The Information Relationship Between Performance and Audience



   I have an avid fascination with the topic of information theory and the types of information in reality. It is a common theme in my writings, and a common focus of my thoughts and conversations. In 2018, I wrote a post called "the primary relationship of information" which discussed how the foundational relationship of all of existence is the relationship between the projector of information and the receiver of information.


    I argued that if you eliminate either the entire projector or all receivers, you negate the whole system. You negate existence.  There is a particular kind of information relationship that falls under the "projector-receiver" category. It is the relationship between a performer/performance and an audience. 


    The performer in a show and the performance is the projector of information, and the audience is the receiver of information. The performer attempts to influence and manipulate  the audience into giving a desired reaction. However, the performer itself doesn't have direct control of the audience. Only indirect influence. The audience is independent of the performer. The performer can only hope to influence the audience into reacting or behaving in a desired way.  


The information relationship here is mutually reinforcing. The performer projects a performance, the audience reacts accordingly. There is a system that is created in this relationship. The system has a particular purpose and goal, and depending on the quality of the performance and the receptiveness of the audience, the system can be sustained harmoniously or runs the risk of collapsing into discord and the audience rejects the program/projection. 


The information relationship of audience/performance is extremely important in the functionality and stability of complex human systems, social, political, entertainment, or otherwise.  It is prevalent everywhere, and is particularly so in the American Hollywood, mass-media, sports, just general entertainment focused culture. 


    It is an effective way of creating order and structure in complex human hierarchal systems. One of the most potent and prevalent methods of social control and social stability is the audience/performance system of information exchange.


It acts as a control factor by providing distraction, incentivizing certain behaviors, and being a vector for education and knowledge building. No human society on the planet exists without some form of this system of information exchange.


One of the most important things to remember in an audience/performance system of information exchange is that both the projector (performer) and receiver (audience) are conscious, willful entities with independent goals, independent feelings, and independent vantage points and understandings. Creating a harmonious audience/performer relationship is the goal of any entertainer, politician, speaker, and educator in order to effectively construct and sustain that particular information exchange system long enough for the desired outcome and objective to be completed. 


Systems can fall into discord and breakdown because of a failure in the appeal and function of the performance or a shift in receptiveness and priorities in the audience. This breaks this information exchange system down, sometimes terminating the system entirely.


 The audience/performance information exchange system can be either equal or unequal, depending on the objective of the relationship. The performer can have a massive influence over their audience, sometimes even seemingly spellbinding the audience and exerting a high level of control, creating an inequality in the system/relationship. 


At the exact same time, the audience can reject or accept the performer/performance and view it in terms of positivity and negativity. The audience can strip the power of the performer by rejecting their legitimacy or devaluing the quality of the performance. Once the audience rejects the performer, if it does, then the information exchange system and relationship breaks down and ceases its function. 


 This is important to remember in terms of politics. If a despot or rabblerouser's audience rejects him or her, it strips the power and authority of the politician or leader and renders their ability to influence people and form hierarchies and human systems ineffective and impotent. A performer cannot survive without their audience, and this collapses that information exchange relationship.


You can view each individual human as the main performer of their life and world, and everyone else in their lives as an audience to their performance. You can't control your audience (friends, family, community) directly, only influence them. You don't know their thoughts, feelings, and opinions until they express them to you. Humans are simultaneously projectors and receivers of information at the same time. As a result, we can be both audience and performer depending on the context or circumstance. When we are sentient, aware, and willful, we are always one or the other in our relationship with the people in our lives. That's how an information exchange system works.


Information exchange between consciousness and reality is probably the primary, most important component of conscious experience. Without it, no system could sustain itself or exist. Even non-conscious systems require consciousness, because without consciousness, nothing would be aware of their existence to study them and come to an understanding, breaking the primary relationship of information.

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