![[intro.png]] # **Worldmaking.xyz is a concept cabinet and a design toolkit.** *This is a work in progress, with many missing parts. Everything in here is connected - use the links to navigate through.* We live in a period of unprecedented multiplication and even inflation of constructed, internally coherent worlds, which pop up everywhere, from politics to video games. One effect of this phenomenon is that we are now asking fundamental questions, such as what consensus reality is and how to engage it. In the introduction to "Ways of Worldmaking", Nelson Goodman points out a crucial difference between "possible and actual" worlds, *possible* being the worlds made through fiction, storytelling or design. The question today is, is it necessary to establish solid boundaries between the actual and the virtual, and has the simulation merged with the base reality? This question brings a sense of dread, a sense of confusion - the "great weirding". For those of us who grew up in places with unstable realities, and were consequently led to seek refuge in fiction, this obviously presents a great possibility for imagining and designing new worlds. We are all worldmakers, making endless worlds. It is in this sense I understand Donna Haraway's "it matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories", although I am wary of the countless ways this proposition was hijacked to imply moralism. If anything, I am anti-moralist. As Rene Thom would say: "Challenging the moralist’s fatalism, the player, confronting any situation, thinks that there is always something to be done. In the final analysis, what justifies the player’s stance is the fact that the only conceivable way to expose a black box is to play with it. Every great technical and scientific success consists of a black box rendered explicit." [[rene-thom-boundaries.pdf]] This is a writing project by Damjan Jovanovic. Some of the main themes include: [[Game]], [[Play]], [[Simulation]], [[Model]], [[System]], [[Space]], [[Software]], You will find multiple folders on the left side: **Log** is my daily/weekly/monthly update. **Projects** are the ongoing research works I am developing. **Concepts** are a collection of terms that I keep coming back to in my thinking. These are still in progress, and sometimes vaguely defined. **Texts** are completed writings. Some of them were published elsewhere and some weren't. **References** are important texts of other authors. The term 'Worldmaking' comes from [Nelson Goodman's](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/goodman-aesthetics/) book called '[Ways of Worldmaking](https://publish.obsidian.md/worldmaking/References/Ways+of+Worldmaking)'. I am a Co-Founder of a design studio lifeforms.io and design faculty at SCI-Arc, based in Los Angeles, CA. [https://lifeforms.io/](https://lifeforms.io/) [http://sciarc.edu/](http://sciarc.edu/) An older personal archive is at: [https://dmjn.net/](https://dmjn.net/) ### License: <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/InteractiveResource" property="dct:title" rel="dct:type">worldmaking.xyz</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="https://worldmaking.xyz" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Damjan Jovanovic</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>. ### You are free to: - **Share** — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format - **Adapt** — remix, transform, and build upon the material - for any purpose, even commercially. ### Under the following terms: - **Attribution** — You must give [appropriate credit](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/#), provide a link to the license, and [indicate if changes were made](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/#). You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. - **ShareAlike** — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the [same license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/#) as the original. - **No additional restrictions** — You may not apply legal terms or [technological measures](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/#) that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. The license applies to the following sections of the website: Blog, Concepts, Projects and Texts. All the work in the References folder is the intellectual property of those authors and is not part of this license.