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Am I present in imaginary worlds? Intentions, actions, and flow in mediated experiences and fiction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2022

Federico Pianzola
Affiliation:
Department of Human Sciences for Education “R. Massa,” University of Milan Bicocca, Milan 20126, Italyfederico.pianzola@unimib.it fabrizia.mantovani@unimib.it Department of Global Korean Studies, School of Media, Arts and Science, Sogang University, Seoul 04107, South Korea
Giuseppe Riva
Affiliation:
Humane Technology Lab., Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan 20123, Italygiuseppe.riva@unicatt.it Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan 20149, Italy
Karin Kukkonen
Affiliation:
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Language, University of Oslo, Oslo 0371, Norwaykarin.kukkonen@ilos.uio.no
Fabrizia Mantovani
Affiliation:
Department of Human Sciences for Education “R. Massa,” University of Milan Bicocca, Milan 20126, Italyfederico.pianzola@unimib.it fabrizia.mantovani@unimib.it

Abstract

We support the idea of applying cultural evolution theory to the study of storytelling, and fiction in particular. However, we suggest that a more plausible link between real and imaginary worlds is the feeling of “presence” we can experience in both of them: we feel present when we are able to correctly and intuitively enact our embodied predictions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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