2020-05-02 @ 8:19:04 PM ![[Pasted image 20250825101728.png]] The only difference between a person and a cartoon character is that you know the person once existed in biological form. But in memory, they are the same. You decide what to call real. When a person decomposes, they live on as data, as story, as meme, on the same plane as someone like Mickey Mouse. And Mickey is more alive in that space than most human memories ever are. Why? Because Mickey is a meme. Great cartoon characters are potent. They outgrow their creators, speaking and feeling louder than the humans who drew them. When designed well, they are amplifications of core memes, concentrated forces of meaning, distilled into living symbols. Animation is the illusion of life. But what is “life” here? It is movement with intent. Alexa, Echo, Google Home are all smart assistants built by bright nerds with very little emotional intelligence. At their core they are just microphones and speakers wired to cold, indifferent software. People do not care about the underlying technology. They care about how it feels.