What has SL taught you about RL?

A thought occurred to me the other day while flying around. In theory, in SL we are given total freedom (within reason) to create whatever we can imagine, dream up. And what do we dream up? Casinos and nightclubs and shopping. Is this the apogee of human imagination? I am not saying those things don't have their place...they do......and I have also seen some of the better purely artistic creations, DanCoyote's place comes to mind. Perhaps it is just that the type of person who is attracted to SL in the first place is just naturally drawn towards these 3 endeavours. I am just wondering what else we can hope for......something that is, for lack of a better word, "beyond". What's the next thing?

What has SL taught me?

Don't fall in love until you've seen their genitals.

Sad, but true.

Kam

Things I've learned:
If you expect beauty, seek it out (there's plenty of it) or create it yourself.

There's a part of me that actually does enjoy shopping for clothes, shoes, etc. This came as a complete shock to me and was triggered by looking for decent men's clothing in SL.

Likewise, there's a part of me that enjoys dressing nicely. Yet another shock.

Wonderful, friendly people are everywhere.

It's a sad fact that much of SL is actually a damning testament to a general lack of imagination. There's nothing to be gained from getting worked up over dross, it's just part of life. Seek out things that interest you or else start them up from scratch and see where it goes.

what i learned?

Human stupidity is like a bottomless pit.

More like a cesspool actually.

I'm really not surprised at the amount of casino's, sex sites, etc..you see here. I think it DOES reflect on the nature of humanity, and not always in a positive sense. Left alone, and with a purposefully free form rule set, what we see in SL surprises me not in the least.

Wait..no one told me this was meant to be a learning experience.........

I was actually thinking just the opposite, that RL is a damning testament to a general lack of imagination

All of our houses look the same, all of our cars look the same, every damn store in every damn mall has the same style of clothes in slightly different fabrics, in whatever colors the fashion industry has decided we are going to wear this year. Anyone who does anything "out of the ordinary" is considered rebellious and we've all been generally turned into a bunch of matching clones. If we want to be successful, we have to toe the line and wear the company uniform, drive socially acceptable cars, live in traditional houses set in neat little rows with the same conforming green lawn out front. Risk taking is frowned upon, conformity rewarded. Anybody who does anything daring and follows the beat of their own drummer is considered weird and "artsy," like it is some kind of disability that excuses their non-traditional behavior.

To me, the beauty of SL has always been that it is full of people taking chances, doing and being what they really want to be, without the shackles of RL conformity.

Real people are more interesting that animated dollies. Surprisingly, animated dollies often don't hide the real person behind them, and that can be a wonderful experience.

hehe, true - I have to agree with you there.

I am learning regardless of whatever liimitations I may think I have if I persist I can create anything, even if I fail numerous times.

I was hoping for some nice philosophical responses and we seem to be generating them.

*What has SL taught you about RL?*

It has de-bunked my feeling that the real world was farked up and run by those uncaring individuals owned by whichever sponser is paying the most...... SL has taught me that it can definately be worse.... much worse

*What has SL taught you about RL?*

A free market is more efficient than one with artificial subsidies and calculated rebates

In SL, where we can be whatever we want to be, whoever we want to be, and pretty much do anything we want to, we have the ability to explore things that in RL we might be too afraid or embarassed to consider. SL even allows us to do and experience things that are downright impossible in RL.

Given that sort of opportunity, SL has allowed me to expand my experiences and experiment with things I'd never have come close to in RL.

I have found that where I have ended up... how my avatar looks, acts, what I do in SL... is very close to who, what I am in RL. Just with the 'personality' turned up a bit and the 'social' filters turned down a tad.

So what have I learned from SL? I've learned that given the opportunity to do, be, experience absolutely anything, I end up very near to where I already am. And that makes me happy - it means my RL is not far off from what I seem to want.

-Atashi

That people in RL must be thinking about sex, and quite kinky types of sex, a lot more than I realized!

That in a world where the intellect reigns supreme, and physical beauty is easily attained by all, what determines success and attractiveness is very different. You can change your looks in SL, but you can't change your personality. If you have an ugly personality it shines through, no matter how pretty your avatar. And vice versa. There are lessons that can be applied to RL from that, I think.

It's actually opened my eyes to a lot of different things, and made me more a tolerant and open minded person in RL.

that many people either have, or imagine they have a huge number of problems in their Real life - that they never tell anyone except via Online freindships.

Or make them up.

Ive found im more gullible online than irl too. Which is saying a lot.

"What has SL taught you?"

trust is a weakness that people will exploit for profit
honesty and integrity leaves you penniless and alone in the night
some people.. in their hearts, are just greedy manipulators, who will use any weakness you confess to them as a "Friend" to blackmail and destroy you.

Treating business associates with fairness will make you the only person doing so... and will leave you reeling again and again when they screw you over.

in a world without laws and without fear of injury, with no courts to appeal to, people will do whatever they can "get away with".. including breaches of verbal and written contracts that wouldn't have been tolerated in the middle ages.

And always in their defense, they say "it's just a game".

SL has helped to reinforce the importance of my real life job - a government regulator.

Not a popular thing to be at times, particularly in this administration, which has caused me some despair.

But SL has helped to remind me that it really is a necessary function, to keep the greedy from ruining the environment and taking advantage of others.

Love transcends genitals .. now if it's lust you mean ....

Sorry if someone's covered that - I'm going to backread the rest of this thread.

edit: Ok, caught up. Many excellent thoughts here. A true cross-section of opinions which indicates a good representation of RL. What an excellent tool for testing RL, SL is?
Top marks to Isablan and Atashi and Misty - you've saved me some work there
Winter, I hope you find/found someone like my alt has met. We are there for each other and light each others lives. I'd introduce you to them but I want her/him/etc all to myself!

What has SL taught me? Very difficult .. all of the above?

Interesting point with the types of building in-world. Would it be accurate to consider casinos with financial value at one end of a scale, awesome landscapes and design with intrinsic value at the other end of the scale and the rest of us playing with our dream homes spread between?

What has SL taught me? Just how wonderful RL can be .. yes, that will do

No, I meant IN Love... not love generally, but that specific type of love of which sexuality is an inherent part. If you're able to transcend your own sexuality in such things, great. But many people can't. And when the object of the relationship lies beyond the borders of SL, deception about one's gender, when discovered, is a betrayal that is not easily overcome. Perhaps you can. I can't. Forgive? Yes. Still have deep feelings about the person's well-being? Yes. Still want the best for them? Yes. Still plan on moving the relationship to RL and spend the rest of my life with someone who lied to me about something so fundamental about themselves? Sorry, I just can't do it.

Kam

I guess it's boils down to what your looking for from SL.

My SL character is totally seperate from the RL person who does the typing for me. I always try to avoid any reference to RL and when I have to mention the person behind the keyboard, I refer to her as a different individual with a different personality. All of my in-world friends know that I'm a true SL resident with my own personality and I try to avoid as many, if not all real world ties as possible. The real world or, "Keyboard" person considers me as a kind of virtual daughter.

What I enjoy the most about SL is the wonderful friendships I've made! When ever we can, our group attends varios functions together. Dances, adventures, visiting new sites, or just good conversation. Some of my friends look upon SL as a real second life for their real word selves and that's fine by me! They don't mind transcending the barrier between SL and RL. For me, SL is my only existence and thats how I intend to keep it!

Understood Kam .. sorry for seemingly not understanding. You are right and you express it wonderfully.

Yes, honesty is vital to forming trust, even if it's in the form of mutually agreeing to maintain a barrier at the screen. There is I think, the dividing factor.

Many seek nothing further. The fantasy is the goal. For them the avatar they see is as real in their mind as they can be. Here I believe is the make or break point for many. Many can't handle it. No points earned whether one does or doesn't. Many simply don't want to go there.

For me, I care little what shape or form sits at the other keyboard. I don't need to know. I'm happy with the fantasy.

Edit: I'm missing one rather important point I realise some here do not know though regulars might remember.
Bilbo started SL living the dream. Then he brought in a couple of RL friends so had to revert to near true self.
Then was born my alt having 'bitten of the fruit'. My alt does not lie, does not cheat .. she lives her dream.

Have to second that. SL isn't a virtual world, it's a virtual boob-job or facelift - brings into stark relief the stuff you CAN'T or won't change, by letting you fiddle about with other things. Sl has taught me to be a lot more certain about my snap judgements, and that leopards don't change their spots; also that staying away from glass-half-empty people is a very good idea and probably means I'll live longer.

The glass may be half empty or it may be half full. what I want to know is, Who's going to wash the glass?