Music: Wait by Get Set Go – From the Music of Grey’s Anatomy
          [ Download mp3 here ]

Sometimes, information such as these defeats my being a tech geek when I am posed a question I can sadly only answer with, “huh?”

But let me see if you can defeat me:

Do you know Second Life?
[   ] Sure.
[   ] Huh?

Second question:

Is your information of Second Life NOT anything remotely related to the after life and karma and all the other celestial information that buddhists would like to talk about, if not something so inspirational it could merit a new paperback from Mitch Albom or Og Mandino?
[  ] Uhm…no. So I got it wrong?
[  ] I was pertaining to the preservation of the body for use in the future.
      What were YOU pertaining to? [Damn you medical geeks!-JC]
[  ] Who’s Mitch Albom?
[  ] Who’s Og Mandino?
[  ] What the fuck are you fucking talking about?!

Okay kids. Let’s get back to our usual ramblings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

The term Second Life or SL, if you were able to beat me at Google, is a virtual world created by Linden Research Inc.  similar to the UI of Sims except instead of hosted in your powermachine and cooped up in your OWN virtual world, SL attempts to bring it maybe five notches further by elevating the environment and hosting the information on the internet. And just when all the neighbors you used to grope in Sims (hah! Huli ka!) were unresponsive simulated coded characters, in SL, they might just thrust and twist a knife in your innards—yes, they are responsive, not because they were programmed to, but because they are actually manipulated by real end-users all over America as well.

There are two kinds of accounts: basic (free) and premium. Basic accounts can let you own a character and get them around the places, but premium accounts lets you have a lot of your own which you could utilize to make a house you want, plus it lets you in on some clubs that sort of require vip entrance (vip being the premium). So it’s almost like Sims meets Ragnarok peppered with all the commercialism. Yesss… doesn’t the concept excite you? It was released only about between the last quarter of 2006 and Q1 of 2007, but it has so far garnered so much media attention and commerce that it has become the biggest, hottest thing since sliced bananas. Drop your Sims II like a hot potato–and run like you’ve never even heard of them before.

You kinda wonder, how hyped can it really get? Well, given that everyone doesn’t want to look like they’re attached to their barbies, SL gave users the power to make all users vain and beautiful by creating 3d characters that look exactly like them, with modifications under the users’ hearts’ content. They go around and socialize, create their own reputation, and even live their lives as they’ve never imagined it could be. And the best thing about this is, it’s fueled by commercialism. Yes, kids, in SL, you can actually have your own money converted to Linden money and buy Nikes. Yes, Nike has its own store in SL, and so does Wired, Cnet, Reuters and other stores. You can even pay for an espresso for your character, which you will only be seen bringing around in your hand.

Hmm. Intangible commercialism at its finest.

Ger and I are still marvelling at the minds who created this. She chanced upon the segment on NatGeo while she’s sweating on the sit-ups. She suddenly couldn’t recover from the hype of its technological ingenuity. Yes, folks. If you were fat, ugly, stinky, incommunicable, and a little soft around the corners, you’ll be the instant hunk of the virtual world by buying your character a good hair cut, tan, 6 pack, contacts, and even maybe the newest Nikes, then pay for your premium account to get access to the best club spots, and boom, you’re the talk of the town. Talk about an instant turn-around. This is the perfect world. This is…your second life.

Di ba. Parang epilogue lang.

Of course, it’s not JUST about the technology. This, is the evolution of intra and interpersonal at its finest. We hear of Second Life stories of people who never left their desktops yet managed to communicate with someone about 4 hours of time line difference. They were able to create cliques, choose their online buddies, and even build their families with a few clicks of the mouse and maybe a couple of hours and electricity burned. A couple married in SL, and when they finally met in person, they decided to get married as well.

Technology gloats of making a gateway for easy connection. Log in to a chatroom, and you find a soulmate. You create a networking profile, and a bunch of people add you up and voila, it’s instant connection. Someone from New York finds you while you’re in Asia – yes, it’s instant connection. You log in to SL and immediately, you make friends. People, say it with me: instant connection.

The question posed, is how much exactly does technology allow for connection?

Let’s bring up the fat person. He creates an identity that’s totally opposite of what he is, maybe a hope of performing someone else’s life. He meets someone and connects. Since his information isn’t exactly coherrent with his virtual make-up, he creates an identity within. He becomes someone he likes. He becomes someone he wanted to be.

He becomes…someone else.

How about a truthful person? Someone logs in at three am. She meets another person, chats with him, and exchanges thoughts. But the suppresion of free flow thoughts, the loss of spontaniety, the personal interaction–all are masked by the wall that is the monitor and the cyberspace. When understanding relies on mere interpretation of the words on the chat, and emotions are based on smilies.

It’s not that I mind. Personally, I have been a fan of online chat as well. But as how SL has been described, it is addictive because of the fact that they do get to live their lives how they want it to be in this simulation, to a point that, maybe, it’ll even be their lives. Hmm. come to think of it, it IS the whole concept of SL–it’s not about winning, but having fun with your second life.

Or, as some non-gamers would say, the players should get a life—and the geeks would then retaliate: if our lives WERE better, then why the hell would we be playing it in the first place?

True, true.