Second Life, Second World

Imagine a game that is limitless. With no true objective, as compared to most online games, I was quickly swept away in the vastness that is Second Life. Anything from night clubs hosting “naked hour” to virtual employment centers are readily available. As a new-comer, I was overwhelmed with the infinite number of possibilities. Do I join a group, meet new people, buy a house, change my appearance, attend a concert, build an island…? As I let all of these options wash over me, I realized that there is an undeniable appeal to this world. With approximately 13 million users (which prefer to be called “residents”), Second Life provides a space of perfection. Everything, from the tone of your skin to the people you associate with, is a product of personal selection. The existing complexities of the game allow for a detailed manipulation of a virtual world. The medium is therefore inseparable from its audience. In essence, the audience becomes the creator of his or her own virtual world.

The medium of Second Life offers many features which allow residents to create a new virtual identity of their own choosing. But why would someone want to create another identity? Identity, in itself, is a complicated concept. New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society attempts to define the word as “the autobiographical self [that] has tended to become organized around a range of other more cultural attributes, such as character, personality, experience, social position, or lifestyle” (172). More recently, however, identity is emphasized as the personal assignment of ourselves into groups using the cultural qualities listed above. When the attempt to locate one’s place in the world fails, the result is a diasporic experience. This occurrence “is often described negatively in terms of exile, isolation, and loss” (New Keywords, 82). Perhaps the desire to create a “second life” is the result of dissatisfaction with one’s real world identity. In other words, when someone feels as though they are some how secluded, they turn to the world of Second Life to create another persona to feel accepted. The creative power is not only held by the audience, but permitted by the media thereby effectively combining the two. Because this medium offers a multitude of features which allow residents to manipulate their virtual life, Second Life becomes a place to revise real life inadequacies.

Recently MTV aired a special about the internet’s effect on our lives, entitled “I Live Another Life On The Web.” For one young girl named Amy, real life becomes too much to handle. Her dream is to become a famous musician; however, she is stunted by her disabling stage-fright. In order to cope, she turns to Second Life and creates the alternate identity, Keiko. In this virtual world, she says that her fears dissolve, and she is able to play live concerts with ease (inside of the game). In real life Amy is hindered by her stage-fright, but in Second Life she has created a new identity that shines on stage. This situation accurately exemplifies how this game is enabling those who are frustrated with their real life identities to happily live out life in a self-fulfilling, virtual environment.

But what happens when a resident becomes so involved in their Second Life identity that he/she accepts the virtual as reality?

Even though the intention of Second Life is innocent enough, its creation has effectively confused the boundary of what is “real” and what is “virtual.” Something that is real is defined by Wikipedia as “most often refer[ing] to reality, the state of things as they actually exist.” Virtual, on the other hand, is defined by Wiktionary as being “in effect or essence, if not in fact or reality; imitated.” However, for some, these words coincide. The ability to explore, move about, and build a world, in essence, strips the virtual aspect from Second Life and places it within the realm of reality. The very appeal of this game is the simple fact that it is not passive, but rather proactive. Even though this game has a few fantastical features, such as the ability to fly, its reflection of reality is very accurate. Virtual limits are tested with the newfound concept of “virtual property”. Linden Lab allows all of its residents to retain full ownership of their virtual creations: anything from stores to gestures. These property rights have therefore created a thriving economy. Profits in the game are real. Even well-known companies in the real world are attempting to break ground in Second Life by setting up advertisement campaigns. Stealing in the game is punishable by law inside and out of this virtual world. Along with a functioning judicial system, there are rules that are enforced with varying degrees in each virtual land. Because Second Life effectively simulates the real world, it is easy to get lost within it. The following cartoon parodies the allure of Second Life.

The idea behind this cartoon is eerily accurate. A real life example of this was recently on the news. CBS reported that a woman named Kimberly Jernigan, whose relationship recently ended in Second Life, attempted to kidnap her former virtual boyfriend. She was ultimately charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary, and aggravated menacing. Oddly enough, along with this story, a picture of Jernigan is provided. There seems to be a very particular reason that this photo is added. When I first came across this article, I immediately noticed this and a series of additional pictures depicting celebrities below the one of Jernigan. They were under the title “Related Slideshows.” Initially, I did not think anything of them. But, as I read the news article, I became more aware of this women’s attachment to her “second life.” I began thinking: how are the stories of celebrities related to this one at all? I concluded that, the celebrity images serve as a severe juxtaposition between what is commonly accepted (i.e. beauty, fame, ect.), and this women. Jernigan’s appearance helps the reader of this story understand that she may be drawn to the virtual world of Second Life due to her physical detachment from mainstream society. Confusion between one’s first life and second life is not necessarily the problem at hand; it is more that some have begun to accept Second Life as their reality.

On one hand, Second Life provides an escape from experiencing inadequacies in real life. On the other, the game can distort the long standing relationship between real and virtual. When interviewed (inside of the game) many people stated that they enjoy their “second life” more that their real life. Ultimately, this game can either become part of a person’s reality through the creation of a virtual extension, or the only thing they consider to be real. The medium of Second Life presents an unstable balance between the real and virtual, and it is up to the resident to choose between the two.

"Dummer" by the Second

Yesterday in class we discussed an article by Nicholas Carr called “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” The consensus seemed to be that the internet is altering the way we think. In his article, Carr states that computers not only “supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought.” This implies that the internet is altering our cognitive abilities. So, it is making us “stupid” in a sense. The word “stupid” is a colloquial term, and therefore used in many ways to imply many things. Here, I define the word as a weakening of the mind. As the formalities of speech and writing are being forgotten (from the reliance on spelling and grammar check), it is making our thoughts chaotic. Our “stupidity” does not come from a lack of intelligence, but rather the disuse of certain parts of our brain. I am guilty of this just as much as the next person. I admit it freely. I often find myself writing an email (or even a blog) and forgetting to address grammatical and spelling issues. For instance, I forget to capitalize the first letter of a sentence on a regular basis. There are programs out there that automatically do this for me so why should I remember it myself?

The wonders of Word include autocorrect features and spell/grammar check. Both of these programs allow syntactical errors to go almost unnoticed. Since we are no longer forced to pick up a dictionary and manually discover the correct spelling of a word, the corrected version is forgotten. When a word is flagged as misspelled, a red line appears under it. To correct the error, one simply needs to select the proper word from a list of suggestions. Search engines such as Google also have a spell check feature. When a word is misspelled, corrections are suggested with the phrase “Do you mean: ________.” Due to this convenience, I find myself misspelling the same words over and over again having never learned the proper way. It is no longer necessary to remember how to spell. This autocorrect element creates bad habits that are carried into other writing situations (i.e. papers or emails). The simplicity and ease of spell check features are meant to assist the writing process, but they are in fact impairing it. Such programs are creating the problems with coherent thought processing, but the internet is perpetuating them.

Upon discussing my difficulties with my friends, I soon realized that this is a common problem. Emails and instant messages, in particular, harbor numerous spelling and grammatical errors. Many of these programs lack spell check options so mistakes, which have become habits while using such devices, go unnoticed. This problem is more than just simply misspelling words here and there. It seems that these devices are hindering our ability to think cohesively. With grammar and spelling forgotten, our sentences are becoming fragmented and unclear. These ambiguous sentences reflect our inability to correctly complete a thought. Here is one example of an extreme case. The errors within this “break-up letter” are hard to ignore. Thoughts are incoherent and very difficult to understand. While funny, this example demonstrates how the bad habits that internet has taught us are changing the way we think. Because we are so used to disregarding spelling and grammar, we no longer know how to articulate our thoughts.

One of my professors stated to his class that “you do not need to know how to spell to get a PhD. All you need is a good spell-checker.” This singular statement accurately reveals how our thought process is being changed. Due to advances of the internet, we are no longer concerned with spelling and syntax. Instead of spending time on these details, we allocate them to machines. These technologies are causing us to lose the knowledge associated with spelling and grammar because it is now stored as a program on our computers.

One important factor that we are forgetting is that we are smarter that the machines we trust to correct us. When Word fails, it can entirely change the meaning of the sentence. This actually happened to Kara Thompson. Word changed “under-served” to “undeserved” thereby confusing two completely separate thoughts. Our dependency on spelling and grammar checking leads us to believe that such programs are always correct, when, in fact, they are not. This reliance, in itself, is another symptom of our growing “stupidity.”

Technology

Technology has somehow become an indicator of an advanced culture. Wikipedia defines technology as “a broad concept that deals with a species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment.” Yet, this is not the definition that most people would consider. Technology has recently evolved and become synonymous with scientific advancement. Computers, cell phones, and GPS units are what spring to mind when technology is mentioned. For some reason long-standing tradition, the creation of the pen and paper to record the spoken word for instance, is not thought of technology, but rather the new and innovative gadgets like the BlackBerry or touch iPod are.

When a particular culture does not have these technological devices, they are often labeled as “primitive”. This idea is emphasized over and over again in the media today. Disney’s Pocahontas, for example, contains European settlers actually calling the Native American people “primitive savages.” Perhaps it is our own dependence on technology that leads us to believe that all other cultures without it must be diminished in some capacity. But the question then becomes, is this distinction between primitive and advanced so clear cut? As mentioned above, the literal definition of the word technology is simply the use and knowledge of tools. By this definition every human culture contains sort of “technology”. Even though the issue becomes ambiguous based on the definition of technology, it becomes clear that one culture is no more advanced, or more civilized than another.

First Entry

To be completely honest, I have never written a blog before. Actually, I have never even read one. The only experience I have is through casual conversations with friends about their personal blog writings. From what I understand, blogging seems to be a form of public journaling. Since I have very little experience, I have a few reservations about writing my own blogs. My fear is that I will end up completely misunderstanding the point of blogging in this class and incorrectly write all of my blog entries. Blog writing seems to be more casual than the formal papers that are usually required for English classes so I am afraid that my entries will not meet the standards of this course. Also, the idea of writing publicly makes me nervous. I hope that my blogs will not be judged harshly and that my thoughts do not seem ridiculous to my peers.
While this class seems very interesting, it is very different from my writing experience. Since I am a Biological Sciences major, the majority of my writing is in the form of laboratory reports and expository essays. I have, however, taken an English course at UC Davis. This class was pretty straight forward. We were given readings and were required to write and turn in formal papers. I would not go so far as to say that I love writing papers and essays, but I do like to write.