical part of this thesis examines collective reactions in the digital world, navigates through the epistemological problem of the human need for interpretation and people’s dissatisfaction with current narratives. For the practical portion of this project we are developing an interactive atlas of modern mythology using graph theory and semantic field analysis to coordinate data, and Python and JavaScript to visualize these cognitive phenomena.

Magical thinking is the belief that certain events are causally related despite the lack of any plausible connection. As such, they were often portrayed as the result of supernatural powers. One such example is the event that took place in the middle of 2023 when, as a result of climate change, polar bears migrated south and interbred with grizzlies, which are the original inhabitants of that territory. People living in these areas have reported encountering Grolar-Pizzly hybrids and claim that the hybrids are significantly more aggressive than the local bears. On social networks and channels such as YouTube and TikTok, which deal with the topic of ecology and zoology, reports and reports about this phenomenon appeared. Semantic analysis of digital comments, based on NLP models, revealed that the term care has a significant score of 0.7. Through manual checking and more detailed sorting of the data, we discover that the comments from this category displayed characteristics of general anxiety, tendencies towards mystification, as well as existential fear. Users showed a tendency towards magical thinking, comparing the bear’s aggression to the revenge of supernatural forces. This is an example of how Internet users together, mediated by digital algorithms, generate new narratives and new mythologies that symbolize complex system dynamics in the 21st century.

The complexity of the systems within which we live - climate systems, biological, economic, technological, media and other systems - is increasing. The need to understand and embrace systemic dynamics leads to the strengthening of magical thinking, while the Internet as a global network becomes the main place where new magical narratives, new symbols and new mythologies are generated and mutually reinforced.

This project is a continuation of the Pizzly project which used online reactions related to the Grolar-Pizzly phenomenon as prompts for a generative diffusion model. The results you can see below.

Folklore refers to culturally specific beliefs, symbols, stories, and customs that are transmitted orally, in writing, or through rituals within a community. It includes myths, legends, fairy tales, proverbs and other types of collective expression. Folklore is not limited to mythical or supernatural elements, but includes everyday rituals and stories shared within a community. On the other hand, myths are often seen as religious stories that provide a cultural or religious framework for understanding the world and finding one’s place in it. Modern mythology includes urban legends, popular fiction, and other representations that shape culture. Social media is a form of modern mythology, through which myths and beliefs within contemporary global culture are transmitted. Social networking algorithms place us in relation to our interactions into digital communities with which the algorithm believes we share attitudes. This is how closed bubbles are formed, so-called echo chambers, and their folklores. People form these digital spaces to satisfy some of their curiosity or to gain a sense of belonging to a community based on their interest, style, attitude or some other form of identification. As an inquisitive digital ethnographer, modern man is privileged to explore this fluid ability to participate and advance his (Piagetian) schemas of skill and thought through community while retaining his autonomous thought, emotion, and responsibility. These symbolic and language games connect subjective mental models to the dynamics of objective systems in the real world, giving us more insight into how magical thinking and biases transform the perception of assimilation into monster genesis.