Seeing "nature" in SL as good as seeing it in real life?

[Gopi Passiflora]

This topic is inspired by the idea that says that humans who view nature often are more calmer and happier than those who don't.

My question is simple: do you think seeing "nature" in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) has the same effect as seeing nature in real life?

I personally can't say for certain. I do enjoy seeing nature both in real life and in a virtual space, and while real life has its advantages (there are things you can smell, taste, and touch as opposed to just sight and sound), so too does virtual nature (you don't have to leave home and less likely to encounter danger or whatever.)

[Luna Bliss]

What you do/experience in SL has the same effect, in many ways, as that same experience does in RL....it activates the same areas of the brain.

Your subconscious mind believes it's real.

SL dancing can even improve muscle tone.

I don't know what to say about those who say SL nature leaves them flat -- perhaps they're not as imaginative.  I'm sure there are studies somewhere exploring the differences.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Luna Bliss

[Ayashe Ninetails]

No, not for me.

I recently finished building a whole outdoor fantasy surround with a "beach view" for my skybox so I didn't have to stare at blank sky from my windows and could actually spend time "outside." But no, it's nothing at all like wandering around a beach, park, the woods, or a rainforest for real (all things I've done). Does nothing for me but provide a better view.

[Marigold Devin]

I always feel calmer around water, and because I live in a land-locked town, Second Life provides a good substitute.

Animals and plants though, cannot beat the real thing. Some people go outside for a cigarette break, I go out for a birdie break, and am happiest surrounded by the wild birds, and there is something very special about the hedgehogs that visit for dried cat food and water. Mr Broomhead cannot be replicated in Second Life, he is a one off. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Marigold Devin said:

Animals and plants though, cannot beat the real thing. Some people go outside for a cigarette break, I go out for a birdie break, and am happiest surrounded by the wild birds, and there is something very special about the hedgehogs that visit for dried cat food and water. Mr Broomhead cannot be replicated in Second Life, he is a one off. 

So much this. When I was in Puerto Rico, I went to a rainforest with a friend who was a herpetologist, and the entire time, he kept stopping to point out different species of frogs and cute little lizards and would pick them up and bring them over to me all while I shrieked "are you sure that's not poisonous?!?!" before moving in for a closer look and that's just an experience you cannot get in Second Life. 😂

[Coffee Pancake]

15 minutes ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

My question is simple: do you think seeing "nature" in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) has the same effect as seeing nature in real life?

No.

SL is no substitute for leaving the house.

Even if we had VR (and we don't), it would still be no substitute.

 

 

[Luna Bliss]

Wow..that's sad.

I feel EXACTLY the same.  Not all days though. It depends on how much I'm willing to tune-in to the experience...let myself flow into it.

[Sid Nagy]

One year I went camping in SL as a RL holiday substitute. I rented a nice place. It was very relaxing.
I have that same feeling when I see the sun come up at my current beach parcel. I can sit there watching and enjoy that very much, especially now it is tropical hot over here in RL too.
But of course it will never be the same as in RL.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Sid Nagy

[takemasaa]

SL is a simulation of RL at best, so will it ever be the same? No, certainly not.

But does it provide its own form of the beauty found in nature? Absolutely.

I love going to nature sims and walking around because it allows me, someone who is unable to access nature easily, to feel at peace and admire the hard work someone has put into landscaping a sim. I find it very soothing just to walk around little patches of forest that I stumble across and to look at all the little details of it.

I think it's particularly beneficial to those who cannot go outside into nature easily. It may not be the same, but it can still be fulfilling.

[Luna Bliss]

5 minutes ago, takemasaa said:

I think it's particularly beneficial to those who cannot go outside into nature easily. It may not be the same, but it can still be fulfilling.

That's a good point -- it doesn't have to be exactly the same to be immensely fulfilling.

[Sid Nagy]

A few weeks back I saw a butterfly exhibition advertised in the viewer at log in.
I went there and enjoyed it very much. It brought back memories from similar exhibitions I've seen in RL. But the same? No of course not.
Still a nice afternoon in SL.

[Luna Bliss]

13 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

I have that same feeling when I see the sun come up at my current beach parcel. I can sit there watching and enjoy that very much

Sitting there watching...that reminds me of aspects of meditation..

[Saskia Rieko]

it does not have exactly the same effect on me but it certainly is a nice thing and I definitely find some places quite relaxing and enjoyable. It depends of course on the quality of the place I am visiting, and by quality I mean the overall vibe, if it is a well thought concept behind it and if it actually looks realistic (as realistic as possible in SL of course).

I had a very nice experience traveling through SL in 2020 when RL traveling was limited. It was of course not the same but a pretty nice substitute.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

Nature, huh? 

Like, does a Bear..

..scratch its back on trees in the woods?

Maybe if you listen to songs about Super Nature while viewing Second Life Nature.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

41 minutes ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

This topic is inspired by the idea that says that humans who view nature often are more calmer and happier than those who don't.

My question is simple: do you think seeing "nature" in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) has the same effect as seeing nature in real life?

I personally can't say for certain. I do enjoy seeing nature both in real life and in a virtual space, and while real life has its advantages (there are things you can smell, taste, and touch as opposed to just sight and sound), so too does virtual nature (you don't have to leave home and less likely to encounter danger or whatever.)

Well, as others have already said, yes it impacts me emotionally, in a way that is similar to the experience of nature in RL, but obviously not the same.

I think that the part of us that responds to virtual reality simulations of things is more or less the same part that responds to the experience of literature, plays, movies, and even two dimensional art. When we watch a movie, or read an engrossing novel, or admire a landscape painting, we are always at some level conscious that it's not "real," it's a fiction. But we make a sort of tacit agreement with ourselves to "believe" it sufficiently that it still affects us. It's what Coleridge called "a willing suspension of disbelief."

The "willing" part is important: we consent to the illusion, and remain always conscious at some level that it is illusion. It's not that we're being "fooled" in other words. Imagine if our responses to, say, a horror movie, or a particularly bloody play, were the same as the real thing. We'd be traumatized by art, and by simulation! This is kind of what happens to Don Quixote, who comes to literally believe the romance novels he is reading. He becomes deluded and mad.

The "willing suspension" protects us from that kind of response, so the emotional impact is like a simulation of the emotions we would really feel confronted by the same thing in RL: what T. S. Eliot called "art emotion."

I'm not much of a beach girl, but I love forests, and I love gardens, and being in these in SL gives me real pleasure. It's not exactly the same pleasure as a real garden or forest would produce -- but it's a sufficiently good imitation or simulation of it that it produces many of the same effects, such as a sense of calm and peace.

 

[Luna Bliss]

15 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

But we make a sort of tacit agreement with ourselves to "believe" it sufficiently that it still affects us. It's what Coleridge called "a willing suspension of disbelief."

The "willing" part is important: we consent to the illusion, and remain always conscious at some level that it is illusion. It's not that we're being "fooled" in other words.

The more you are willing to let go of that though, the better your art becomes -- both the creating of it, and the experience of it.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Luna Bliss

[Ceka Cianci]

1 hour ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

This topic is inspired by the idea that says that humans who view nature often are more calmer and happier than those who don't.

My question is simple: do you think seeing "nature" in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) has the same effect as seeing nature in real life?

I personally can't say for certain. I do enjoy seeing nature both in real life and in a virtual space, and while real life has its advantages (there are things you can smell, taste, and touch as opposed to just sight and sound), so too does virtual nature (you don't have to leave home and less likely to encounter danger or whatever.)

I would say it can be a calming, but not anything like real nature can be..

[BilliJo Aldrin]

No

[Love Zhaoying]

On topic..there used to be ambient nature sounds that I found extremely soothing. Maybe about 13-14 years ago. I remember a call-in AM radio show used them for lead-in, the show was about random tech. Not quite bird sounds, but evocative.

ETA: It was probably supposed to be birds, but you know how this stuff usually goes. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Love Zhaoying

[BilliJo Aldrin]

1 hour ago, Marigold Devin said:

I always feel calmer around water, and because I live in a land-locked town, Second Life provides a good substitute.

Animals and plants though, cannot beat the real thing. Some people go outside for a cigarette break, I go out for a birdie break, and am happiest surrounded by the wild birds, and there is something very special about the hedgehogs that visit for dried cat food and water. Mr Broomhead cannot be replicated in Second Life, he is a one off. 

I have flower beds in my backyard, i love sitting surrounded by my plants.

We also have a bird feeder. I admit, I put it out to attract squirrels to give my dog something to do while I'm at work.

But I do enjoy the comings and goings of the birds. If I'm inside and i see a squirrel in the feeder, I just have to whisper "squirrel" to her and she's off like a shot.

😁

[Luna Bliss]

https://futurism.com/the-byte/physicists-suspect-reality-illusion

[Sid Nagy]

One thing is for sure, during wintertime in RL I dress Sid warmer than during summertime.
Silly or backing up the theory Scylla wrote about a few posts back?
Personally I think the latter.

[Luna Bliss]

2 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

One thing is for sure, during wintertime in RL I dress Sid warmer than during summertime.
Silly or backing up the theory Scylla wrote about a few posts back?
Personally I think the latter.

I get cold when going to snow sims -- great for the summer but not so much the winter!

[Hymn Celestia]

1 hour ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

This topic is inspired by the idea that says that humans who view nature often are more calmer and happier than those who don't.

My question is simple: do you think seeing "nature" in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) has the same effect as seeing nature in real life?

I personally can't say for certain. I do enjoy seeing nature both in real life and in a virtual space, and while real life has its advantages (there are things you can smell, taste, and touch as opposed to just sight and sound), so too does virtual nature (you don't have to leave home and less likely to encounter danger or whatever.)

What a great question.

I would agree that "seeing" my Second Life garden affects me with the same joy as "seeing" my real garden.  But I would also go further and say that "hearing" my Second Life garden and real garden both give me the same joy.  I make sure there are birds in both places.  And hearing water features makes me feel very relaxed indeed, and that is far easier for me to do in Second Life than anywhere else.  Listening to water is so important for my enjoyment of Second Life lately and I'm glad that I can control that.

Edit to add: this very question is probably what drives the creation and consumption of virtual life in the first place; it is if not the prime question then very close to it, I would imagine -- "is it as good as real, does it make you feel like it's real, does it feel the same as real."  Success would be measured by this metric for so many aspects of virtual living.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Lyric Demina

[Rat Luv]

If I'm on a snowy sim, I have to wrap my avatar up or I start to get goosebumps IRL 🥶...but it never works the other way round...I can't cool down in a RL heatwave by jumping into the SL sea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Most SL nature sims make me want to visit the RL equivalent...unless it's walking under the sea or on the Moon's surface 🙂 Actually, I think the SL environments are a massive reason why people stick around.

42 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

On topic..there used to be ambient nature sounds that I found extremely soothing

Yes! I used to love one sim that had Tibetan singing bowls...I also listen to those 'rain storm on a tin roof' ASMR videos when I'm trying to sleep sometimes.

(By the way...that Supernature video is bonkers!)