There was an article in NYT on Second Life, the online digital world and I thought it was pretty significant how much (just thinking about it) expands our thinking horizons. It essentially allows for a better understanding of our own world ( in my mind). As people log-in, societies are born. At some point they will also start to look for ways to organize - socially and economically. The exchange of goods and services take root, money is born, markets are born. Perhaps people would like to establish rules that would regulate their lives, and entrust the making (and enforcing) of those rules on some people in particular, and governments are born... and perhaps citizenships are granted... we get the message, I think it is fascinating to think about the possibilities within that digital world - it takes me back to 2000, when while in El Sitio, a 3D world was created (I thought about this endless world of possilbities), but with dial-up internet in LatAm, it was far ahead of its time:
Excerpts from the article:
When people are given the opportunity to create a fantasy world, they can and do defy the laws of gravity (you can fly in Second Life), but not of economics or human nature. Players in this digital, global game don’t have to work, but many do. They don’t need to change clothes, fix
their hair, or buy and furnish a home, but many do. They don’t need to have drinks in their hands at the virtual bar, but they buy cocktails anyway, just to look right, to feel comfortable.
"What does Second Life say about us, that we trade our consumerist-oriented culture for one that’s even worse?"
Second Life, a three-dimensional world built by hundreds of thousands of users over the Internet, is also being used for education, meetings, marketing and more obvious game playing.
Many residents have lived the American dream in Second Life, and built Linden-dollar fortunes through entrepreneurship.
You use a credit card to buy Lindens, and Lindens earned during the game can be converted back into dollars via online currency exchanges
Nobody can go hungry, there is no actual need for warmer clothes or shelter, and there is much to do without buying Lindens.
Big corporations like Toyota have set up islands in Second Life for marketing. Calvin Klein came up with a virtual perfume. Kraft set up a grocery store featuring its new products. But those destinations are not popular.
"These brands that have this real-world cachet are meaningless in Second Life, so most are ignored
But the more mundane items are what really drive the economy: clothes, gadgetry, night life, real estate. "People buy these huge McMansions in Second Life that are just as ugly as any McMansions in real life, because to them that is what’s status-y," Mr. Wallace said. "It’s not as easy as we think to let our imaginations run wild, in Second Life or in real life."
Land is the biggest-ticket item in Second Life, with Linden Lab selling islands for $1,675, plus a $295-a-month maintenance charge.)
"The money is in the real-looking stuff: making skins with red lips and smoky eyes, and stiletto boots," said Ms. Hawkins, the Second Life fashion writer. First comes something popular, then the knockoffs. Soon everyone has one. "People go for similar looks and similar things," she said.
you think in Linden dollars. When something is expensive, even though it comes out to a few dollars, a lot of people don’t want to spend that much money."
Although Linden dollars can be bought with a credit card, there is evidence that the in-world economy is self-sustaining, with many players compelled to earn a living in-world and live on a budget.
Surprisingly, many take on low-paying jobs. They work as nightclub bouncers, hostesses, sales clerks and exotic dancers for typical wages of 50 to 150 Linden dollars an hour, the equivalent of 19 to 56 cents. A recent classified ad stated: "I am looking for a good job in SL. I am sick of working off just tips." This job seeker listed potential occupations as landscaper, personal assistant, actor, waitress and talent scout.
Second Life players are evidently discovering what inheritors have struggled with for generations: It’s not as much fun to spend money you haven’t earned. Apparently, despite the common lottery-winning fantasies, all play and no work is a dull game, after all.
"People don’t take jobs just for the money," said Dan Siciliano, who teaches finance at Stanford Law School and has studied the economies of virtual worlds. "They do it to feel important and be rewarded."
It’s not just vanity that drives people to dress up in Second Life. It’s also seen as good for business. Ms. Fitzpatrick, the landlady, says she doesn’t really care about how her avatar looks. But she cares about what prospective tenants think. "I felt I had to go, finally, and buy the hair and the suit," she said, "or my customers might think I’m too weird."
THE stock exchanges and banks in SL are imposing, but they are unregulated and unmonitored. Investors fed Linden dollars into savings accounts at Ginko Financial bank, hoping to earn the promised double-digit interest. Some did, but in July there was a run on the bank and panic spread as Ginko A.T.M.’s eventually stopped giving depositors their money back. The bank has since vanished. With no official law and order in Second Life, investors have little recourse.
Some Second Life residents are calling for in-world regulatory agencies — the user-run Second Life Exchange Commission has just begun operating — and some expect real-world institutions to become involved as the Second Life population and economy expands. "It’s a horse race as to whether the I.R.S. or S.E.C. will start noticing first," Mr. Duranske said. ■
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