Randomness & Information: English 356

Prompt: "Gleick, in considering the relationship between randomness and information, makes a distinction between interesting and uninteresting numbers. As we start thinking about the midterm, I'll be looking for interesting projects from you. What might "interesting" mean in a DTC project, and what would its opposite be? Offer examples (in whatever media you choose) to help you make your point."

"Interesting" & "Random" are two different possible interpretations of information. Someone who determines certain information "interesting" is intrigued by that information, and will likely rule that that information has some effect on his life and actions to some degree. On the other hand, "random" information  has little to no bearing on that person's life/ course of action, and is considered "useless" or "un-needed". 

In a DTC project, we deal with information. The hard part is taking that information and making it applicable to our audience. We want the information we present and the way we present it to be interesting. Even if the information is interesting, a poor presentation of that information will quickly lose you your audience. 

Now, one interesting way to present boring information is to use a method that, at first, at least, seems random. There is definitely an order to the information being presented, but a "slippery slope" argument can definitely be entertaining to your audience. I think a good example of this are the DirecTV commercials, which try to make an otherwise uninteresting message interesting (or at least memorable) by using a slippery slope argument to entertain their audience (which will, hopefully, cause their audience to remember the DirecTV name when upgrading their TV service): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtdBe4ILXyM

The other, and perhaps better option, though, is to have an interesting message to begin with. Rather than using comedy to disguise a weak message, interesting information with an interesting presentation might be used instead. One of the best examples I can think of for "interesting information presented in an interesting way" is the ending of the "Bioshock: Infinite" video game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOBELxAoztM 

This ending takes some complicated theories about reality and parallel universes and makes it visual, using lighthouses standing in an ocean to represent each separate reality (if I understand it correctly). 

Media that share information in an interesting way usually become hailed as a "classic", and are often remembered well-after current technology has rendered it "obsolete". Though the media may be dated, the message and the way that message was given becomes timeless.

When it comes to creating a mid-term DTC project, I think the hard part will be creating media that is interesting in and of itself. Creating a method to give a message in an interesting way isn't too difficult. Coming up with a good message in the first place could prove to be the hard part.