Emilly Orr

I am henceforth stealing "Occupying slightly less space than yesterday" because it will vastly puzzle my friends.

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Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.
~Pema Chodron

Void

adds:
(in)effciently converting oxygen to carbon dioxide
... depends on how active you are at the time...

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- These eyes can do more than see

sldenizen

Interesting contrasts with other European languages: The French casual <<comment ça va?>> and German >>wie geht's<< (short for <<wie geht es Dir?>> both mean "how's it going?", and are probably close to "miten menee?"

The Russian >>Как поживаешь?<< on the other hand is way more personal, meaning something like, "how are you being healthy?"

Now I'm really drifting off topic. Sorry.

Cayenne

I'm not an owl .... or anything else I might portray on SL. I don't care who knows what I am RL. The thing about me is that I am consistent -- doesn't matter what I wear. As someone that doesn't mind putting it out there (I don't care who knows how old I am, what gender I am, etc .... ) I'm stunned that so many take issue with "the line". I have no trouble speaking to men dressed as women, women dressed as men - gay, straight, tg, ts, frogs, wolves, furries, asexual, androgynous or alien - doesn't make a difference to me.

When I put on an avatar (I think of them as outfits, costumes?) ... It never occurs to me that someone would wonder "gee .... is that av really a ninja in RL?" or that not saying "I'm not really a ninja" would be deceptive on any level.

Gender and/or orientation is not important to me - it isn't important to me real life. I do, however - have an appreciation for folks that know themselves and can operate in all worlds as who they are (or perceive themselves to be) without fear, confusion or shame ... "you are what you are and you ain't what you ain't" ... even in SL. I like kind people (not to be confused with "polite" .. I usually want to smack "I'm polite" people). If you have a stack of internal issues high as the Washington monument and want to use people to sort through your self deception ...err .. I mean discovery, yeah -- we aren't likely friends to begin with

It seems there are different attitudes on this issue that center around whether or not you engage in RP. I don't have a character -- I have a virtual representation of me (that can take a thousand different forms - but the voice never changes - in any world, on any platform.)

"East is east and west is west - and never the twain shall meet."

No one perspective is more erudite than another. No right way, no wrong way. SL is a world, and as such - is an open and large enough playground for every type of personality whatever that personality might seek to gain from it -- it can be as real or as unreal as you like. Like minds are waiting at the next teleport.

Amelia E

If someone wants to use SL as a platform to be exactly like themselves in RL, more power to them. If they come with the expectation that everyone else must do the same, or that they have some inherent right to invade other people's privacy, they can bugger off with that shit.

The internet at large, and SL in specific is not a safe place for such literal-minded people, because, guess what? People aren't always truthful, don't share your expectations, aren't required to disclose anything to you, and aren't responsible for protecting your delicate sensibilities. Stick to RL and be sure to ask those prospective acquaintance for that DNA profile.

Da5id Weatherwax

I think it might even run a little deeper than that. If I may presume to rephrase you a little... "If a person wants to only express their RL outward aspect in SL" - The point I'm trying to make is that all of us have multiple aspects to our "selves" and I would be far from surprised to discover that the vast majority of SL avatars that somehow "dont match" the RL typist, whether in personality, gender or anything else, are simply expressing a different aspect of that RL person more strongly than would be possible IRL. (and before you ask, the borg is my corporate workaholic aspect) I'd even go a bit further and be prepared to bet that the ones who differ from their RL and do it convincingly are almost CERTAINLY expressing a real aspect of themselves, even if that aspect differs from the outward RL person quite radically, in gender, in morals, in anything.

Expressing those other aspects are part of the value of truly immersive virtual worlds, IMHO In a place where you can theoretically be anything you want, you'll probably find yourself being a part of yourself you never even suspected existed.

Soda Sullivan

I would say the person you were speaking with has not truly immersed herself into SL. I have heard that opinion several times myself, and always come away feeling that SL is nothing more than Facebook with prims to them.

I agree with most of the comments on here and would go one step further. I did not intend for it to happen, but i did find myself in a very romantic relationship with someone in SL. Now, i know very little about this person in RL, including their gender. At first there was curiosity, but after a while it was not even a thought. My feelings for this person were/are solely based on the person's soul and heart. Whether they have a peepee or a hoohoo in RL is totally irrelevant.

BTW, very nicely expressed comments all.

Anya Ristow

I swab the cheek of everyone I meet. It's an interesting conversation starter.

LuciaRiley

I don't care what gender someone is in SL unless we're gonna hook up IRL, or do something sexually then. xD Hell, even then I'd still hook up with them. I like guys and girls both in SL and RL. The whole fooling people on the Internet thing is old news.