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The Flood / AMA Thank you, my research is complete.
« on: August 12, 2017, 11:47:42 PM »
After about eight years, my research is finally complete—but before I go, I think I owe you all an explanation.
For the past eight or so years, you've no doubt come to know me as "Verbatim" (aka "Jacob Potila") on either of the websites bungie.net, bnet-elitists.boards.net, sep7agon.net, or bungle.cafe. At this point in time, however, it is within my good conscience that I must reveal something to you all.
Hello, my name is Paul Jacob Andersen. I'm a 27 year old law student from Chicago. I've been heavily studying psychology on the side, however, and you were all part of a long-standing social experiment (call it an ARG), conducted by myself, wherein I examined the semiotic behavioral traits of persons within small Internet communities. This is not a joke, but worry not, for the information and data gathered over the course of this experiment will strictly be used for academic purposes only.
Nonetheless, I'm sure a lot of you have many questions. I will preemptively answer a few, and then I'll open discussion on any further questions later.
Q: Is this a joke?
No.
Q: So "Verbatim" was just a character this whole time?
Yes, "Verbatim" (or "V1," as we refer to him during lab reports) was a character/personality/avatar I assumed the role of for eight years to gather information and examine how people behave on the Internet. His "real name" was "Jacob," which was derived from my middle name, and "Potila," which is a name of Finnish etymology to give his character a foreign air.
Q: Does this mean you're not actually an anti-natalist/feminist/vegan/etc.?
The beliefs that Verbatim expressed were that of his own, constructed meticulously by myself, but I do not necessarily share those beliefs. His personality traits were entirely constructed as well, with the explicit purpose of eliciting a desired response out of his subject(s).
Q: But why would you keep this up for eight years? Why make it so complex?
This is an experiment that's been planned and put together for the better part of my life—it is, indeed, my life's work up
to this point—and if there's one personality trait that I share with Verbatim, it's that we're both highly stubborn and determined individuals. At the end of this experiment, I wanted nothing but the most conclusive results. This required me to fully immersed in this Verbatim persona, to a point where bits of his personality started to leak out into my true self, especially towards the latter half.
In short, I needed an extreme personality, so I developed one. But he's only imaginary now.
Q: Does this mean you're not actually an asshole?
I like to think of myself as a relatively calm and level-headed person, which may not be your perception of Verbatim. When conducting this experiment, I tried to formulate a personality that was near-antithetical to that of my own, and I think I succeeded in that regard.
However, I'm starkly aware of the fact that a number of things I've said, as Verbatim, have caused some of you a great deal of emotional harm. For this, I deeply apologize, but I assure you that it was for a good and scientific cause—though, if you cannot find it within your heart to forgive me, that's completely understandable. I don't have a lot of time on my hands to give you anything more. There's nothing I can really say or do to make things better for you, and I plan to leave this site within a few days of this thread, so you'll have to make due with my terse apology.
Q: So what was your experiment for? What was the point? What were your results?
Sorry, I'm afraid I cannot discuss, divulge, or go into further details about the experiment, its purpose, or my results at this point in time. I would love to discuss these things, in detail, but they'll have to come at a later point, and I might be gone by then.
Q: But I saw your picture/heard your voice, so who was that?
Merely an actor I paid a hefty sum to play the part. His name was Matthew.
That person died in what was reported as a "fatal car accident" about three days ago, which influenced the cessation of this long experiment.
I may have revealed a bit too much there, but I thought you all deserved to know.
Q: But what about Dark Souls?
I don't know what that is. Is it a movie?
Whatever it is, I haven't seen any movies since 2013, and I don't play video games. Sorry to disappoint, I guess.
Q: This breaks my heart. I loved you!
No you didn't.
Anyway, I think that's all the big ones.
One last thing before I take more questions: I'd like to personally and deeply thank you all for being part of this experiment, despite none of you ever having known about it (except for one person, who may identify himself if he wishes). It has been an incredible and exhilarating journey for me, and the results I've gathered are pretty staggering.
So, as long as the questions do not pertain too heavily to my personal life or the experiment, I'm willing to take anything you'll throw at me before I shove off.
Once again, I can't thank you all enough for being part of this. To those of you who considered me a bothersome burden, I ask your forgiveness, but feel free to rejoice, for "Verbatim" (in his current form, as you've known him) is officially dead.
If you had me added on Steam, PSN, or other gaming/social networking services, expect to be removed—it's nothing personal; I just don't think I've ever actually gotten to know you (nor you me).
AMA.
For the past eight or so years, you've no doubt come to know me as "Verbatim" (aka "Jacob Potila") on either of the websites bungie.net, bnet-elitists.boards.net, sep7agon.net, or bungle.cafe. At this point in time, however, it is within my good conscience that I must reveal something to you all.
Hello, my name is Paul Jacob Andersen. I'm a 27 year old law student from Chicago. I've been heavily studying psychology on the side, however, and you were all part of a long-standing social experiment (call it an ARG), conducted by myself, wherein I examined the semiotic behavioral traits of persons within small Internet communities. This is not a joke, but worry not, for the information and data gathered over the course of this experiment will strictly be used for academic purposes only.
Nonetheless, I'm sure a lot of you have many questions. I will preemptively answer a few, and then I'll open discussion on any further questions later.
Q: Is this a joke?
No.
Q: So "Verbatim" was just a character this whole time?
Yes, "Verbatim" (or "V1," as we refer to him during lab reports) was a character/personality/avatar I assumed the role of for eight years to gather information and examine how people behave on the Internet. His "real name" was "Jacob," which was derived from my middle name, and "Potila," which is a name of Finnish etymology to give his character a foreign air.
Q: Does this mean you're not actually an anti-natalist/feminist/vegan/etc.?
The beliefs that Verbatim expressed were that of his own, constructed meticulously by myself, but I do not necessarily share those beliefs. His personality traits were entirely constructed as well, with the explicit purpose of eliciting a desired response out of his subject(s).
Q: But why would you keep this up for eight years? Why make it so complex?
This is an experiment that's been planned and put together for the better part of my life—it is, indeed, my life's work up
to this point—and if there's one personality trait that I share with Verbatim, it's that we're both highly stubborn and determined individuals. At the end of this experiment, I wanted nothing but the most conclusive results. This required me to fully immersed in this Verbatim persona, to a point where bits of his personality started to leak out into my true self, especially towards the latter half.
In short, I needed an extreme personality, so I developed one. But he's only imaginary now.
Q: Does this mean you're not actually an asshole?
I like to think of myself as a relatively calm and level-headed person, which may not be your perception of Verbatim. When conducting this experiment, I tried to formulate a personality that was near-antithetical to that of my own, and I think I succeeded in that regard.
However, I'm starkly aware of the fact that a number of things I've said, as Verbatim, have caused some of you a great deal of emotional harm. For this, I deeply apologize, but I assure you that it was for a good and scientific cause—though, if you cannot find it within your heart to forgive me, that's completely understandable. I don't have a lot of time on my hands to give you anything more. There's nothing I can really say or do to make things better for you, and I plan to leave this site within a few days of this thread, so you'll have to make due with my terse apology.
Q: So what was your experiment for? What was the point? What were your results?
Sorry, I'm afraid I cannot discuss, divulge, or go into further details about the experiment, its purpose, or my results at this point in time. I would love to discuss these things, in detail, but they'll have to come at a later point, and I might be gone by then.
Q: But I saw your picture/heard your voice, so who was that?
Merely an actor I paid a hefty sum to play the part. His name was Matthew.
That person died in what was reported as a "fatal car accident" about three days ago, which influenced the cessation of this long experiment.
I may have revealed a bit too much there, but I thought you all deserved to know.
Q: But what about Dark Souls?
I don't know what that is. Is it a movie?
Whatever it is, I haven't seen any movies since 2013, and I don't play video games. Sorry to disappoint, I guess.
Q: This breaks my heart. I loved you!
No you didn't.
Anyway, I think that's all the big ones.
One last thing before I take more questions: I'd like to personally and deeply thank you all for being part of this experiment, despite none of you ever having known about it (except for one person, who may identify himself if he wishes). It has been an incredible and exhilarating journey for me, and the results I've gathered are pretty staggering.
So, as long as the questions do not pertain too heavily to my personal life or the experiment, I'm willing to take anything you'll throw at me before I shove off.
Once again, I can't thank you all enough for being part of this. To those of you who considered me a bothersome burden, I ask your forgiveness, but feel free to rejoice, for "Verbatim" (in his current form, as you've known him) is officially dead.
If you had me added on Steam, PSN, or other gaming/social networking services, expect to be removed—it's nothing personal; I just don't think I've ever actually gotten to know you (nor you me).
AMA.
