RightAsRain, I think we do agree on most of the bullet points. I think where we may diverge is in the sense of a loss of freedom that is in SL due to the governance of the Lindens.
I think of the current metaverse as a wild west like it was for a short time in the building of the USA. People had freedom but there was danger in that freedom as well. As more and more people moved out west, law followed and individual freedoms shrank and personal and societal safety increased.I recall when the internet first mushroomed in popularity that there was a resurgence as there were in other times in history, of a sense that, done right, this brave new world could be a utopia. The world though, is filled with flawed human beings, so all the grand experiments in forming a utopian society throughout history failed for one reason or another. Also present was the sense that the internet was free, and like the wild west, there was no law.
In every society that man has known, there was government formed to keep order and provide justice. From hunter gatherer to continental powers we have today, government's fundamental purpose is to maintain order so that dense populations of people hvae the greatest possible freedom balanced against the restrictions that maintain safety. Open Sim may be, if can carry the analogy along, more like the early days of the wild west. Linden's Second Life is like the west after government and common folk moved in. The freedoms are more in Open Sim, but that will change in time to be more like SL is today. It will follow that people will shape a similar society to what exists in most of the developed world today. In my opinion, of course, and that goes without saying.
My point of view is mine; some may agree, some may not. To each their own, we all have valuable things to add.
I believe we agree
Wed, 05/20/2009 - 01:11 — Insight HomewoodRightAsRain, I think we do agree on most of the bullet points. I think where we may diverge is in the sense of a loss of freedom that is in SL due to the governance of the Lindens.
I think of the current metaverse as a wild west like it was for a short time in the building of the USA. People had freedom but there was danger in that freedom as well. As more and more people moved out west, law followed and individual freedoms shrank and personal and societal safety increased.I recall when the internet first mushroomed in popularity that there was a resurgence as there were in other times in history, of a sense that, done right, this brave new world could be a utopia. The world though, is filled with flawed human beings, so all the grand experiments in forming a utopian society throughout history failed for one reason or another. Also present was the sense that the internet was free, and like the wild west, there was no law.
In every society that man has known, there was government formed to keep order and provide justice. From hunter gatherer to continental powers we have today, government's fundamental purpose is to maintain order so that dense populations of people hvae the greatest possible freedom balanced against the restrictions that maintain safety. Open Sim may be, if can carry the analogy along, more like the early days of the wild west. Linden's Second Life is like the west after government and common folk moved in. The freedoms are more in Open Sim, but that will change in time to be more like SL is today. It will follow that people will shape a similar society to what exists in most of the developed world today. In my opinion, of course, and that goes without saying.
My point of view is mine; some may agree, some may not. To each their own, we all have valuable things to add.