[Marsha] Gee, and I thought this was a forum to explore and discuss the MOQ in all its many aspects.
[Arlo] It most certainly is. But this does not make it any less a "virtual reality game" than "Boy Scouts", World of Warcraft or "going to the University". Of course, I am using the word "game" along the lines of James Carses' "Finite and Infinite Games", not to reflect some "competition" with "winners" and "losers". But the "Marsha" here is no more real, and no less real, than "Aenea", the shaman you would meet if you ventured into the server world Cenarion Circle. Both are actively negotiated "virtual" identities, and both facilitate some form of social interactions that are meaningful to all those involved. Ron mentioned "caring", and I think that misses the mark. I, too, care greatly about the issues discussed her. And I care deeply about the experiences I have when riding the woods of PA. Indeed, I'd argue that the investiture we have in negotiating an identity here reflects the care we bring to the table. But the "avatarness" of "our embodiment" in this forum is is the same as our avatarness in "sitting at a bar" or "watching tele with the kids". Here is where you have to know I am coming from. I do NOT think there is "one real Arlo" who "pretends" to be a lover, biker, teacher, discussant, shaman, father, son, brewer, friend, etc. Each of these "selves" are as real and valid as the next, and are in fact the only "real" Arlo that ever exists. We often look at corporeal boundedness as "the real us", but even that doesn't hold water. We consider the "name" we use to be the common thread, but names are arbitrary. If I moved to Montana and started using the name "Bill", am I being dishonest? Why is "Arlo" my real name? We adopt continuity because it serves to maintain and foster long term social relationships, but this continuity is not based on some un-negotiated, un-avatarness "real me". My "name" is whatever you and I agree it will be. And whether its "Arlo" or "Bill", and whether I am a "lover" or a "son" or a "tavern buddy" or a "teacher" or a "student" will depend on the negotiated social relationship between us. Same here. Same in Second Life. Same "in the real world". Its all an ongoing dynamic flux of social negotiations that are forever contextually bound. The only "real Marsha" is the Marsha I know, just like for your children the only "real Marsha" is the Marsha they know. And they may not be the same. But to assume one is "more real" than the other is to wrongly denigrate one, while wrongly elevating the other. We privilege corporeal, biological, physical existence, but that privilege is not inherent, it has just been convenient (so far). Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
