Does SL make one more tolerant in First Life?

No this isn't a poll just a general question. I will use myself as an example.

I'm hetrosexual in my First Life but I met and fell in love with another female in Second Life much to my amazement. Now I think I understand some things I didn't seem to grasp in First Life. People are just people no what their sexual orientation and Second Life has helped me understand this better.

I know I am being very simplistic here but I sincerely believe that Second Life has a lot to teach us besides how to play with prims and scripts.

That's pretty cool.

I'm actually nicer, less formal, and less bigoted in SL than I am in First Life. In First Life I'm not an asshole, I'm pretty polite, but I'm extremely blunt if someone asks me a question. I figure that if they went to the trouble of asking me then it's their problem if they don't like the answer. In SL, I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt that maybe they are just reading something wrong or projecting their own emotional tones onto what I am saying, so I'm willing to be more gentle with people.

I don't think SL has made me any more open-minded in RL, but I can see how it would do that to other people.

I'd say yes. I've gotten to know people in SL and then only later found out that who they are in real life is not at all what I'd have imagined. SL has definitely drilled in the notion that you can't judge a book by its cover (or deviances, hehe).

Umm, actually I think I'm a lot nicer in RL. In SL I always have to worry about a shitload of people bugging me about a shitload of stuff. It's a huge turn off, and why I dont have a store.
I wish I could remove the creator tag from my stuff so people wouldnt come ask me for custom versions. HELO CNAN I HAEV THSI IN RED PLS KTHXBYE
Better still, I wish I could assign a support person to be listed on the object's properties instead of me.

Um...yeah. A huge disconnect between creators and consumers. So typical. And yet creators put a hammerlock on malls, mall managers, land-owners, etc with their hatred of malls -- and their hatred of second-hand salesmen...precisely when it is those other layers in the economy which help diversity if. Imagine of wholesalers could buy things in bulk, and then service them too, like Maytag repairmen.

This isn't to say you personally, Eggy, it's to say that there is an attitude in general which you exemplify -- creators who think they should just create, put stuff out in the world, and never have to make it in red, and maintain an attitude of furious disdain to anyone who wants it in red.

This is getting old.

i just have to be me always less confusing that ways lol

im a lover/fighter/craz y/outgoing /but laid back in reals and the same in sl ......

No shit.

That type of snarky, generalized, hateful comment is something I've come to expect from Mr. P.

The thing that kills me is those generalizations are alsmost NEVER true. Creators don't hate malls - that's where they get a lot of thier sales from, they don't hate making things in other colors - that's where they make more money.

Of course, he'll continue to whine about second-hand sales, when people have explained time and time again thier reasons for allowing or not allowing 'trans' in the perms settings. Oh well, what can you do?

I can't read Prof's post because I have him muted but what does malls have to do with learning about tolerance to other human beings have to do with this thread?

It doesn't have to have anything to do with it. She's a one hit wonder.

Basically, Prokofy answered "No".

Good because I didn't want this thread to turn into a debate about the value of Maytag washing machines but I do have to say that my mother gave me her Sears washing machine 5 years ago and that thing is still running like a champ.

I hope that clarifies things.

I'm a pretty tolerant person irl, if I do say so myself, and in SL, too, or in any other game (of PEOPLE, as opposed to discrete BEHAVIORS).

But I think SL (and other games) do the fabulous service of helping me get to KNOW people I wouldn't, irl. People of different ages, etc. To me, the Internet is really terrific in this regard, by allowing a more direct link to the heart and soul of others, with less attention paid to the regular attire that generally filters who we get to know - age, gender, living in the same city or country, looks, etc., the list of filters is endless. And I know enough Internet marriages that have worked out beautifully that I'm inclined to think those aspects of an individual are the most important, and we miss them too much irl due to the filters.

Having said that, I'm sorrowed to report that when I wore my Weird Terrible avatar I made (she's really cute!) around, people were less nice to me than usual, and less inclined to interact with me. Hmmmmm.

coco

In response to original question: I'd say it's the other way around. I feel Second Life draws on more "tolerant" people in general, as opposed to "making people more tolerant."

Case in point, Second Life has drawn on a largely more adult, technically minded, and decisively liberal group of individuals than most communities I've grown accustomed to. A part of this is due to the issues with which it deals for many - not in the least of which are consumerism and sexual preferences - as opposed to a standard "computer game."

To thrive in Second Life is in its own way a humbling experience for many, and indeed the least restrained of people do much better. I use the term "restraint" here for a reason, since that lack has its own share of problems.

The short version is Second Life is a greater draw to a select blend of people - for better or worse - and I think that makes for a more tolerant climate. Whether that's true tolerance, or just a façade, remains to be seen as the community grows.

Prokofy, if you buy an Armani suit, would you expect Armani to personally make you a red version? Would you expect the ability to tell off Bill Gates in person just because Windows is crashy?
Personally, I'm not here to make money. I don't care about the whole economy. I join a project if I think it's interesting and will make me learn something new. I don't sell anything and hardly ever give anything away. Usually only to personal friends. Thing is, their friends or customers come to me asking for crap. I create for fun, and fun is the only reason why I am here.
I agree with you in a way, but I dont think forcing creators to also be tech support monkeys is the way to go. LL should put some structure in place to facilitate a new class of tech support people to emerge. I should be able to remove my name from an object and put in the name of my support person instead, Replacing the "Creator :" field with "Contact :" or "Support : "...

Hire someone for that job.

Under "description," write, "Contact Tech Monkey Joe Schmo for Product Support."

coco

I would have to agree with Jeff. I don't think SL has "made" me anything. Rather, I bring to SL my core of RL experiences and behaviors.

As for content creators (a bit of a non sequitur but it's an interesting topic.) I think the beauty of our system is that we are rewarded directly by how "in-touch" we are with the consumers. If you want to find the content creator that is most in-touch with their customers you need only to look at their sales. If you feel that the top sellers aren't doing enough? Consider it a business opportunity to topple them in favor of your own superior service.

Coco, Eggy's situation is different because he doesn't SELL his content and therefore doesn't have the revenue to hire a tech support person. He also shouldn't feel obligated to shell out his own cash indefinitely for someone's tech support salary just because he handed out a freebee.

I don't need to be tolerant of other people for who they are.

It's simply tolerance for ideologies that are radical to my own... which I suppose is one of the many challenges of life.

SL does help that for me.

I have friends who are against gay marriages or are pro-Iraq war. Somehow though, despite our sometimes frequent debates, we still respect eachother and I like that.

While we sometimes frequently discuss our differences, it's that we can walk away from them and still have fun. And I do find that it's an important lesson in my FL too.

My tolerances are no different in SL than they are in RL. What I am tolerant of or intolerant of doesn't change depending on whether I'm 'virtual' or not. And I seriously doubt SL is going to make me more tolerant of child molestors, animal abusers and aggresive racists than I am now, which are about my only real intolerances.

SL does help me get to know people that I might not otherwise interact with due to different interests or social circles, and especially different age groups, but I don't think that qualifies as 'tolerance', just more opportunity to judge people on the content of their character.

Great answer Jonquille, and it makes me think of another point. Some people in RL may be intolerant or prejudicial against certain groups of a common age, gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, etc. But since many of these RL characteristics are hidden from view in SL, I wonder if they simply turn their anger against groups that are more visible such as Furries, blingers, clubbers, BSDMers etc.

Regardless, I guess it all boils down to judging people on the content of their character, which is something I try very hard to do in RL or SL.

Yes - I agree completely. I'm not intolerant of a lot but you hit on the three that I am and this would not change just because I'm in SL.

I have come to better understand some views and opinions that people hold that are opposing to mine though. While I may not agree, having read the reasons behind their opinions in the forums or discussed them in world, I probably have more respect for their beliefs. There are just some things that I do not discuss with people in RL that I have had the opportunity to discuss with people in SL. In fact, outside of my husband and my baby brother, there is no one in RL that I would discuss philosophy or politics with.

Last but not least - in RL, I am absolutely terrified of PENGUINS.
(I think it stems from having gone to strict Catholic schools)

But I have come to love them in SL.

.

And why not? Look at that formation! The discipline! Quite a force to be reckoned with.

I think a lot of extremes come to SL... meaning that in SL we are exposed to a lot that is just commonplace here, but in RL it's few and far between. Also a lot of general trends in RL (homosexuality as an example) are magnified quite a bit in SL.

So it kind of becomes "be tolerant (or become tolerant) or go away."

I also agree with Jeffrey in that people who are inclined to not be tolerant of a wide variety of activities wouldn't generally come to a place like SL, where that kind of diversity makes it what it is.

A good friend's ex-roommate (we discovered after he'd already moved in) belonged to a Neo-Nazi group. He was always going off about black people, Hispanic people, Asian people, etc etc.. basically anyone with a darker skin tint than his own. I offhandedly asked him what happened to it being Jewish people the Nazi's focused on, and he answered that you couldn't really tell who was Jewish and who wasn't by looking at them.

I think you might be on to something there about people turning their anger toward more easily recognizable groups. Intolerance isn't nearly as much fun if you have to extend an effort to get to know someone before you hate them. That might take all day!

LMAO - well the ones I grew up with looked more like this (No disrespect intended), but I could really relate in the movie Blues Brothers when Jake and Elwood went back to the orphanage they grew up in. (edited to say that yeah... I am SO going to go to hell for posting this, or at least go down in flames).