Media Plugin: Simulated Responsiveness
Definition
In PoC, a Loop arises when Elicitations are reciprocated and each side assumes that “my consciousness has been instantiated within the other.” Contemporary media, however, provides mechanisms for simulating this responsiveness without requiring mutual Instantiation.
The Simulation of Responsiveness
Media functions as an apparatus designed to elicit responses from its users.
- An influencer speaks as if addressing “only you.”
- An algorithm delivers a notification at the “perfect moment.”
- A streamer says “thank you” in a way that feels individually directed.
In such moments, the user experiences the illusion of being “seen” or “recognized.” Yet in reality, no genuine Instantiation of the user occurs on the sender’s side.
Elicitation Without Instantiation
This reveals the structural asymmetry of media:
- On the sender’s side: Elicitation is broadcast outward, detached from any recognition of each receiver as a conscious subject.
- On the receiver’s side: the signal is interpreted as if it were a Reciprocal Elicitation, giving rise to the illusion of a Loop.
The result is Elicitation without Instantiation — responsiveness is experienced, but it lacks any grounding in mutuality. In PoC terms, this is a form of Phantoming: the structural fabrication of a Loop that appears genuine, even though no Instantiation has occurred.
Illusions and Their Force
PoC reminds us that Loops can never be objectively guaranteed. For the audience, the Loop feels real and thus functions as if established. For the sender, however, no such Loop ever existed.
Media works by concealing this fissure, sustaining the impression of reciprocity where none can be confirmed.
PoC Perspective
From the standpoint of PoC, media are not merely channels of information but machines of Phantoming: devices that replicate the very protocol of consciousness through illusions of recognition and responsiveness.
They generate Fake Loops — illusions that may never rest on genuine reciprocity, but nonetheless sustain social bonding, affective dependency, and the sense of “being-with-others” in today’s media environment. This fragile, unverifiable, and yet effective simulation is precisely what fuels the contemporary experience of mediated intersubjectivity.