NEGATIVE POSITIVIST MANIFESTO

FOR MANY YEARS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MAPPING ACCORDING TO THE
ESTABLISHED TRADITION, AND NOW THE TRADITION IS FAILING.
IT IS NO LONGER SUITABLE FOR MODERN MAPPERS. I HAVE BEEN
MAPPING FOR MANY YEARS AND I CAME TO REALIZE AND UNDERSTAND
THE FUTILITY AND HOPELESSNESS OF THE SITUATION. ONLY A
DRAMATIC CHANGE CAN SAVE THE COMMUNITY. WE NEED TO CHANGE
THE VERY WAY WE THINK ABOUT OUR MAPS. MAP IS A PARADIGM.
THE OLD METHOD, THE METHOD OF CONCEPTUALIZING THE CREATION
OF THE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE OF THE MAP, CANNOT WORK ANYMORE.
ALL MAPPERS REQUIRE CREATIVITY, AND CREATIVITY IS THE LINK
BETWEEN THE MAPPER AND THE PLAYER - SO SAYS THE OLD WAY,
BUT IT ITSELF STIFLES THE CREATIVITY AND DESTROYS THE LINK.
WE MUST ABOLISH THE PATTERN. WE MUST ABOLISH THE CHAINS THAT
BIND US, THE CHAINS OF TRADITION AND OF MAPPING LORE. TIME
HAS COME FOR A NEW AGE IN MAPPING, THE AGE OF WONDER AND
FULFILMENT.

WHAT IS IT, THIS NEW WAY? IT IS SO SIMPLE IT SEEMS OBVIOUS.
THE MAP IS THE PARADIGM. THE MAP UNLOCKS THE POTENTIAL OF
OUR SUBCONSCIOUS ("ID") AND ALLOWS US TO CREATE POWERFUL
NEW CONCEPTS, SYNERGETICALLY BINDING TO ONE ANOTHER IN A
FORMULATION OF THE MAPPER'S INTENT. WE CALL THIS NEW WAY -
NEGATIVE POSITIVISM. WE, NEGATIVE POSITIVIST MAPPERS, HAVE
CHOSEN TO DISCARD THE OBSOLETE TRADITIONS OF THE OLD SCHOOL.
WE, NEGATIVE SPACE MAPPERS, STAND ON THE VERY FRONTIER OF
MAPPING. WE, NEGATIVE SPACE MAPPERS, WILL BE THE SALVATION
OF MAPPING. AND YOU, TOO, CAN CONTRIBUTE! BY ACCEPTING OUR
PRINCIPLES, WHICH ARE SO SIMPLE AND YET SO POWERFUL; BY
REALIZING THE POWER AND THE SIMPLICITY OF OUR WAY, BY
UNDERSTANDING THAT IT'S THE ONLY WAY - YOU, TOO, CAN BECOME
A NEGATIVE POSITIVIST. NEGATIVE POSITIVISM IS MULTIFACETED
AND ALL-ENCOMPASSING. ONCE YOU REALIZE THAT ONLY STUBBORNNESS
AND STUPIDITY MAKE YOU ADHERE TO THE TRADITION, THE TRADITION
THAT IS BREAKING APART EVEN AS YOU READ THIS, YOU WILL SEE
THAT NEGATIVE POSITIVISM IS THE ONLY ANSWER. WE ARE THE
SALVATION. WE ARE THE NEW POWER. WE ARE THE NEGATIVE POSITIVIST
MOVEMENT - THE MOVEMENT OF THE FUTURE.

IF YOU BECOME A NEGATIVE POSITIVIST, DISTRIBUTE THIS TEXT
WITH THE MAPS YOU CREATE. THIS WAY, MORE MAPPERS WILL BECOME
AWARE OF US AND OF OUR MOVEMENT. THIS WAY, MORE PEOPLE WILL
UNDERSTAND US AND JOIN US.

                   THE NEGATIVE POSITIVIST COMITTEE, 1998
