Location: Somewhere in the Real World
By Beeble Baxter, Guest Writer

Sure, digitality is great, but biology rules – literally and figuratively.
In spite of media hysterics, for most folk, cybersex cannot be as exciting as actual physical contact, and the sound of the wind in SL will never bring us the inspiring scent of local wild rose or honeysuckle.

Second Life cannot protect us from WMD’s, the Avian Flu, or extreme weather. No technology will be sufficient to eliminate the many deadly threats to our fragile biology in uncontrollable Nature. We might be better off learning what we can from Nature instead of denying and destroying it. In The End of Nature, Bill McKibben tells us that, even with reduced global output of greenhouse gasses, we have already knocked natural patterns out of their ancient orbits, and the radical changes in the weather we are already beginning to experience are just the beginning.

Ironically Second Life, rather than being a place of digital denial and emotional retreat, could be a major player in addressing these challenges before us, and most importantly, evolving a new world where playful creation and collaboration are the reigning values rather than greedy grabbing and competition.

Sure, in SL there are plenty of people making money, and there are others involved in digital war. But there are also hundreds of thousands motivated by nothing more than their enthusiasm for the project or a playful curiosity and a desire to make contact and community with others in this new realm. Already there has been democratic resistance and avatar revolts in Second Life over the balance of power between coders and avatars. Already corporations have been subverted in their hope that well-conditioned consumers will provide free advertising in exchange for a few digital trinkets. Already, people are breaking out of boring old patterns of competitive behavior and experimenting with bold new collaborative ones.

I love experiencing Nature with my body, but Second Life is a captivating and exciting realm that may just be a powerful tool to build a better, smarter, more responsible world where we can continue to revel in the sensuality of Nature without fear of sudden destruction or disaster.

PS from Iggy O: I find the snap I’ve “borrowed” from Beeble’s Blog haunting and lovely in a sad way; It’s a meeting between him and an avatar named Faith.

This snapshot is wistful, all “wrapped in bones of setting sun,“ to quote from a Decemberists’ song, “Grace Cathedral Hill,“ that I’ve been listening to a lot, lately. 

McKibben is right, we are wrecking the real world, and it can be a big, scary place. I see that when I meet sad and lonely folks in-world; on occasion we get to touch their lives, virtually.  Maybe that’s a benefit of SL, too; if we learn to be kind there, perhaps it’s practice for the real thing.

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