UsernamexPi

You are so right - which is why I'm trying to break my own language barrier and have this sort of conversation. Maybe immersion is not even necessary? Do I have to take psychedelic hallucinogens to understand a mystical experience? Not necessarily. I don't mean to be narrow minded and hyper-critical. But you can't entirely dismiss a luddite stance just because it's outdated and culturally narrow-minded either. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. (... Sorry if this all sounds like pretentious unnecessary bull**bleep**.)

Yes, because part of the reason for changing and augmenting the way we look in SL is to create a more ideal perfect version of ourselves and our surroundings. (You are right though - my inquiry is much to narrow.)

I was sitting in class one day when our teacher mentioned to us that there was going to be a faculty meeting on introducing hybrid courses, sections of courses that would be taught through SL, to our school. For us, this is new. For many of the kids in my class, this also seemed to be news. Many of them answered back saying something like, "Wow! Thats craaaazy!" - in the creepy robots are going to rule the world sort of way. I guess the issue remains - what part of experience gets lost in using these tools and shortcuts to make our daily lives more efficient? Does it matter that we can't feel someone touching us in virtual life? For today's purposes, it might not - because SL is used more as a means of augmenting reality than replacing it. Yet even by innocently using these tools, gps, google maps, etc, our perception of reality does still change somehow. An entire revolution can be organized all through blind social networking. Does it necessarily yield more effective communication? The lines have been drawn and redrawn and maybe they don't matter anymore - but they still exist. What is the difference between extrapolating data and finding a shorter means to an end; having an organized specified conversation in virtual life versus performing that same activity in real life? What part of the process gets lost? Does it matter? Does it matter that we can’t really see each other for what we are?

No RL photos - unless you don't care. (Madeline McMasters (on p.2) didn't use a literal image of herself. - Really great, lol thanks.)

Part of the thrill of VR, of online blogging, etc, is the social anonymity, right? (...So I wasn’t even expecting that anyone would respond to this request. If you wouldn’t do it in RL, why in SL, i know.) Of course SL is used for many other reasons outside of serving as an epic escapist fantasy - a place where your actions and first impression appearances have little or no consequences. It’s not all about the looks and communicating with people who don’t have to know your past. Still, it is mostly the social issues surrounding virtual reality/SL that keep many people who have never tried it, out. It still owns that stereotype of being a place that people use to replace, rather than aid, reality with - a place for a 40 yr old pedifile claiming to be a 15 year old boy, video game junkies who never shower, etc. The list of insults could go on. There’s a series of images taken by a photographer/guy by the name of Robbie Cooper. (http://www.robbiecooper.org/small.html) Yes, judging by only a picture of someone’s face is pretty judgmental and biased. But perhaps not all judgements are “racist”? At least it opens up a conversation. Even if collecting photos of people serves no utilitarian purpose, making a statement/starting a conversation is always a start I hope. I am an undergrad student at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Doing a documentary project for a Digital Photography class. Yes - I hope that other people will help with, not do my homework for me. This is homework and 20cent type classes tend to function like a rigid system where productivity is determined partly by how fast you can meet a deadline. This is exactly why I don’t ever meet deadlines. Assignment, critique, and repeat. Apologies apologies! My last post was really obnoxious! Yes, I am an amateur and SL first timer. I can barely walk in a straight line. But I promise to learn. :-)! The way my avatar looks to me right now: ... This is what it looked like yesterday, my first day in a place that was off limits; “i wasn’t old enough to be there yet”: Anyone feel like sharing pictures of their own avatars and talking about what there experiences have been like with being disembodied - if that’s the right way to put it? :-)!

It's always fun and interesting to see what people look like behind the screen; behind their ideal anonymous and virtual avatars. Do you more closely resemble yourself or your alter ego? Why do you look the way you do in SL? I'm collecting self portraits/photographs of people and their avatars for a class photography and documentary project! Need a present picture taken of you with web cam and a brief background, no demographics/personal contact info of course! ... And permission for a 2min photo shoot in SL!