eekim.com: EEK Speaks

Mon, Jan 01, 2007

The Varieties of Second Life Experience #

I liked ClayShirky's commentary last month on SecondLife, along with HowardRheingold's qualifications in the comments. More than anything, Clay seemed to be lashing out against thoughtless discourse, which is a big pet peeve of mine as well. Of course, posts like these generally generate more thoughtless discourse. It's the cost of having open conversations on the Internet. The benefit is that the few gems that emerge generally outweigh the noise. (LND)

I particularly enjoyed MarkOehlert's response to Clay and others. I had the pleasure of listening to Mark evangelize SecondLife over lunch a few months ago, and it was almost enough for me to dip my toes there for the first time, something I've resisted for almost two years now. I've continued to refrain for reasons I'll explain some other time, but when I do finally decide to check things out, you can bet I'll be asking Mark for a tour. (LNE)

Despite my own skepticism, Clay's commentary, and the fact that I haven't played with it myself yet, I think SecondLife and 3D MMOGs in general are important, and I will continue to pay attention to them. I'm reminded of WilliamJames, who in The Varieties of Religious Experience, writes of the relationship between intense, religious experiences and our minds, how we live our lives, and truth itself. (LNF)

Regardless of what the actual numbers of users are, regardless of the sum impact these environments have actually had on the world today, one thing that we can't dispute is that some nontrivial number of people have had intense, important experiences within these environments. This fact alone suggests that there is something transformational there, something that is worth further exploration. (LNG)

/collaboration/tools | Posted at 7:29pm

Comments

Comments disabled until future notice. If you'd like to contact me, use my i-name (=eekim).

EEK Speaks

A blog about collaboration, community-building, and the various goings-on at Blue Oxen Associates, with occasional digressions on food and other vital matters.