Second Life: Freya Ophelia

I came across a Buddhist temple above the Ivory Tower today. While Freya was meditating I did some philosophical thinking regarding Second Life and Buddhism.

Buddha taught ‘anatta’, or the No Self view (essentially, he was a Bundle Theorist). A quote from a Buddhist text explains: "Buddha has spoken thus: 'O Brethren, actions do exist, and also their consequences, but the person that acts does not. There is no one to cast away this set of elements, and no one to assume a new set of them. There exists no Individual, it is only a conventional name given to a set of elements." So, "I" do not really exist; "I" am only comprised of various elements. Freya, then, is one of these elements that make up what we like to call an "individual."

The note card in the SL Buddhist temple stated "Avatars could be as real a phenomenon of one's mind as anything else." True, I suppose. And I assume (though virtual space must work differently from real space) my nonphysical mind could be embodied in my avatar (if you believe in Dualism). So what kind of element is Freya in the bundle that makes up my "self"? Well, Freya isn’t conscious...yet how do we truly know that we are conscious...

I really haven’t come to any conclusions here...or even a conclusion about what I’m trying to conclude about. But I do know Buddhism encompasses avatars as an element of one’s "self", and I also know that a real philosopher should look into the connections between various theories of "self" and SL, because I’m certainly not doing it justice.

After reading “Video Games and Online Worlds as Art” I get the impression that the author is simply impatient. Video games clearly have the potential to be recognized and critiqued as art…just give it some time. The author himself even states: “we're still basically in the Stone Age as far as designing interactive experiences goes.” I think it’s safe to draw a comparison between the evolution of film vs the evolution of video games. In the late 19th century Lumiere’s “Arrival of the Train” was not instantly critiqued as art. In fact, it took decades for the true artistic potential of film to be realized and discussed. But in this current day I think we can all agree that film has earned its place in the art world, complete with a common language for discourse. I believe video games will, with time, meet the same fate. Most video game critics did not grow up playing in online worlds. In fact, older generations face problems understanding virtual space. When the generations that grew up with video games and online worlds become the critics, I doubt there will be any debate on weather video games should be considered art.

I just spent two hours sticking objects on my body and trying to make them look like clothing. The end result? One, crappy, bracelet. It’s so much harder than it looks! I also manage to create an object and turn it into hair, but that was so much easier than clothing because it didn’t have to conform to my body. Well anyway, I was so adamant about creating something for my avatar because I had just concluded an interview with a very decked out fox-like creature who created all her own clothing. I was jealous...

This avatar look amazing. She showed me a small creature she created that you attach to your back and carry around like a baby. She also told me she had a baby on Second Life. A bit confused about how that was possible, I asked what that entailed and she said “I was pregnant on second life.” Still confused, but not wanting to ask any more, we started talking about other things. The original reason I went over to her was because Edana noticed the title “Slave and Prey” above her name. So I walked over to her and asked what her title was about (while Verrie made fun of me for talking to strangers….I’m gonna get you back for all that teasing in class...heh heh, jk) and she said that she was a slave to another avatar in second life. I asked if she got paid and she said no but she was well taken care of by her master. She showed me a few things about creating objects and then I got too excited and I wanted to try for myself so I headed back to Edana and Verrie. They had found another interesting group of avatars. One created a huge American Flag and was hanging off it upside-down. Eventually the group dwindled and just Verrie and I were left. He worked on trying to make a sword and that’s when I got lost in trying to create my clothing, completely losing track of time, and eventually looking at the clock to see hours had past and all I had to show was a crappy bracelet.

I must say, after my hours and hours of attempting to make clothing I can understand how people spend hours and hours each day in Second Life. If you get working on a project it can completely consume you. Plus, if creating objects that conform to your body is time consuming, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to create a guitar or something of a bigger caliber. I have to be careful not to get addicted to this world...

I just got back from a frustrating day in SecondLife. When I first entered the world I saw Brim Iredell was also on but I could find no way to make friends. I tried to go to the help section but it crashed my computer….twice. So I decided to ask some other avatars and found out you can only befriend someone that is in your range of site. So I looked up Brim again but then I couldn’t figure out where in Second Life Brim was. So I’ve concluded either Second Life makes it rather difficult to make friends or I am befriending retarded. I assume it’s the latter. After I gave up on that I decided to begin conducting my interviews.

I found one of those stations where people get paid to sit in chairs. I figured, while I was interviewing, I might as well sit down too. After getting comfortable I found everyone in those chairs really isn’t in those chairs, they’ve gone off to do something and left their avatar. So that’s not really the best place to conduct an interview. But, the one person that did respond was rather cooperative…until they realized they weren’t getting paid for the interview. Then they seemed less inclined to answer my question. Frustrated, I teleported to a random place to do some exploring…and never got paid for sitting in my chair. Did I have to stand up first? I don’t know…

So after a failed befriending process, a failed interview, and a failed attempt to sit and make money, I transported to a land where a shiny turquoise motorcycle appeared next to me. Now this looked fun. I right clicked, chose sit, and BAM! It was like I’d been shot out of a cannon. Freya went flying high above the land and then plummeted downward again, only to be left in a crumpled heap right next to that damn motorcycle. Apparently motorcycles have the right to dismiss of people they don’t like.

I guess Second Life is no different from any community, virtual or real. There are rules to be learned and followed, and if you don’t know them/don’t follow them, it will most likely result in frustration and an unpleasant experience. It’s much like visiting a foreign country in the real world. Sure, you can read about it in a tourist book (or from Orientation Island), but until you are fully immersed in the culture there are certain peculiarities and customs you just wont know about.

After researching the educational uses of Second Life I'm beginning to wonder if professors are really utilizing its limitless possibilities or simply recreating traditional learning experiences in a virtual environment?

The article “Slices of life in a parallel universe” states: "One way of looking at Second Life is that it is a virtual ecosystem capable of replicating almost anything in the real world that can be digitised, but without any shortage of resources. "

Besides the fact that “digitised” is misspelled… it seems to me that recreating the real world is the exact opposite of a beneficial way to use second life for educational purposes. My dad is a professor at ISU and he attended a lecture by a university that is using Second Life in their classes. He told me the lecturer was so proud of their revolutionary use of Second Life: digitally replicating a building to look like one on their campus, setting a time for all students to meet in this digitally replicated classroom with their avatars, and then showing a POWER POINT presentation through Second Life. In a world where you can fly around in a wheelchair and smoke a candy cane, this educator chose to meet in an exact replication of a real building and show a power point presentation?

Educators need to use Second Life in a non-traditional fashion instead of forcing students to meet synchronously in an asynchronous world and watch a tradition presentation that could be seen on any computer. I haven’t researched all the current uses of Second Life in the classroom, but from what I’ve gathered the trend seems to be to use it in a traditional manner. I’m interested to see if educators continue in this conventional direction or if the vast world of Second Life can convince them to step outside the box.