Why are we hiding behind our AVATARS? I have revealed myself and this is why...

[Luna Bliss]

I think 'power' is a better way to look at all this. Popularity is, or can be, a type of power. There's a power structure in all groups, and in all relationships, often not on a totally conscious level.

[Wili Clip]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

I stopped worrying about what other people thought about me long ago.  Maybe when you grow up, you'll stop worrying, too.

Actually I am also starting to think it comes with age / experience you gain. So you might be well right as with age people accrue experiences.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Wili Clip

[Wili Clip]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

I think 'power' is a better way to look at all this. Popularity is, or can be, a type of power. There's a power structure in all groups, and in all relationships, often not on a totally conscious level.

Yes you're totally right.

This is an excerpt from a science article:

Social groups across species rapidly self-organize into hierarchies, where members vary in their level of power, influence, skill, or dominance. ... One's relative status has profound effects on attention, memory, and social interactions, as well as health and wellness.

Understanding Social Hierarchies: The Neural and Psychological Foundations of Status Perception
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494206/

[Luna Bliss]

On 3/6/2021 at 3:32 PM, Wili Clip said:

On 3/6/2021 at 1:47 PM, Luna Bliss said:

I think 'power' is a better way to look at all this. Popularity is, or can be, a type of power. There's a power structure in all groups, and in all relationships, often not on a totally conscious level.

Yes you're totally right.

This is an excerpt from a science article:

Social groups across species rapidly self-organize into hierarchies, where members vary in their level of power, influence, skill, or dominance. ... One's relative status has profound effects on attention, memory, and social interactions, as well as health and wellness.

Understanding Social Hierarchies: The Neural and Psychological Foundations of Status Perception
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494206/

An interesting study, though I haven't read all of it yet.

A bit depressing that the human desire to stratify into levels socially is so ingrained, so innate, because this would make the behavior much more difficult to modify.

[Wili Clip]

43 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

An interesting study, though I haven't read all of it yet.

A bit depressing that the human desire to stratify into levels socially is so ingrained, so innate, because this would make the behavior much more difficult to modify.

I haven't read it in full... just relevant part of it.

I can say that social recognition is very important to all of us on a deep biological level. We're designed by nature as social beings. It is already established in social sciences that when humans are isolated its very bad for development and also in some (many) cases its psychologically harmful.

Something in our hearts and brains is programmed so that our natural way of operation is to be social with other humans and when we're isolated for some time we have natural inclinations to want to feel closer to others. The social networks of modern days are based on this understanding of the deep need to connect and be social with other people.

We are acting social even if we're not talking to other people through using symbols (the way we dress up, what we wear). I'd argue that most of the things we do and decision that we take are from social inclinations. We're mostly unaware of these forces like ants are unaware of understanding why they are part of a colony and doing their job.

We like to belong to groups as we have deeply ingrained biological need to belong. When as a humanity we're reaching for stars and making scientific and technological breakthroughs we all feel that this is us. We are proud that we're humans. We are always trying to better organize and create larger and larger organizations to try to achieve larger goals and make breakthroughs. 

In times of natural catastrophes and in times of extreme events we get united and we get reminded that we're all just humans and in relation to universe time with extremely short expiration date.

Maybe knowing that we all have our internal body clock ticking and that we are all going towards our deaths with every passing day makes me want to live in the now and makes me want to get more out of my life. It also makes me more calm, composed and non conflicting as I don't want to waste my energy and out of respect to other people also their energy. So I resolve conflicts with others fast and efficiently knowing they usually arise from misunderstandings - people seeing things from their own personal perspective (or emotional states) not being aware of perspective and personal beliefs of others.

The most efficient way to resolve the conflict in the picture is to make both of them become aware that in this particular case there are 2 possible perspectives. Learning and teaching is the best way to resolve most conflicts among humans.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Wili Clip

[Arielle Popstar]

8 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

An interesting study, though I haven't read all of it yet.

A bit depressing that the human desire to stratify into levels socially is so ingrained, so innate, because this would make the behavior much more difficult to modify.

[Luna Bliss]

49 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

8 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

An interesting study, though I haven't read all of it yet.

A bit depressing that the human desire to stratify into levels socially is so ingrained, so innate, because this would make the behavior much more difficult to modify.

Well, as you know, there are therapies designed to relinquish what is basically an animal mindset, the instinctual safety of knowing one's place in the societal hierarchy whose function is to alleviate anxiety and make a smoother running society. However there doesn't really need to be any group at the bottom suffering without the basic necessities of life as we have in the U.S. today -- no need to live like an animal without the frontal lobes of the human brain with executive choice and control in greater abundance.

Those who champion this hierarchical arrangement of the animal mind, the patriarchy, where 'might makes right' and the individual is free to clobber everyone else while clawing their way to the top, are basically people who fear the control of anything that would thwart their freedom to push others down...because then ending up on the bottom might be more likely for them as some of their imagined control might be taken away. Hence, the governmental fears that are always at the forefront of these types of thinkers you enjoy, such as Jordan Peterson. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Luna Bliss

[Caroline Takeda]

On 2/26/2021 at 2:59 PM, Wili Clip said:

I think that Second Life should be an extension of real life and not a replacement. I believe that it can even be psychologically harmful if someone lives their life through Second Life. My friend in SL is a psychologist and she did research on that topic that confirms it.

My RL body is my avatar and avatar in Second Life is just an extension that lets me do, experience and achieve more things than I could in RL without using virtual world tech.So what is your main reason for hiding behind your avatar?

 

 

Second Life should be <insert your preference> not <insert your dislike>. Really?

That actually defeats the purpose and contradicts the slogan "your world your imagination".
I think it is presumptious and arrogant to tell other people what their Second Life should be, just because of what YOU made it for YOURSELF.

I am not hidung  behind my avatar. When I log in I AM my avatar. It is what Philip Rosedale called a "virtual personality" (in a pretty cool speech at Stanford University). If you wanted to interact with me you would have the choice: Take me at face value or ignore me.

In short: I don't hide. I create. Because I can.

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Caroline Takeda

[cunomar]

On 2/26/2021 at 1:59 PM, Wili Clip said:

About 11 days ago I decided to reveal myself to my SL gamers community and it has been cathartic for me.

Human beings are a tiny minority in SL so really what is the point in revealing yourself ?

[Wili Clip]

On 3/9/2021 at 9:24 AM, Caroline Takeda said:

On 2/26/2021 at 2:59 PM, Wili Clip said:
I think that Second Life should be an extension of real life and not a replacement. I believe that it can even be psychologically harmful if someone lives their life through Second Life. My friend in SL is a psychologist and she did research on that topic ..

That it could be psychologically harmful if someone starts living their life through Second Life... What I had in mind with that was when for someone it becomes a serious addiction for which an individual would start neglecting their basic physiological needs (RL needs). For example there was in the papers in past a story about 1 couple being so obsessed about their world of warcraft that they forgot to take care of their baby (an extreme example).

That doesn't mean that everyone who enjoys SL is beingpsychologically harmed. Far from it. Most SL users use SL in normal way and to complement their RL and maybe fulfill some higher needs they are missing in RL and do things they couldn't in RL.

I was writing about things from my own personal experience with SL. If I am more concrete in past I was in a SL relationship that was limited only to SL not by my choice. In that sense I could not live my "romantic" life through SL. While for some people something like that (for their own various reasons) might work it did not for me and it affected me badly and made me act out in various wrong ways without me being aware its because of it. So I ended the relationship in the end and that helped me.  

Second Life is and can be and I can say (hopefully) will always stay different thing for different people as they use it in different ways.

While I would never suggest or enforce my own view of what Second Life is for me for it to be to the others (except for some minority of people in similar circumstances as me who that can be helpful) I also think that other people who use it in various different ways and for different reasons should not force their own view of Second Life.

I think Second Life should keep everything it has and just start adding new things and enable new possible uses of Second Life but in a way in which the existing communities and the ways of use of SL are not affected.    🙂

Edited March 10, 2021 by Wili Clip

[Akane Nacht]

1 hour ago, Wili Clip said:

just start adding new things and enable new possible uses of Second Life

like what?

(not trying to put you on the spot, just curious.)

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

For me it's quite simple. I play a child avatar. I'm not a child in real life. I don't like using voice because it breaks the immersion when I'm roleplaying, because I'm not actually a child. But playing a child avatar also paints a target on my back, because we know there are toxic elements in the community. Keeping my private life private keeps people from doxing me and calling me a pedophile and ruining my life and career because they get off on bullying people. Lastly, there's the facts that I just don't want to share personal info online. If I wanted to, I would.

If you're cool with your Second Life being your First life, that's cool. I know people like that. But there's always a reason why people do the things they do. Maybe they are "hiding behind their avatar" because they want to be someone they can't. Maybe they play SL for escape and thus don't want to bring real life into it. Maybe they want privacy (like me). Maybe it's all about expression. It's the same reason why we few people use their full names and list of fears as their usernames on any other website or online forum.