[ExI] Second Life

Giulio Prisco giulio at gmail.com
Fri Mar 12 17:42:20 UTC 2010


Real life _is_ bad for many people, unfortunately. Think no money,
poor health, bad looks, no options, and perhaps a body of the wrong
gender. Is it really so surprising that so many people try to escape
to virtual realities?

As a transhumanist, I wish to make _real life_ a better place, so I am
not much interested in living a parallel unreal life in SL, which I
mainly use as a skype-with-3D-graphics. But perhaps the microsociology
of Second Life can be useful to understand our own, rapidly changing
society.

By the way I am reading a great book, which I recommend to everyone:

The ultra-prestigious Oxford University just published a book devoted
to theology in the digital age: Apocalyptic AI Visions of Heaven in
Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality... Product
Description:
Apocalyptic AI, the hope that we might one day upload our minds into
machines or cyberspace and live forever, is a surprisingly wide-spread
and influential idea, affecting everything from the world view of
online gamers to government research funding and philosophical
thought. In Apocalyptic AI, Robert Geraci offers the first serious
account of this “cyber-theology” and the people who promote it. Links
and comments here -
http://giulioprisco.blogspot.com/2010/03/oxford-press-book-on-digital-age.html

Many of those who participate in Second Life events have met Robert,
and he has written about many of us.

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 1:07 AM, Anna Taylor <femmechakra at yahoo.ca> wrote:
> emlyn wrote:
> btw, I just want to state clearly that I agree with Keith on this. WoW, the social network sites and games, and to a lesser extent Second Life, prove to me that at least a very large minority, and probably in fact a large majority of people will move into the virtual realm as soon as it is possible, and live their permanently.
>
> Anna writes:
> I agree that many will try the virtual realm but I highly doubt they will stay there permanently.  A game is still a game.  I think the majority of people will search in Second Life what they can't have in Real Life.  Like any instance, they can choose to live in that state as opposed to living in real life.  Isn't it much like an alcoholic state?
>
> I loved Second Life..what a unique program.  The graphics where impeccable.  The music was awesome and the people where all in all very hospitable:)  The only thing that bothered me was that many where trying to be something else than what they where in real life.  I suppose I understand that but shouldn't people be able to be whom they are in RL?  Is RL really that bad for so many people?
>
> just curious




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