« Sneak Peek at Bryn Oh's Upcoming Second Life Art Installation, "Anna's Many Murders" [SLANE] | Main | New World Tech: Trimensional iPhone App Converts Face Photos to 3D Scans »

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Adeon Writer

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the right man for the job.

Arcadia Codesmith

My faith in determinism evaporated when I learned quantum mechanics.

But I like a man who takes the long view.

Srini

Are we still free ? Just acquired another screen in my apartment, an iPad 2. News full of "android and iOS both track you, have done so for years". http://tinyvox.com/eQy

Ignatius Onomatopoeia

Free will separates us from both beast and machine.

Right on with this post. About time for some of the essentialist questions that used to be part and parcel of the SL experience.

To readers who are relatively affluent, there's Schwartz's paradox of too much choice: at a certain point, the consumer cannot make a decision.

How much choice can we handle in a synthetic world?

Medhue

Well, I gotta say, I think I might like Rod better than I like Phil.

Ezra

I was impressed with Rod from the get-go because not only does he dream and enthuse big, he's proven willing to get pragmatic about it and actually write code.

One thing telling about the small games he's made I wonder about is how at least two of them can be played without a single mouse click, and are encouraged to be understood without consulting any help/directions.

Not sure if that entails much in particular, but it does exude minimalism, attention to usability and how such concepts derive from more than graphics and sound. Maybe.

Galatea Gynoid

I've never seen an argument against free will that didn't sound more plausible if you reversed it, G.E. Moore-style, taking free will as a "Moorean fact". An argument to an absurd conclusion does not prove its conclusion right, it proves the conjunction of its premises wrong.

I don't think our understanding of free will and choices will become narrower in the rest of our lives, but insofar as SL is a world of great choice and free will, maybe it can help people see how much they really do have, and dispel the illusion so many suffer from in thinking they lack it in their own lives.

DMC Jurassic

Honestly, I find the Gamasutra article somewhat puzzling. It is written with 1st person quotes from Humble mixed with 3rd person (interviewer) explanation. It would be interesting to hear Rod extrapolate more about these ideas in a personal interview.

[And, said Humble, 21st century cognitive science suggests that we don't possess much, if any, free will.] This is of course the 3rd person Gamasutra Interviewer relaying a Humble thought or information.

Then we get this:

"If you believe we do have free will then the evidence is not going well for your team," Humble said. "I think the science as it emerges is going to become so seeped into our culture it's going to hit us, and change our world view. And I want games to help prove that it is wrong. I would like to solve this problem. Because games are all about choices." Humble

~~~

I would add that Science, itself, is extremely broad in scope and carries many disciplines.

I would urge that one must be clear & careful when proclaiming that Science in any way limits Free Will.

Cognitive Science may in-fact observe and/or report a reduction in Free Will due to changes in observable Political Science that affects society. Yes.

However, even if Science slowly awakens us to some home truths suggesting that we may be insignificant compared in scope to that thing called, Universe, it is arguable that Science is more likely to have a liberating affect on Free Will in society rather than suppressing it - because 'Science' gives us a better understanding of the environment in which we exist or are operating within - be it real or virtual.

Free Will in conjunction with the power of computer technology and the Internet worldwide is perhaps one of the most dominant and disruptive new media questions of the modern age. Because the computer science and technology fueling free will at present is itself, disruptive against older mediums of communication.

Free Will through Facebook, YouTube and Twitter is being adopted by people to literally reshape the socio-political landscape of the world (i.e. in the Middle East) where people with Free Will are using such technologies to expose discontentment with their governments and establish systems in the hope of creating new realities for themselves and better life experiences.

How is Second Life's ability to present an alternative virtual reality or experience any different?

The real question about Free Will in the context of games and Second Life here is this:

How does HCI (Human Computer Interaction) reshape peoples' lives, reality and society at large by giving people more free will.

The challenge for Rod Humble is how does Second Life find a place among the Facebooks, Youtubes and Twitters of this world in a way that gives Second Life users a similar degree of free will and useful experiences to make SL part of their everyday lives?

And by everyday lives I don’t mean necessarily mixing real world and virtual world identities; even though mixed-reality for some and not others is a desirable free will expected too ;)

DMC Jurassic

CEO, Sciencefiction.info
Science Fiction and Sci Fi
Groups and Regions, Second Life.

Extropia DaSilva

Dunno about the eradication of free will, but Humble is certainly right that 21st Century Cognitive science is going to have a profound effect on both the individual and society. It's going to affect how we think about religion, morality, economics, the self and more.

Here's a fun little finding. In blind taste tests, if you ask people to choose between Pepsi and Coca-cola, most agree Pepsi tastes best. But, if you run a taste test in which the labels are clearly visible, most people say they prefer Coca-cola.

Looking at fMRI scans, when it is a blind taste test and the drinks are not labelled, Pepsi triggers greater activity in the reward parts of the brain. But when the labels are visible, Coca-Cola sets off more activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is involved in one's self perception. In other words, because you identify with the brand, the higher cognitive functions dealing with self-perception and brand awareness overrides the taste impression and makes Coca Cola taste better even though it is actually NOT as tasty as Pepsi!

Marketing companies are now working closely with cognitive scientists to make even more effective marketing campaigns, brands, etc. Will this lead to the end of free will? Perhaps not, but it may lead to your being influenced and not realising it.

cube

less interface interference... all else is just making machines.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Your Information

(Name is required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)

Thumb Wagner James Au Metaverse book
Wagner James "Hamlet" Au
Virtual_worlds_museum_NWN
Join a Growing Community Devoted to Virtual Worlds!
Avatar Life OpenSim world
Build a new home in one of the biggest OpenSim worlds!
SL yoga mat dutchie
Get Dutchie's SL yoga mat in solo & synced group / class versions!
Wagner James Au Patreon
Making a Metaverse That Matters Wagner James Au ad
Please buy my book!
IMG_2468
My book on Goodreads!
Wagner James Au AAE Speakers Metaverse
Request me as a speaker!
Making of Second Life 20th anniversary Wagner James Au Thumb
PC for SL
Recommended PC for SL
Macbook Second Life
Recommended Mac for SL
my site ... ... ...
ADD store SLurl
Visit ADD's SL mainstore, creator of sexy styles you want to wear!
Dream Seeker estates SL
Competitive rental rates, 24/7 English, Spanish & Dutch support -- visit online or in SL!
Intellivision game console book Tom Boellstorff Braxton Soderman
Get the latest book from the author of "Coming of Age in Second Life"!
Meow Meow Making SL flowers
An SL flower shop for all occasions!
Vmuseum NWN Ad
Click to visit all four sites!
Rapture
Original SL mesh fashion since 2014
Second Life virtual world coffee table book
Coffee table book available now -- click above!

Classic New World Notes stories:

Woman With Parkinson's Reports Significant Physical Recovery After Using Second Life - Academics Researching (2013)

We're Not Ready For An Era Where People Prefer Virtual Experiences To Real Ones -- But That Era Seems To Be Here (2012)

Sander's Villa: The Man Who Gave His Father A Second Life (2011)

What Rebecca Learned By Being A Second Life Man (2010)

Charles Bristol's Metaverse Blues: 87 Year Old Bluesman Becomes Avatar-Based Musician In Second Life (2009)

Linden Limit Libertarianism: Metaverse community management illustrates the problems with laissez faire governance (2008)

The Husband That Eshi Made: Metaverse artist, grieving for her dead husband, recreates him as an avatar (2008)

Labor Union Protesters Converge On IBM's Metaverse Campus: Leaders Claim Success, 1850 Total Attendees (Including Giant Banana & Talking Triangle) (2007)

All About My Avatar: The story behind amazing strange avatars (2007)

Fighting the Front: When fascists open an HQ in Second Life, chaos and exploding pigs ensue (2007)

Copying a Controversy: Copyright concerns come to the Metaverse via... the CopyBot! (2006)

The Penguin & the Zookeeper: Just another unlikely friendship formed in The Metaverse (2006)

"—And He Rezzed a Crooked House—": Mathematician makes a tesseract in the Metaverse — watch the videos! (2006)

Guarding Darfur: Virtual super heroes rally to protect a real world activist site (2006)

The Skin You're In: How virtual world avatar options expose real world racism (2006)

Making Love: When virtual sex gets real (2005)

Watching the Detectives: How to honeytrap a cheater in the Metaverse (2005)

The Freeform Identity of Eboni Khan: First-hand account of the Black user experience in virtual worlds (2005)

Man on Man and Woman on Woman: Just another gender-bending avatar love story, with a twist (2005)

The Nine Souls of Wilde Cunningham: A collective of severely disabled people share the same avatar (2004)

Falling for Eddie: Two shy artists divided by an ocean literally create a new life for each other (2004)

War of the Jessie Wall: Battle over virtual borders -- and real war in Iraq (2003)

Home for the Homeless: Creating a virtual mansion despite the most challenging circumstances (2003)

Newstex_Author_Badge-Color 240px
JuicyBomb_NWN5 SL blog
Ava Delaney SL Blog
Juicybomb_EEP ad