
Mr. Ferlinghetti at Koinonia, a Church of Christ establishment
There are churches, synagogues, and mosques in Second Life, but has the world itself shaped the community's beliefs on religion? According to a new preliminary study by a New York academic known in-world as Soren Ferlinghetti (university site here), very much so. Soren began compiling poll data last year, and just sent me the early results, and they're striking. He believes a larger sample will be needed, but "some interesting results, though, include the fact that nearly 50% of
survey takers would consider uploading their minds into SL if it were
technologically feasible," he tells me, "and the majority consider earthly religions
relevant to SL." Just as fascinating to me, 62% are open to the possibility that new religions will arise from Second Life itself (38% of those answer "Definite/Probably Yes"), and even more extraordinary, 68% would consider those new creeds as valid as established material religions.
Overall, the survey suggests a profound and pervasive sense of Second Life as a platform for transcendence. In that regard, it's amazing that 17% report attending an SL-based religious service once a month or more. In an unrelated academic survey, only 13.6% reported they regularly had sex in Second Life. Broadly applied, in other words, on average a Second Life Resident is more likely to be praying, than copulating.
Of course, the chief caveat is that this is a small sample, and likely a somewhat self-selected one. Fortunately, Soren says he'll soon compile a larger survey base, and I'll link to that when it's available. In the meantime, you can e-mail him about his research at this address. For now, I've published his current results in full after the break; it's a broad-ranging survey, covering usage hours, religious affiliation, even dreaming about SL. Read on, and offer your insights in Comments.