Hi Arlo, after reconsideration I accept your point that 'realizing that the act perpetuated against the body only becomes perpetuated against the mind if it is allowed to do so' - (should the first perpetuated really be perpetrated?). However, only an educated, strong minded and intelligent individual would be capable of this rationalisation. I think the typical human reaction would be one of long lasting distress.
I am thinking of prejudice also; my view is that prejudice is generally our first reaction to a foreigner because the imperative to self- protection comes from our biological and social patterning; it is only after education and intelligent reflection that the perpetuation of prejudicial patterns can be broken down. I do not think 'that there is a "real self" behind all those avatars'. The self remains elusive and undefined. I am not troubled by this question but I am intrigued. I think Arlo has more substance and gravity than Aenea and I would submit that Arlo is more real to you than Aenea even though they both are representations of you. If you spend enough unbroken time with your Aenea representation your physical substrate will die in less than a week of an aneurysm; this is the most dangerous aspect of the virtual worlds - that the needs of the physical body are not met and it becomes weaker. I think this is why most people balk at the idea of developing a virtual self. However, as I have said before, I believe that virtual worlds will become more and more prevalent and that those that do not have such a world will be handicapped much more so than those that do not have access to email. Teleworking, banking, commerce, shopping, education and social networking will all be enacted through virtual worlds. But we must not forget the physical body. Regards -Peter 2008/9/18 ARLO J BENSINGER JR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Hi Peter, > > Of course body and mind are intricately related. We are organic beings. We > are > awash in organic sensations from the moment of conception on. No one, lest > of > all me denies this. What I am saying, and all I can refer to here are the > people I've know who'v dealt with this in their lives, is that realizing > that > the act perpetuated against the body only becomes perpetuated against the > mind > if it is allowed to do so. No one denies that rape, or torture, leaves a > lasting impact. But my point here is that this impact is validated, not > alleviated, by a culture that erroneously turns the "body" into the > "person". > Consider what a Buddhist Monk might say as Ron's pal Bubba is about to rape > him. Perhaps, "what you do to this body you do not do to me". We may be far > from this enlightened ourselves, but I think the "power of destruction" Ron > gives the attacker is one WE give the attacker. And I can only fall back on > the > people I've known who've gone through this to confirm that is how they > understand it. > > Again, if you are agreeing that there is a "real self" behind all those > avatars, can you tell me what you think that "real self" is? What are its > characteristics? How would you determine which is "real", Arlo in MD or > Aenea > in WoW, and why? What about Mark/Julia, which is the "real" self there, and > which is the "avatar"? > > Arlo > > > > > 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/ > 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/
