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I will participate tonight in this interesting debate on Immersionism vs. Augmentationism. Topic: These deep thinkers, all fairly well-known for their positions on immersion vs augmentation, will have an energetic debate about their differences in opinion.  Expect the conversation to touch on issues such as avatar rights, voice verification, and avatars as legal entities.  This is a debate you won’t want to miss! Come to Orange Island tonight.

Updated after the event. See the picture above and some thoughts on Digital Persons, Immersionism vs. Augmentationism.

Please join us at Orange 1 (200, 200) in Second Life on Thursday, February 28th, for a day of discussions designed to explore just a few facets of Second Life culture, including a public debate between well-known residents on the topic of immersionism versus augmentationism.  IM Jade Lily for a teleport or use the landmark below:

Orange Island - Lower Plaza, Orange 1 (199, 211, 21)

Agenda at a Glance:

Thursday, February 28th
9:00 am PST:  Music in Second Life: Past, Present, and Future
10:00 am PST:  The Impact of Rules and Protocols on Community Behavior
12:00 pm PST:  Relay For Life: Diverse Avatars for a Common Purpose
1:00 pm PST:  DEBATE! Immersionism vs. Augmentationism

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Music in SL: Past, Present, and Future

Topic: The music scene in Second Life is growing rapidly, with more than three hundred artists performing regularly. We’ll take a look at how performances have changed over the years, what the current trends are, and where music is headed into the future of SL.

Speakers:

Kandi Valkyrie
Cylindrian Rutabaga
Kourosh Eusebio
Komuso Tokugawa

Rules and Protocols

Topic: This panel will take a look at the creation of space and communities in SL and to what extent they are rule-based and why, as well as the impact that rules and protocols have on the behavior of the community members.

Speakers:

Michi Lumin
Tao Takashi
Meja Milosz

Relay For Life: Connecting Cultures with Common Purpose

Topic: This presentation will introduce the Relay For Life campaign, which has raised more than US$170,000 over the past three years for cancer research and patient programs, and will illustrate how many diverse communities have come together, bringing their unique ideas, for the common purpose of fighting back against cancer.

Speaker:

Jade Lily

DEBATE! Immersionism vs. Augmentationism

Topic: These deep thinkers, all fairly well-known for their positions on immersion vs augmentation, will have an energetic debate about their differences in opinion.  Expect the conversation to touch on issues such as avatar rights, voice verification, and avatars as legal entities.  This is a debate you won’t want to miss!

Speakers:

Tom Bukowski (moderating)
Gwyneth Llewelyn (immersionist)
Sophrosyne Stenvaag (immersionist)
Hiro Pendragon (augmentationist)
Giulio Perhaps (augmentationist)

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Basically, my own attitude is derived from these two points:

1) I don’t take Second Life seriously as a parallel life. Someday online Virtual Reality technology will be able to offer fully immersive sensorial experiences and real options for a parallel virtual life, but we are not there yet. That is why at this moment I see Second Life only as an excellent communication tool. This may and perhaps will change once next generation VR technologies become available.

2) I try to live by a few very simple principles: live and let live, everyone should be free to do absolutely whatever she wishes as long as she does not do concrete harm to anyone else, victimless crimes are not crimes, and one should enjoy his own favorite lifestyle instead of criticizing the lifestyle of others. I also think we have demonstrated that Immersionists and Augmentationists can be good friends and collaborators as long as one respects the choice of the other. So I also do not take very seriously this Immersionism vs. Augmentationism division.