Buddhism Beliefs - Rencarnation

Project presentation for Cultural Studies class

I once did something kind of similar for a class.

I didn't lug my PS3 into school and hook it up to a generic storage compartment TV, no. What I did was illustrate a 'children's book,' for R.E. class, but instead of drawing pictures on paper and stapling them together (i.e., moving in the general work direction in which the other students moved) I printed screenshots of things I made in create mode.

This level. Even though this is for a school assignment, the kid can't resist putting in one of those badly designed, dysfunctional vehicle sections.

Why he didn't, you know, use the Asia Buddhist/Hindu Temple level background is also kinda lost on me.

About here (below); you realise why this kid wanted to do his assignment on a videogame and not powerpoint or something.

Does this actually explain what "Rencarnation" is supposed to be like?

In other words: are there notes for this presentation? Is there stuff like this?

I wish more assignments were doable in LBP. I wish LBP became the medium for presentaitons. 

LBP Clans #2

if you do, contact me or ___ (username) you must be an EXTREMEL good creator and over the age of 8

This is too much fun.

(You can't see it here, but in the actual level, the "B" on the BORDER PATROL sign is mistakenly covered by a huge yellow text box.)

UNSC_POLICE117'S lvls

This is in fact the most serious "role playing" clan I've ever seen on LBP.

With this set-up they are actually able to take shifts watching this imaginary LBP border.

There are also levels called "BORDER PATROL UPDATE: NEW VEHICLES." Two of them.

But the creator never intends for the vehicles to actually move across the ground.

I suspect that he's using this opportunity to show off his car modeling skills moreso than simulating an actual "boarder patrol" experience. Maybe this is the true intention of the group. A childish sham. Attention grabbing. Who could know?

VOTE Ugly or Cute

Hello

 people say i am ugly some say im cute the ppl who r my friends said i was ugly may get deleted, but if you were testin it out u r fine. 16 people say im cute!

Pull the switch on the left if you think she's "ugly."

Flip the one of the right to select "cute."

This level likes to perpetrate as if it's asking for your "opinion," as if the girl is taking an honest risk and "putting herself out there," looking for an objective consensus as to whether or not she's attractive.

The truth, however, is that she won't accept it if you choose "ugly." She kills you.

Noteworthy are the two commenters who've left these:

"your so cute cause your youger than me i so happy for u"

"your cute becuase your younger than me"

Youth is always a plus.

But I'm wondering; is youth seeming a little more "important" to these youngins' - moreso than when I was a kid?

"I see you as cute, solely because of how your age compares with mine." These boys sound like they're sort of.. subtly worshipping the youth (?)  Moreso than any boys I've ever seen, anyway. That kid actually sounds like he IS happy for her. Strange.

Something like this would never have come up so commonly (TWICE!) in the 90's.

Also remember that (much like in all LPB social exchanges) we never actually sees this girl's human face.

Some more player comments:

"cute"
"LOL"
"My answer is... NU (deleted x1)"
"ugly jk"
"cuty pie" 
"cute"

Rejoice

Yes!!! My annoying little sister finally died!!!!!

My sister is sooooo anoying! She was diagnosed with colon cnacer 9 months ago and i was soooo happy!

I hoped that would kill her before I did! And it did! I was soo happpy I just had to make a level on it!

My parents think im sad about it lol

Well anyway I just wanted to share the joy of my little sister's death to you all.
Give a big fat heart if you want your little sister to die too!

The boy has published this level 8 times and this is the only activity recorded under his account. The account has zero hearted levels. He hasn't even bothered to decorate his planet/moon.

I think he's slipped up enough to confirm this is fake.

Most obvious piece of evidence: "My sister is soooo anoying." 

Present tense. You get it.

"She was diagnosed with colon cancer." In other words, bowel cancer. This reeks like toilet humour.

The rest of the "evidence" is kind of veiled. But to me the lines make more sense if you read them under the context that he's showing her (i.e. the sister) this level; all eight versions of it (to elevate the level of "humiliation" he's giving her), the girl probably watching from some other spot in the room.

There's a sort of cute jeer, an elbow nudge at the end of each line, seemingly directed towards her and only her.

"I hoped that (the cancer) would kill her... before I did!" (Sneer @ sister. Cliche' family threat.)

"Give a big fat heart if you want your little sister to die too!" (another sneer @ sister)

Also note how he enjoys lengthening the word, "so."

My sister is soooo anoying. I was soo happy. More live jabs?

You get the idea.

Plus, you know, human empathy dictates he wouldn't actually do this. Or maybe she did die and he's in a horrible state of denial over his depression.

Either way, this case is done.

"Inside of Justin Bieber (You are an insect)"

A big trend on LittleBigPlanet is the (rather self-explanatory) Justin Bieber murder craze.

To make these types of levels "work" you only need two simple things. 

Intense violence, and an identifiable picture of Justin Bieber's face.

Which makes this next level kind of curious to me. 

What follows might be the most whimsical and pointless thing I've ever written. But I think that it's noteworthy, that it captures something that's vaguely unspoken and, who knows, important.

That looks nothing like Justin Bieber. 

You don't even hurt him or injure him.

You just go through him.

This is simply not an acceptable Justin Bieber hate level. It is focussed purely around the fun of exploring his digestive system. (The sperm in his pants really is just a distraction.)

I know this is terribly high-standard of me but the level description hinted that it would be a hate-themed level. And as it turned out, the creator delivered something that's completely devoid of this; something that's devoid of any rational meaning.

You seriously just fly in there and wiz through his stomach/intestines. This is the most baffling thing I've ever played.

What scares me most is what was going through the creator's mind as he/she made this level.

If this isn't an example of unconscious pop-culture vomiting, then I wouldn't know what is. (Interesting how the same sort of thing happened in that Selena Goeaz one.)

"your life sucks kill everything that is good"

These are "gummy bears." One of them is singing the "I'm a gummy bear" song.

A good, unintentional example of the way lollies are being advertised to be psychically linked w/happiness, which this kid has fun blowing apart for whatever reason. Maybe his life wouldn't suck if he didn't associate "all that is good" with imagery such as these bobbing green bears made of candy. (This is a joke.)

"im feelin happy :-D"

"itll make you feel happy" 

Huh..

the suprise: why terrible levels are sometimes more fun than MM picks

This level is called "the surprise," created by user GOONIN_UP_IN_HEA. 

It is gloriously, unintentionally surreal. You might be thinking, "Surreal!? lol" but calm down. To have fun with this, you only have to take everything in the level as literal - just as the level presents it to you.

Think about what was running through the kid's mind when he made it. Just watch.

Run past the glass wall background. As you'll note, there's really nothing here besides the weird object running back into the distance.

Come across the strange skull creature, sitting in the middle of nowhere.

Read what it says.

i need your help this man kicked me out the level a long time ago lets make a one and then lbp2 will be worse than lbp

Realise that the creator has inadvertently put you in some weird space or dimension known as (quote) "out the level." Realise you don't have a clue what "the level" actually means, since of course you are paradoxically in a level right now.

Ask yourself: when it says, "the level," could it be that the weird skull thing is actually referring to this level (i.e "The Surprise"), somehow? Is the skull thing existing within "The Surprise," yet somehow also "kicked out" of it? Look at him. Look at the actual universe present in this level (a level that is stripped of any attempt to ground it any kind of solid, earthly world) and come to the conclusion that this actually kind of makes sense, on some weird David Lynch-esque dream logic.

Run further and see this peculiarly placed teddy bear. What's creepy about it is that it sits perfectly still - that is, until you approach it. Then it starts to move its arms and head, slowly.

Then the teddy bear cries; dont trust that man he is bad a a a KILLER!

Notice how the so-called teddy bear just spoke to you with the voice of a barking dog.

Who do you trust?

Keep moving until you see the end of the glass wall. There's this evil-looking cowboy thing sitting there - perfectly still...

... that is, until you're close enough to touch it, and then it starts laughing, its mouth bouncing on hinges, up and down.

The cowboy itself says nothing. It makes no verbal sound. All you can hear are the bolts and pistons operating its jaw, grinding like some sort of wind-up toy.

Keep progressing, and you'll see this.

Yes, that is a king crocodile, snapping it's jaws rhythmically back and forth into thin air, not quickly but sharply - powerful. And behind him; what is unmistakably "Leela," from the FOX TV show Futurama, posing rather sexily, her head subtly swaying back and forth in a kind of pleasant, supple rapture.

Leela says:
you want some fun at my house then KILL HIM 

Press on and see who Leela want you to kill - your introduction to this crazy world - the poor skull-creature.

And he's already dead.

Shoot him with the paintinator and the pain bar empties with 1 hit - this does absolutely nothing.

Go further and see Leela, still doing that sexy pose and not saying a word.

A tense, sinister kind of song starts to play. (The beginning of "The Battle of Ice.")

And that's it, apparently.

This level does not end.

"how to have swag"

For some reason, younglings of LittleBigPlanet find it necessary to fill LBP (a game from 2008) with their own pop-culture.

In a game that encourages players to find their own "inner creative spark" and form unique creations; we see this:

If you're a player of LBP then you know that this demographic of players isn't exactly a minority.

But perhaps this "fashion" trend isn't at all negative thing.

You might ask, "Why would this be even seen as a negative thing in the first place? It's a fucking video game, who cares?"

Of course, this is a videogame. This "LBP emo trend" is not as serious nor interesting as, say, REAL peer-determined fashion in our actual society. No way.

But due to the fact that there are players who do try to be unique and genuinely creative (in LBP), this all creates a bit of tension within the "professional creator" community. It'd be easier for good creators to get the "plays" they deserve, sure, if all the emo "trend" stuff wasn't taking all the attention.

Not to mention, now we have all this "shit" crawling onto the servers as a result.

It may seem, then, that this "emo" trend is an ultimately negative (even parasitic) force getting in the way of LBP and what LBP is meant to "be". And given how unique a thing LBP is, this might be very frustrating indeed.

But.. perhaps this is what LBP was always meant to become.

Media Molecule wrongly assumed that the majority of players would be creative enough to keep the LBP content fresh and interesting. In actual fact, most players are perfectly happy celebrating the same-old "trends."

This sort of thing happens in real-life creative mediums, you'll probably agree. It sucks.

But LPB; in order for it to be what it wants to be - a creative medium, has to let the masses in too. Anything less of "letting the masses in" pulls LBP short of its ambition. You can't have a (whole) medium without any sort of relationship between it and the population at large.

Good creators might be complaining about the masses and the way the masses focus too much on the "trend" levels, but this behaviour is intrinsic within the very nature of "mediums" themselves. LBP promises nothing more than to deliver a whole medium.

Essentially - this mess is not Media Molecule's fault.

They delivered exactly what they promised.

A harsh truth all "good creators" must face: many players genuinely enjoy simply playing the emo.

Unlike television, LBP creators don't get "slots" to siphon off their audiences, to sort the masses from the more "creative" "arty" "intellectual" types. Perhaps this is something Media Molecule should look into.