Document:Q10294

CyberFortune not only has examined the folk culture of fortune-telling itself, but also the phenomenon of the combination of folk culture and digital culture, particularly how people’s behaviour has changed throughout the hi-tech era. Carl Gustav Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and synchronicity, and the discoveries on binary arithmetic by Leibniz are indeed ideas that have assisted me in understanding the rationality of fortune-telling, and the way of finding patterns within the Internet.
There is an interesting contradiction between fortune-telling and the Internet: firstly, fortune-telling is considered a traditional analog transmitter/medium, while the Internet is built based on advanced hi-tech digital logic. Secondly, fortune-telling deals with the actual social life of individuals, while by contrast, the Internet creates a virtual life for avatar beings. Furthermore, fortune-telling is particularly focused on subjective identity whereas the Internet recognizes codes and IP addresses from each computer rather than users. Although originating from ancient times, fortune-telling is a behaviour that is still actively performed within modern hi-tech society. Accordingly, the practice of fortune telling has become an indispensable basic element for constructing “interactive” net behaviour with users. While appreciating the traditional lore, one is also experiencing at the same time an alternative digital form that combines ancient and technological fortune-telling.