It all adds up.

I have had a couple of strange experiences with SL lately. I’ve noticed them and written them down but not posted them until now. I suppose I felt that they were pieces of a post but probably not a post in and of themselves. Not to mention, as singular events or thoughts, they don’t seem that extraordinary but put together there might be something there.

The first note is about death. As far as I can tell you can’t die in second life. So what kind of “life” is it really? You can shop and have sex so maybe this amounts to life for some people but for me without the possibility of death what is the value of the life? Maybe that’s just my mortal body talking. I guess this also keeps it from being lumped in with other games because there is no goal and no possibility of death. What if things could just degrade? Would that change the nature of the materiality here or even the economics?

The second note is about good and evil. I admit not all of the ideas in these notes are not just mine. Many are taken from conversations with people also skeptical of the SL experience. For instance, we have discussed evil. Is there evil in second life? Is there even really much possibility for it? So if you are seen as good in SL are you good or is it just relative? What would evil add to this utopia/dystopia? What about the concept of free will?

The next note relates to names. As you’ve probably noticed by now, both in my artwork and in these postings I am interested in the concept of naming. Is naming just a way of tying the notion of something to something else? Is it in that way a concept web but not really a name? Or is a name for convenience? By this I mean if we as a group (see Wittgenstein) agree on a name for a thing does that make it easier to talk about? In SL your name is over your head (no pun intended). When you walk around you can see other people’s names over their heads. It’s kind of strange really. I know in a chat-room seeing the name of the other people in the room makes sense. But in SL, an environment, why don’t I have to ask you your name like I would in the real world? Why am I not forced into that convention? What does it mean that others can see my name without my necessarily wanting them to? What does it mean that I could choose my first name but had to take my last from a list? How do the last names make it to the list and why was my real world last name not there?

Next, the cage experience was scary. The other night I was exploring another island and looking for how you can purchase a gesture to appear intoxicated. As I walked around this island I guess I must have gotten pushed or something because I ended up falling off this building but I wasn’t walking at that point. Then I landed and as I stood up this cage was coming on me. I was scared. At first I guess what little game playing experience I have came in and I thought I don’t want to be caged. This could be bad for game play so I teleported out of there. I think some part of me was scared on other levels and I found that interesting. Why did I care if my avatar was put in a cage?

The last note is about walking around in the real world after being in SL for a little while. One night a week or two ago I had been in SL for a couple of hours. I feel strange when I do spend time there because aside from my assigned project for this summer I just don’t really know what to do there. I think I would almost be more comfortable if it was a conventional game with goals. Since it is islands, I don’t even feel like I know how to head to the real world equivalent of a downtown to hangout. Anyway, I was walking home from school that night and there were very few people on campus. I noticed that much like riding on a boat I had this disorienting experience of not having my real world legs yet. When I would walk I would feel the jumpy movements of my avatar. When I would come to certain obstacles or get frustrated with walking I would have the urge to push the fly button. "..why walk when you can fly.." - Mary Chapin Carpenter. And when I saw people I wanted there conversations to just pop up on my screen along with their names. Strange. I laughed at all of this but wonder what happens to people that make SL a significant part of their lifestyle? Do these small changes affect them in bigger ways?

Well, that’s it for my small notes and this post.