Voting for the Neualtenburg Proje(c/k)t . Must!

These ideas are a carry-on from Pendari’s reflections (“Why I joined Neualtenburg …”, or something like that; unfortunately, disappeared from the forum). I’m a newbie, and I was extremely moved by her comments when I first joined the group. With the elections happening very soon now, I thought I’d start this thread to reinforce how important active participation in the process is.

Second Life is often called a “game”. Since it is offered by the owners of the software/servers (the “Lindens”) in a way very like Everquest, Asheron’s Call, and all the other massively parallel, multi-multi on-line player games, you could call its machinery a “game”. Certainly, the Linden Labs advertising appeals to people who want to “play a game”.

But, please excuse my preaching, Second Life is not a “game”, it’s life. It’s an “alternate reality”, a “virtual reality”, where people meet, socialize, carry on business, engage in relationships which are profoundly personal and psychologically meaningful, or destructive; and have sex (!). For better or worse, Second Life is a space into which “real life” is expanded.

At 57 years old, I’m an oldster in Second Life. This is my first time with a multi-player on-line experience. But I’ve seen this coming for many many years. When William Gibson in “Neuromancer” and then Neal Stephenson in “Snow Crash” first described experience where humans moved between different reality spaces, enabled by world wide computer networks, it was clear that Second Life was just a matter of time.

As many have pointed out, there are good sides and bad sides to this. (Ain’t life like that!) Pendari pointed out how this world was soon going to need some kind of governance, so that the rights of the residents would be preserved. One of the strengths of Second Life is the openness of the world the owners have created. The structure they’ve imposed is founded on the principle that the preservation and delivery of data costs money, therefore they charge for “land use” (data storage).

Pure and simple economics. So, like the frontier West of the USA in the 1800’s, everyone piles in and tries to achieve advantage. Make money. After all, we are humans. And, like the frontier West, life is a bit dangerous, people are robbed, exploited; and the land gets destroyed.

Neualtenburg is the coming together of a few ethically-minded citizens in a frontier town for the purpose of bringing a higher level of civilization to our lives. Like the folks of the frontier town, we borrow and adapt ideas and structure from successes in “real life”; democracy, culture, fair business practice, environmental awareness, religious tolerance.

Neualtenburg and Second Life are not just a fun game. What we do now sets a precedent for what others do as human beings invest more and more of their lives in worlds alternate to “real life”.

Please. Vote and participate. And, spread the word. The Neualtenburg Proje(c/k)t is important, and exciting.

Sudane Erato

Thanks Sudane!

I really liked your frontier analogy as applied to SL and the city. I've never thought of it that way but it makes a lot of sense.

Thank you also for taking time to put some works up in the museum. In RL modern-art museums are one of my favorite places to go. I'm really looking forward to spending some time to work on the structure and content after the elections.

We spelled "project" with a "k" as it's the German spelling. We also hope to put up signs for the stores, streets, and buildings in German as well after construction is complete.

~Ulrika~

Sorry about the Proje(c/k)t thing.

For better or worse, the 60's persist in my brain. One of the icons of that time were the protest posters with the word "Amerika". To suggest an association between the US (with all its authentic problems) and Nazi Germany. The association still gives me shivers. I guess the Proje(c/k)t thing is just an attempt to dilute those shivers.

Sudane