Talk:Michael Wasserman
I thought the author did an excellent job of explaining why he generated the avatars he did. He explained various issues he had with generating his personal avatar, such as forming an avatar that accurately reflected his physical characteristics. One interesting point he mentioned was the fact that he defines himself and his identity through his actions opposed to his characteristics. Thus for the author it was difficult for him to generate an avatar that he believed was representative of himself. Although he mentioned technical limitations on the evolver website, it seemed as if most of his problems stemmed from his inability to express his demeanor on life through his avatar. He mentions that "a blank stare leaves too much room for interpretation of character" and this was one of the main difficulties he faced throughout this process. For this reason, I believe the author used the movie, School of Rock, to generate his fantasy avatar. By drawing upon this outside source and some of it's main themes, he sought to generate an avatar that allowed him to forget who he is supposed to be every day life and live in his dream. The author noted that he was an avid player of sports and thus wanted to generate a soccer player, which is what he always aspired to become. By drawing on themes from School of Rock he was able to generate an unique avatar that represented his childhood dreams.
--Elijah Thompson
The author gave a great snapshot of the problems associated with the software, especially with the problems of constructing a human face on a digital avatar. The fact that he mentions such details as the cheekbones, or the shape of the jaw reinforce the ideas that humans are complex beings, ones that are far more complex than machines can replicate (at this point in time). There was a brief moment where I thought the author was going to break into a story about how he was genetically altered or had some sort of reconstructive surgery when he mentions things such as, "a snapshot in time." He was of course referring to who he is as person defining, going beyond just a physical resemblance. He also provides good insight into the limits of the evolver software in the idea of the "blank stare" he ends his analysis with. The fantasy avatar, and idea behind it, was also quite interesting to read. He chose an interesting perspective, comparing it to something in pop culture. I felt the old saying, "actions speak louder than words" running through my head as I read this part. I think that his physicality of being and his hard-working nature really shine true through this interpretation. It's almost saying, don't look at me, but look at what I'm doing. It doesn't matter what a person looks like, as long as they are doing something they love and want to do. This was a very unique interpretation of the entire process and a good model.
-Anderson Phelps
