We Interrupt This Program...

No picture for this post. No event or person to talk about. Nothing like that. I'm waxing philosophical.

Second Life is a huge social experiment. I would guess that it has not evolved as Linden Labs intended. They merely uncorked the bottle. The genie spilled out, and the world has taken on a sort of evolutionary, swarming, artificial intelligence.

The value of Second Life is in its openness. The freedom to explore - not only a virtual world, but one's self, as well. You can truly be all you can be in Second Life. There are no limitations. There are no inhibitions. Only a few liabilities. Social constraints do not apply. The rules are lax. You can be free to live dangerously... to live life on the edge. What happens in Second Life stays in Second Life. It's kinda like Vegas.

Sometimes, shit happens. You become immersed. You lose perspective. Second Life becomes real. Real life is pushed to the background... a dark blur in your periphery. Maybe because First Life sucks that week... and Second Life is more fun. It can be unhealthy. And when you start taking Second Life too seriously, your Second Life friends notice.

This Social Experiment called Second Life slaps its residents around, from time to time. Usually, it is momentary unpleasantness. Then you go on living your dual life, like nothing ever happened. Sometimes, it leaves a small scar - a reminder to watch your step in the future.

Most of the time, though, Second Life is a fascinating virtual world. You make real and lasting connections... develop attachments to virtual friends from different countries around the globe. You can work, side by side, with these distant friends - creating fantastic virtual landscapes. Global, virtual collaboration! Bringing together people with different cultural backgrounds and completely different lives to accomplish something beautiful. How cool is that?

Second Life removes political and social boundaries. It removes distance. It sets everyone in-world on equal footing. It is a fantastic socio-cultural learning experience. The "place" of others in this world matters not. It's about making connections with diverse people. This is something that, not long ago, was not possible in any meaningful way.

I yearn for this type of philosophical discussion in-world. So many people see the whole thing as a toy or a game. On the surface, it is... but the power of diversity is at hand. Don't let it pass you by. Interact. Talk sociology. Talk culture. Philosophize. There is a world of knowledge at your fingertips. Give a little, and take a little.

Linden Labs must tread carefully with their creation. Their genie has escaped and evolved. The social experiment is in the wild. It cannot be stopped. The genie can't be put back in the bottle and the bottle cannot be capped. Nor should it be.