I understand what you two are saying, but I don't
see the mix-up or the seemingly loss of translation
between virtual and real. For one, the distinction
between intellectual and social that seems to have
founded this spin-off into these current posts on
virtual and real.
Intellectual patterns will compound ideas upon
ideas, and these ideas are some of the intellectual
patterns. Then we've got these social patterns, and
they are not intellectual patterns. So we can use our
intellect all day and night to define what the
distinction is, but social patterns will draw the
line, and that line drawn by social patterns is not
drawn by intellectual patterns. The intellectual
patterns pointing at the social level, is the same as
intellectual patterns pointing at the moon. The
pointing intellect will at some point have to cross
over into social patterns to fully realize that side
of the distinction, and when the intellect does this
'cross over', the intellect will not be at play
anymore. It will be the direct experience of social
patterns that more fully will have a handle on what
social patterns are. Lived experience on all the
levels will help answer their distinctions. Sure
intellect will need to reason and reflect in a more
mindful way as to what these social patterns are, but
without the direct experience of social patterns for
the intellect to know by experience that's the same as
me trying to say I know Paul, but I'm SA. Dq (direct
experience) unites the level and the levels into their
pragmatic understanding.
What does this have to do with virtual and real
below? Well, I don't belong to these 'virtual worlds'
so I really don't have much say about what seems to be
a big impact on people's understanding of
life/reality.
woods,
SA
> [Krimel]
> Exactly! You make a point eloquently that I have
> been clubfootedly
> attempting to make since Day One. Welcome to the
> darkside my friend. I have
> withdrawn from Norrath for now. Frickin' user
> canceled my account. Case and
> I hope to return to virtual life someday...
>
> Perhaps another game? Perhaps...
>
> [Krimel]
> Gibson, who has been uncannily right about such
> things, maintains
> that in the not too distant future people will be
> unable to
> distinguish time spent in the virtual world from
> time spent in the
> "real" world.
>
> [Arlo]
> I'm choosing my words deliberately here.
>
> I was hanging out in Tanaris the other evening,
> which lies in the
> southeast corner of Kalimdor. Some call this world
> "Azeroth". I
> wasn't really doing much, indeed, I could have had a
> more fruitful
> evening had I been spending my time in Ironforge
> learning new skills,
> or trading in the auction house. Or even spending
> time in Darnassus
> with other Night Elves. But instead I find myself
> drawn to the
> aesthetic of the Tanarian landscape. It reminds me
> of Cairo, or
> rather, what Cairo must've been at some point in its
> long history.
>
> In any event, I wasn't doing anything more
> productive than fishing
> for Stonescale Eel off a little pier near
> Steamwheedle Port. Pirate
> activity to the north has shut down the shipping
> lanes, and the pier
> is vacant except for a few other fishermen, and the
> occasional
> traveler looking to explore uncharted territories in
> their personal
> maps. It was here that I met Lyra, a shaman from
> Azuremyst. It was
> with some trepidation she approached me, being
> somewhat lesser
> experienced than I, and careful not to appear
> foolish or naive.
> Nonetheless, the quandry she faced was overwhelming,
> and so humbly
> she introduced herself and asked if I would be
> willing to lend assistance.
>
> Mostly because of her grace, and because I was
> intrigued by the
> challenge she was facing, I agreed to do what I
> could to aid her in
> her task. As we rode south from the pier into the
> open stretches of
> desert, towards the very southern-most coast, I got
> to know a little
> about Lyra. She has an alter-ego she calls... well,
> that's
> unimportant. This alter-ego lives in a place she
> calls "Australia",
> and spends her days doing IT work for a medium sized
> company. We talk
> a bit about Midnight Oil, politics, beer and
> truck-trains. Happily,
> with my help she is able to complete the task at
> hand, and recover
> some goods pilfered by the local pirates. In
> celebration I offer her
> a tankard of Dwarven Stout that has been in my pouch
> so long I wonder
> if it's still good. She asks how my alter-ego can
> stand drinking the
> watery pilsner associated with my alter-ego's
> homeland. I ask myself
> the same question.
>
> A short while later I am surprised to hear her
> whisper to me again.
> She wants to know if she could add me to her list of
> acquaintances
> she looks for when things become too hard for her to
> handle alone. I
> tell her I would be honored, that finding others who
> share interests,
> who have fascinating tales to tell, who can offer me
> perspectives on
> the world I am unable to get elsewhere, well that is
> why I was
> fishing in Tanaris in the first place.
>
> Like other dichotomies, the distinction between
> "real" and "virtual"
> may be clearly seen from high above, but as one
> descends closer and
> closer to the border, one sees not an absolute line,
> but a blur, a
> fractal-line where "apparent" distinctions become
> problematic. We can
> attempt, of course, to continually redefine these
> categories as we
> move down into more precise ranges of focus. But I
> think we'd find
> that this becomes an endless task, as each time we
> move in from one
> definition, we'd have to restart the process. Or we
> can step back and
> realize that our grand dichotomy is useful for most
> activity, but
> that at the heart of the matter, what is virtual is
> indistinguishable
> from what is real. Indeed, we ask falling back to
> the
> Brain-in-the-Box, how do we know that we are not the
> virtual reality
> of a still greater ego?
>
> I may never meet the flesh-and-blood alter-ego of
> Lyra. Indeed, I may
> never meet the flesh-and-blood alter-ego of
> "Krimel", or "Ian", or
> "Craig". But I have fond memories of that night
> fishing in Tanaris,
> just as I have fond memories of my days "fishing" in
> this reality,
> the World of MOQ-craft.
>
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