Re: [-empyre-] Re: Second Life

[Gabriela Vargas-Cetina <gabyvargasc@prodigy.net.mx>]

Well, if one counts video games, all the way from pinball and on, virtual
interactive environs have been around since the 1960s or so.  Last night I
had a demonstration of the new Nintendo Wii and it looked and felt very much
like Second Life.  However, since this is a discussion about panic, we
should probably explore the panic factor in Second Life, which I think is as
present there as it is in the regular everyday non-computerized life, since
the advertising companies are pretty much the same, with the same aim of
invading all aspects of all contemporary forms of life, and now all kinds of
liminal (and  criminal) parallel economies now moving into Second Life (as
someone has already pointed out in this discussion).  Plus, we can never
underestimate the fact that we are all under surveillance, whether in Second
Life or in everyday non-computerized life.

Gabriela Vargas-Cetina



-- 
Gabriela Vargas-Cetina, Fellow
Cornell University 
Society for the Humanities
A.D. White House 
27 East Avenue 
Ithaca, NY 14853-1101
Tel. (607) 255-9284
email: rv55@cornell.edu

Gabriela Vargas-Cetina, Professor of Anthropology
Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas
Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán
Carretera a Tiximín Km.1
Mérida, Yucatán, México
Tel (999) 930 0090 ext. 207
email: gvcetina@uady.mx


On 4/21/07 12:49 PM, "patrick lichty" <voyd@voyd.com> wrote:

> Ok, good point, Mez.
> 
> New? Maybe not as new as we'd like to think.  Each of the emerging
> technologies has some novel differences that (might) make them
> interesting.
> I've had an account on SL for about 3 years, got active in September,
> and I think my most current avatar was made in October.
> 
> Given, I was playing with Vrbuilder, Palace, VR Toolkit, VReam,
> Superscape (probably the first good online world, IMO), inlive
> Traveller, and VR386 since about '92-94?
> 
> Sure, we can say these environments have been around since 1978 (first
> MUDs), there are little idiosyncracies that are interesting.
> 
> For example Second Front loves the near-impossiblity of coherent stage
> performance in SL.  That's why as an avatar-performance group, we love
> the chaos of bad server calls, system latency, lack of voice (although
> that is coming), and so on.  I think it's the social interaction and
> brokenness that fascinate us, and how far people are willing to go to
> fill in the gaps between the breaks.  In many ways, it's like a Marx
> Brothers performance.
> 
> Everquest and WoW aren't open-ended.  They're in a (more) defined
> environment/context, and you're forced to operate under that paradigm.
> 
> SL, being open-ended, just is not a game in that sense.
> 
> In SL, you do operate under the setting of the client, and that has its
> own constraints. 
> 
> Also, I think that exploring SL for its own sake is boring.  I feel that
> it's not the end-all, be-all, but a significant place and time, and
> worth investigating, despite the capitalism, inane puppet sex, slavery
> and gambling.  Maybe not despite...
> 
> We start with the performances in SL, then everge them into the physical
> through derivative media (print, video, print, sculpture, blog, social
> media)
> 
> The other thing that fascinates me there are those brave souls who bring
> dysfunction to this 'utopia' and make it a place that might not be as
> nice as the real world - pick your poison.
> 
> For instance, I and Ian Murray of Art Metropole live in a favela on the
> side of a hill, scavenge from dumpsters, and fight for the porta-potty.
> I eat his wOOt Loops, and he drinks all my liquid heat - it's beautiful.
> 
> There are evangelists and Luddites when it comes to SL, but my favorite
> thing is to wedge open the cracks and see what the dialectic has to
> offer, people.
> 
> Patrick Lichty
> - Professor, Interactive Arts & Media
>   Columbia College, Chicago
> - Editor-In-Chief
>   Intelligent Agent Magazine
> http://www.intelligentagent.com
> 225 288 5813
> voyd@voyd.com
>  
> "It is better to die on your feet
> than to live on your knees."
>  
> 
> 
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