Re: [-empyre-] Reengagin the visceral

[Adam Nash <adam@yamanakanash.net>]

> So, from seeing a giant farting Pac-Man monster creating such a  
> gigantic
> ruckus in a world with simulated Barbie sex, gender bending, race at a
> mouse click, I thought (it's actually fairly simple) why is all of  
> this
> embodiment mess following us into the virtual?  It's pretty basic
> Turkle/McLuhan, and maybe Kroker, but all philosophy aside, it's  
> just so
> STRANGE that SL citizens would want to fart, or even have interactive
> pornography.

It's a good question. Is it a visual thing? It *is* strange, but  
don't put philosophy aside! Patrick, could you elaborate on the  
Turkle/McLuhan and Kroker reference?

For me a crucial question is why a presence needs to be focussed in  
on a single cohesive point. In meatspace that is necessary and  
unavoidable, but in virtual space it is neither. Is it just habit  
reinforced by the realworld-copy methodology of SL?

Adam