This discussion took place Sept 6, 1999 at a weekly online discussion presented by Trace Online at LinguaMOO.

Cybele says, "the drift"

ASondheim agrees with everyone and hopes they feel good ...

irf [to ASondheim]: Situationism?

Helen says, "Psychogeography? derive?"

ASondheim says, "Situationism, Guy deBord, a movement around Paris (Vincennes as well) in the 60s- up to now in a way -"

Sue says, "i would like to call a Definition Break"

Sue says, "time out!"

entropio says, "I love how typing phasis takes so much energy"

elizabeth says, "Situationism is a whole nother meeting though!"

Cybele says, "its kinda hard to explain in blurbs, wouldnt you say alan?"

Sue says, "is there any word that anyone would like defining here and now in one easy sentence?"

ASondheim says, "It had to do with "Society of the Spectacle," which is the name of deBord's main book - a mixture of Hegelianism, authoritarianism (you were or weren't a Situationist), Marxism, anarchism - lettrisme, which it came out of, surrealism ...Pre-Baudrillard"

Cybele swears at her assumptions of common reference.

Sue says, "is that an easy sentence?"

ASondheim says, "Is it a sentence?"

Helen says, "define everything you just said AlanS"

Cybele giggles her ass off.

ASondheim says, "Hegelianism, looking at the world dialectically; authoritarianism, what I say goes; Marxism, this is a class struggle; anarchism, so who cares?; lettrisme, let's play with letters; Surrealism, while we're dreaming..."

Helen says, "http://fhis.gcal.ac.uk/PSY/sun/LectureNotes/documents/sidocs.html"

elizabeth says, "dreaming??"

Cybele says, "an example of the drift or deriv» is that in the 60s groups of people would walk around paris, not deciding ahead of time which street to go down, using only what felt right at the moment to make decisions"

ASondheim says, "dreamwork, derive, a form of wandering around the city"

Cybele says, "trying to experince geography psychically."

elizabeth [to ASondheim]: "sorry, joke."

Helen says, "Listen, I'm a scientist here...."

ASondheim [to Cybele]: "which has an odd relation to the rest of Situationism, I have a feeling it was a 'nice addition' so to speak"

Cybele says, "alan seems one of their ideas that has lasted the longest."

ASondheim [to Cybele]: "I agree with you, it also relates oddly to slackers ..."

Cybele says, "does my example explain anything"

Cybele ponders the connection surfing on the net.

ASondheim says, "There's the panopticon on PMC MOO that takes you in and out of the descriptions of spaces ..."

elizabeth says, "is it the same as flaneur? Baudelaire?"

ASondheim says, "flaneur was more of a style, this is more of invisibility"

Cybele says, "ooo more terms, flaneur?"

elizabeth says, "hmmm that's nice"

Helen says, "d»rive: An experimental mode of behavior linked to the condition of urban society: a technique for hastily passing through varied environments. Also used, more particularly, to designate the duration of a prolonged exercise of such an experiment."

elizabeth says, "aha, Halen has moved the diacritical!"

ASondheim says, "Thanks, Helen!"

Cybele says, "that sounds like a good dictionary definition, helen."

Cybele says, "shit, I put the accent on the wrong e."

irf says, "flaneur \Fla`neur"\, n. [F., fr. fl[^a]ner to stroll.] One who strolls about aimlessly; a lounger; a loafer. "

Sue says, "i have never come across that before"

ASondheim says, "You could in fact say that the ostensible content of MOO conversation, this as well, is also derive"

Cybele says, "my point exactly, alan"

elizabeth [to AlanS]: "I read that as 'drivel' first"

ASondheim says, "the drift, mobility, interspersions, invisibilities, presences and groupings"

Sue says, "are you saying that MOO must be like an urban environment? and not a rural one?"

elizabeth [to Sue]: "In so far as it is multiply and unpredictably populated it is more like urban"