Middle Passage Discussion

About two weeks ago, I visited the Middle Passage experience in the Saminaka sim. Today, there was a follow-up discussion led by Acuminous Watanabe, a psychologist in RL, for those who went through it to share their impressions. Like me, others were affected by what their personas went through--being ripped from families and their homes, and the confusion and inability to communicate in this new foreign place where they were treated so horribly. One thing we all agreed upon was SL's positive aspect as a medium with which to be able to share something like this and be able to discuss it--despite the painful aspects it brings up. I believe, and will continue to believe, that SL helps us to see past barriers we might have in place in RL and see one another as persons--no matter our ethnicity or anything else.

RP/Themed Communities Discussion

I logged in early today to attend a discussion on RP/Themed Communities in SL, hosted by Nokia. It was mainly conducted in voice and I listened in, but the text chat was just as interesting as the attendees, who represented some of the most well-known themed areas on the grid. Those of us from Steelhead and Caledon 19th c sims were well-represented...There was a contigency from The Wastelands, whose leader NeoBokrug Elytis also attended. From Caledon, there is Duchess Gabi on the left and Her Lyonesse, the Duchess Kamilah to his left...
Representatives from the Hogwarts Harry Potter-themed sims...
Members of the military sims Ordo Invictus...
And here is Baron Wulfenbach, wearing my custom Europan-style ensemble. The event was held on Lunar's incredible build of his airship...
Sure, I could sit here and talk about it being some corporate pick-our-brains marketing event blahblahblah, but you know, for me it was extremely interesting having such a diverse group of RPers and themed sim citizens all in the same place like that. There should be more discussions like this among the themed sims, given that we actually have a good deal in common.

Sophrosyne's Salon: Between the Covers w/Tom Buchowski & Hamlet Au

At today's Sophrosyne's Salon in Extropia Core, as promised, both Tom Buchowski (RL: Tom Boellstorff) author of Coming of Age in Second Life, and Hamlet Au (RL: Wagner James Au) of New World Notes and author of The Making of Second Life came to discuss their books and inworld insights...Tom is an anthropologist at UC Irvine and Hamlet is a journalist. Different methodologies, but both have to be observers of their world. To me, they both really touched on two common things about SL...that it is both a culture and a place. SL does have its own culture/s and standards, despite our language, ethnic, national or even species differences. And it is also its own place in a way as well as to come inworld, it is like consciously choosing to go to a destination (despite how hard it can be to do so sometimes!)

Sophrosyne's Salon: "NASA Looks at Virtual Worlds"

I love space and astronomy. So much so that a series of my RL artwork is based upon NASA/ESA Hubble photos and astronomy/theoretical physics concepts. So today's salon in Extropia Core about NASA and its presence in SL was very interesting to me. The speaker was Universa Vanaltern, who works in the Strategic Communications office at NASA HQ in Washington, DC.

She spoke about how NASA is using its CoLab as a way to experiment and collaborate by giving scientists, employees, entrepreneurs, and engineers from all over the world a place to work on projects. The Space CoLab group is open to all, and the CoLab is open to visitors, especially on Tuesdays, when there is a welcome at Noon SLT.

"Education is about inspiring the next generation of explorers," Vanaltern said. She spoke more about the challenges of making space exploration important, NASA's projects, and how NASA has helped create innovations that have been helpful in other fields such as medicine. But to me, one of her most interesting statements was about investing in the future for mankind: That NASA gets 6/10 of 1% of the federal budget, yet the usual advice is that one is expected to give 10% towards your retirement/future planning.

I love the idea of NASA being present and able to use SL as a medium for collaboration. If you would like to come to one of Sophrosyne Stenvaag's salons, they are usually held at 1 PM SLT on Saturdays. You may also check her blog or the Extropia Core main site for future events.

Sophrosyne's Salon: "Coming of Age in SL"

Being a SL explorer, I am always interested in discussions about interactions and the various sub/cultures that exist here in SL, so when I saw a notice for a salon held in Extropia Core by Sophrosyne Stenvaag, I had to attend. The speaker was Tom Buchowski (RL: Tom Boellstorff), who is a RL anthropologist at UC Irvine who did an ethnographic study on SL and as a long-time resident himself, wrote a book entitled Coming of Age in Second Life.

He found that he had to change very little about his research methods and that it has been hard to get his colleagues and others to see past what they think SL is, as well as the stereotypes of people inworld as such things as "geeks, loners or elitists." I asked him to tell us about the broader patterns that he saw and he was excited, saying the following (in brief):
1. Place: Our world is a persistent environment that goes on whether we're logged in/out and it is not bound by physical law
2. Time: "Synchronic sociality" and how despite our worldwide physical locations we have to come together at the same time. PST is the virtual worlds' GMT.
3. Embodiment: Flexibility of how we can present ourselves literally in any form and how alts challenge that by being multiple embodiments.
4. Techne: I personally found this concept the most fascinating point."Techne" is a Greek concept of "craft", as compared to "episteme", which is knowledge and science. As a RL & SL creator myself, his notion of how the virtual worlds' emphasis on "techne"/creation could become central to social relations and interactions/beliefs was really thought-provoking to me.

Please visit his site (above) for more information about his work, and if you would like more info about the salons and Extropia Core, please visit their site as well.