Questions on Robins reading

• Are virtual narratives (like Everquest, WOW) more compelling than virtual spaces (like SL)?

• What is the relationship of virtual worlds to the real one in terms of real world conflicts like: ethnic conflict, resurgent nationalism, urban fragmentation

• (from p. 83) the self was formerly associated with the sense of a life history or narrative, it was a cohesive whole, a world view that valued continuity. This might be compared, in terms of public art, to what work in Grant Park?

• The self is now fragmented, it inhabits many domains that are disconnected, as a result there is a loss of the ethical dimension of life. What sculpture in Grant Park expresses this idea?

• VR spaces replace traditional community gathering places (in the face of the loss of informal spaces)

• (from p. 85) – Virtual empowerment encourages a sense of self-containment and self sufficiency. It involves a refusal to recognize the reality of others and to be involved in relations of mutual dependency and responsibility. Gamers seem to say the opposite. Which is true?

• Without directly meeting others physically, our ethics languishes. The machine interface may amplify an amoral indifference to human relationships. Can you think of examples?

• (from p. 86) Virtual worlds are presented as a utopian project. They represent an ideal and universal form of human association and collectivity. (Yes? What language is most used in SL? English? Does this represent a form of colonialism?

• (from p. 87) Virtual interaction is about adjustment and adaptation to the increasingly difficult circumstances of the contemporary world. We may then ask how adequate or meaningful it is as a response to those circumstances.

• To what extent can real space and real communities be replaced by virtual space and communities?

• Virtual spaces and communities and Disneyland (Perfection) have a lot in common.

• Virtual worlds are ordered, but disorder is essential to a real world.