The Roadside Philosopher

Elephant in the Room- 2010 SLCC presentation Dialog

Pamala Clift — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:14:08 +0000

I didn’t get to go to SLCC this year in Boston, but still got to present via Machinima with Devon & Jenette presenting. We created my contribution with the following dialog.. of course the text alone does not do my voice over justice but hey.. it is here for you to review what was said for my part of the presentation entitled: Doing Business in Virtual Worlds: Virtual Relationships, Boundaries.

Dialog for the Elephant:

Thanks Devon, you’ve shared some depth and perspective to this difficulty we have as business and education consultants.

ah… wait a sec.. I cant see you?

*jumps out of her chair*…

What the heck is this.. *Sheesh* it always seems when I am trying to talk business this … this ..thing fills my office?

It is large,

Massive

Seems immovable..*pushes and grunts*

NO one is going to listen to me with this blocking the conversation…

*turns to the camera with the back of the elephant behind her*

*camera zooms out*..

Yeah, Yeah I know.. you guys think I have an elephant in my office..

But this is in every office as you try to talk business in Virtual Worlds..

*Starts drawing on the elephant*

It stands there as we try to pretend it doesnt exist, but in the back of the minds of all clients their excuse ready: “I don’t think this will be good for us because of the um , issues, um … S….E….X that is here. It will be too distracting ”

Ta Da… so here is our problem.

*picture of me pointing to the elephant*

Do we cover it with a blanket an hope they wont notice?

*standing on top of the elephant*

Do we brush over it lightly pretending that it is only a fringe concern?

* upside down looking from under the elephant*

If we don’t do this right we will find that it will carry our dead bodies and efforts away to the pixelated burial grounds.

*me being carried over the tusks*

So lets call it straight, the elephant is in the room, so lets offer it peanuts and use it as transportation?

*riding the elephant*

Sex is in the real world, it is pervasive but often used in a subtle way. Companies use it all the time, in ads for sales and for conventions.

“Lets have our convention in Vegas” Oh really and you want to go to Vegas cause it has a good library do you? *giggle*

The company chooses Vegas because of its entertainment in an number of NOT business-like venues.. So how would they handle such a convention? How are boundaries established and maintained?

They would establish guidelines. You go to the convention and you will attend at least 5 of the 20 sessions offered. You will not be intoxicated while attending. You will not wear the company’s logo anywhere you don’t plan on selling the product.

You would give them warnings about what is currently going on in the city..

News Flash: “2nd south has been hit by a rash of muggings this last week so avoid that area.”

More News: “Reports of local STD cases are up by 80%. Reporting is complicated by the large number of visitors who may be asymptomatic until returning home.”

In other words: Be a good representative of the company. Keep your head clear while conducting business for us.

What you do not tell them is how to conduct their personal life. You do not tell them: “Don’t date strippers.. do not drink, do not make a scene.

You are not in charge of their personal life.

_____

Companies cannot hold them responsible for activities outside of company time and designated areas. but they can make guidelines and expectations of their employees.

Just as in Real Life, behavior for a Virtual professional avatar needs to be just that, professional.

Exploration of this exciting new medium may be better handled with a personal avatar, lest misconduct reflect badly on the company.

Zindra, segregated by Linden Labs is devoted strictly to adult content, no company avatars should ever be found there. However there are still regions in the regular areas with adult topics and content. Care must be taken.

And yes, there have been instances of people allowing virtual relationships to impact their real life.

Knowledge is power. If work moves in-world, you need to offer both guidelines and information about how a connection made in this environment can be remarkably powerful. As Devon illustrated, preparation is required in order for those guidelines to be followed.

Help is available for employers if they wish to go further into the psychology of the experience and structure assistance employees that will have more than transcient contact in world.

There are multiple psychological perspectives a person can have in a virtual enviroment, all valid but they can be potentially disruptive. They should be made aware of disassociative, immersive and augmentative states and their triggers.

We have been in-world for awhile, if we are here at this convention.. I doubt there is anyone here that has not felt themselves drawn into a relationship that has been edifying and upon occasion become unexpectedly damaging. We need to assist others that this is not an unconventional occurance but it is one that if warned about can be dealt with.

Thanks for coming to my office and letting me have a bit of input here at the convention. But for now.. I have this nice elephant that is going to take me on a ride.. *hehe*.. talk to you all later..

Rides the elephant for a sec.. out of the shot.

Added Piece:

What is believed by outsiders to be a little cartoon world is obviously MORE for those who have experienced it.. and it is not the idiots who fall into immersion. Very intelligent people are capable of projecting themselves into this environment.. I have met many executives and brillant academics
who, after projecting themselves successfully into the virtual world, ..have fallen in love, .. have found somethng that was missing in their lives. They now desire MORE.. they see possibilities.

This can be a powerful realization to someone who has felt a hollowness in real.. to be offered refreshing water to a thirsty person. However, we only have a virtual environment to run that desire against, limited bandwidtht that does not contain all the components that REAL would incorporate.

It can be very disruptive… That does not mean this enviroment is not valuable for relationships and understanding.

Roadside Philosopher @ home in the Think Tank

Education.. pfft..

Pamala Clift — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:34:06 +0000

I have not added a new post in quite some time, but the added time I have gotten since my work decided that I am too outlandish to work there full time has given me time to focus on my passion.

So within Second Life I work to help people think. A little broad I know, but we seem to be lacking in that, as of late. Too many people are stuck in “Well that is how it has always been done. -You can’t change the system.- What you value isn’t assessible.” motif. So I try all available networks to see what I can do to stimulate independant thinking.

Not; this is what you are SUPPOSE to do, but why are you doing it?

Does it work for you?

If it doesn’t, why do it? Who does it help to perpetrate a model that has no real validity?

This type of talk is what gets me in trouble. That means those who have been successful in the game of education have NO motivation to change..only the consumers can validate a new direction. The current model is not working. Our current education is a farce.

We now live in a world that is moving SOOoooo fast that by the time you have learned something well enough to teach it.. It is out of date. The current model of multiple choice testing of questions created in an enviroment back in 1985 really has very little use RIGHT NOW.

Right now we need to know what to do. How do we assimulate the tools available and maximize our ability to filter and use that information.

Gone is the authoritarian classroom that says, “I am the teacher and you will ONLY gain this information if you sit and listen to me.” Do we really need to know it if it is Googlable?

We do need to know “how to use it.”, “How to filter it”, “Why it is of value”. We need to be able to think, to discern, to put puzzle pieces together and to share our findings with the global community.

My proposal, as caustic as it will be taken- is: Get rid of our current system. Take all the money that is thrown down the toilet maintaining the status quo and the many buildings, tenured professors and resources and redirect it. Make it paramount that the infrastructure is devoted to developing bandwidth to every home with a computer that can support the many new tools. And I do mean many tools so they are available to all. Education for all will be these items… Not buses to a classroom but a virtual classroom. Use webcams, virtual worlds, blogs, games, websites, search engines and make each person share with the world knowledge base.

Any time logged on in any engaged field could be noted. Let them choose where they wish to be engaged. Maximize the geniuses in say.. astronomy, those who like word puzzles, art, creative writing, race cars. Why force someone who can construct a pyramid in their thoughts to hear the history of British authors?

A person so logged into this type of a system as they mature will allow us to see their areas of curiosity their skills and where they might possibly find the greatest satisfaction. We have a world with so much information that no one can say they are all knowledgable, so to get any expertise early focus of those with that propensity needs to devote their focus.

So the problem then becomes, “Well how will we know who is an authority?” Get rid of degrees. They don’t work. I have worked with PhDs. I have worked with the PhD students. They are free labor and an internal validational community that allows professors to force feed their perceptions on their students or you-don’t-get-your-degree workhouses. They are not inspirational locations for thought. What they produce? Well… “gulp” .. what I can say without resorting to obsenities is they are NOT producing what was orginally intended.

Replace degrees with “Propensity to Learn Rating” How fast can you learn? What is your ability to take information and make them into a usable workable idea? To network and gather a team to support it? Yes, you would need some basic courses to force feed some technology, mathematics and basic terminology, but what we need are couses that teach HOW TO LEARN. Then give a rating of areas of emphasis that shows how many hours you have engaged in the speciality.

I have become a great fan of TED talks. And I am going to end this with a link to this one as something thought provoking. Charles Leadbeater has done the research and has come out to wave the flag for reform as have many others. We can only pick up speed if we can unify and over throw the tyrants we have given our life and our childrens life over to… I call for revolutionary reform!

We have a target market of children who wish to learn and are computer literate and virtually more savy than their parents or instructors and with short attention spans. We want to maximize the use of our resources. We no longer need cookie-cutters of ourselves. Lets provide them with a means to answer their curiosity and give them their launching platform to soar.

http://www.ted.com/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_education.html

Thanks

Your humble Roadside Philosopher

Presentation Power Point Slides from SLCC 2009

Pamala Clift — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:24:38 +0000

Here is my power point presentation on the Realities of Virtual Relationships

Opening video for SLCC – Virtual Cruise

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:55:29 +0000

Here is the opening video that runs at the beginning of my SLCC convention presentation entitled:

“Shhh, The Realities of Virtual Relationships”

Enjoy!

You’re married – NOW what?

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:21:53 +0000

I have been in SL now for over two years. I was never going to make the same newbie mistake again with getting married. It was a fun feeling with that special feeling which reproduces the elation of young love, but too many use annominity to hide things that cause pain later. I am not going to DO THAT again! No, not me… sheeshI have watched my friends and those that I have performed marriages for as “Priestess of the Universe” and the bottom line is that boredom sets in and the average marriage last 2-3 months. This causes all sorts of trauma at least for one partner as illusions are shattered. Whether this is caused by infidelity, lies, broken promises.. the fact that your wife is really a guy.. or whatever .

You both go thru the giggles and freedom of trying out all the beds, position animations and other stuff you would never do with just anyone. That can keep you both busy for awhile on the quest for the perfect…ah.. exstacy.

I have then watched the evolution of those who have gone thru getting a place decorating it, then building a house, buying land and then a sim, opening a business and then even starting a family. All the role playing factors that are available as projects that could be coupled oriented. But, alas, these all come to an end.. same animations, did that, done that, got the t-shirt.

So the choice is.. bring the relationship into real and start THAT never ending transition of disillusionment or??…..What?

So brillant me I would skirt the whole issue.. knowing that relationships only last about 3 mo.. I set my wedding three months in advance. Said I wanted to build the perfect fairy tale castle for the wedding.. figured by that time he would get bored with me and no harm ..no foul. Alas the man has staying power and we were married Jan. 3, 2009 at the Castle Happenstance declared Mr. & Mrs. Bombastic for all the world to know and view on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xiii1RsR-Q

So now what? I have already had a business, already learned to build my creations..already have …umm.. cough coughed enough to know what was available. So how do I keep the excitement and thrill of our marriage going?

The current solution.. A World Cruise!!! We both liked to travel. There is the SS Galaxy Cruise ship in world where we have now rented a cabin and I have decorated it with great class with only 200 prims.

There are tons of World Cruise itineraries out on the web. We have picked one that will take at least 3 months. We each take every-other port and do the following.. smile.

On the Web find out these facts:
1. What language is spoken at that port?
2. What currency and current exchange rate?
3. What tours are offered from that port?
4. What form of transportation will we use to get there?
(this has been particularly fun since you can buy bikes, and taxis and surf boards or roller skates..hehe)
5. What souvieners do we want to make sure to look for at this locale. (Hey, marajauna is legal here!..lol)
6. How do you ask: “Where is the bathroom?”

B>On YouTube find videos of the things we wish to see or tours to take.
It is totally amazing!! This has not been hard at all..Something for almost anything.
1. Find up to three. (We have a YouTube TV inworld that we view these on together as if we were really there. “Can you believe that guy wore those shorts in here?’ and other silly comments)

C> Now that we have selected the tour we wish to do at this port..lets find a reproduction of it somewhere in-world.
1. This can mean a name sake of the place or just somewhere that has a rainforest to explore or horses to ride…whatever tour you have selected for that port. You dont get long at each port on a cruise.
2. Buy an outfit and the transportation and get the link ready for when your partner comes in world. When it is your turn to lead the port activities..hand off your purchases and selections & try them out. This can be a giggle in themselves(example: as in devil island I decided to make prison garbs for us. (first time I am making clothes using a texture map).

On sea days we can view the ocean(use the eviromental editor here to get a host of amazing sunsets and water shimmers) and talk about rl and catch up on what is happening in our non-common hours together or explore the boat and their many activities.

We chose an ancient civilization itinerary so we have history to discuss as well for each location we plan on visiting.

D>Finally since this is our World Cruise honeymoon.. We have to take pictures of each location.

1. Go out to Google and find a spot that typifies that location bring the photo in world and make a backdrop that you raise or lower in dimensions until you get the proper proportion and then select a pose off of Rendevous and take a couple picture, pull it into photoshop, name it and date it and put it in a photo album book to keep forever.

There is no end of things you can learn and explore together, and thanks to the Internet, YouTube, & Google map.. of Earth and the universe..WOOT!.

Hence, maybe, JUST maybe.. we will break some sort of record for a happy SL marriage. A learning experience with someone you love..a giggle with new ways of looking at things. How can it get any better than that?

SL & RL Cross over

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:14:18 +0000

Ok down to the nitty gritty… How and what crosses over from SL to Real.

Sigh…It is hard to say things when you know that it will be taken badly. First let me try to define SL and RL love.

SL love is based on spirit to spirit connection that uses this electronic medium to merge two souls on an intimate level, sometimes more intimate than a RL love. No biological or physical interference with health, wealth and habits.. just plan and direct soul to soul…thought to thought. I imagine this could be very much like what happens when we leave our biological avatars for the other side. It can be a pure total connection sacred, kept in that environment, and honored as such (It is a real type love)…OR

It can be a total ruse..someone playing a role..pretending and saying what is expected to be heard. If both parties understand openingly that this is a Barbie and Ken playworld there can be much enjoyment in that and still a viable connection grown out of that roleplay.

As a counselor for SL couples these are the things that throw troubles in the way of the relationships.

1. Trust-since anyone can remove the view from their name, come in as an alt, miss communicate their intentions..(yes this happens in text, voice..just like in real)…or just out and out lie.

2. Boredom- you talk about just so many things, share your RL and your hopes and dreams.. build a house together, maybe a cartoon baby, club.. start an organization… Eventually there is really nothing left to do.

3.Desire for cross over-The very voicing of what we would do together in real adds an element of real life that will now complicate the SL relationship.

Real life love is an extremely complex issue with physical attraction, body odor, age, health, height, habits, wealth, family obligations etc etc. all playing very intense components. Relationships get discarded cause one is a bad kisser or the other one talks to much on the phone, or bites their nails. Real life love suffers from trust and boredom issues as well. Real world love has complexities they just have not worked into SL. What is for dinner? Who is cleaning the bathroom? But there are alot of things that bring two people who have committed to each other together to fight the opposing forces. The work together over time that builds a lifetime of common experiences, is still very rare in real.

My best advice is keep that sacred bond with your SL love, cherish it for the level that it is.. don’t ruin it with trying to cross over.

If you wanna establish a RL friendship that is doable..but do not expect the passion that is felt from your perfect imaginated lover to cross over for more than a few short hours.. RL limits will beat it down.

Keep it for it’s value.. cherish it and enjoy all the RL changes that feeling love can do for your RL body, but keep it in SL.

OK.. ducks and covers.. I am ready for the barrage of disagreement.

August 8th Meeting – Augmentation or Immersion How should we Play within SL?

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:06:29 +0000

The next meeting is 8am at Pamalot for the Roadside Philosophers

The subject that is up for discussion is Immersion or Augmentation.

Do we play as if we WERE our avatar and treat others as if that is so.. or do we look at it as another avenue to explore and try out new things?

I think we need a scale that tells at what level a person is playing in the game… From I think of my avatar as Mario Brothers 1.. to 10 If you do it to me in here you are doing it to me in real!

Society in the Bedroom- July 25th – Meeting Roadside Philosophers

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:57:57 +0000

The YouTube video of the exerpts of the meeting…adjust volume for different speakers…sorry

The July 25th Meeting on Society in the Bedroom

Click on the name to activate above link…Lets hope this works..smile

Black and White of Life? Ummm?

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:18:33 +0000

The Universe

Black & White of life? Umm?

Posted 5/9/2009 7:17:31 AM

I just had a person describe for me their perception of life. On a flat service he said.. this side is light and this side is black and in the middle are all the shades of grey. If you just stay here on the light side and dont travel in the grey, all will be ok.

Well that might be ok if this were the 14th century and the world was indeed FLAT, but we now know that we live on a sphere. There is no beginning and no end on a sphere. When we travel it can be a straight line in OUR perspectiveONLY… but it will NEVER be straight cause we are on a sphere… we will be traveling with the curvature of the earth or we will be traveling OFF it.

So is there a black and white of life.. maybe.. but I see it as the universe. The creator gave us the blueprint of our existence. We lay on our back at night and stare up into a clear sphereical universe that is mostly black.. some grey.. and our eyes and our hearts naturally travel toward the light. They travel from one dot of light to another just like a moth to the flame…. we all desire some light. (there has been some conjecture in science that the universe is a halogram of a sphere with a finite end)

In the past our ancestors spent an awfully long time looking out into the universe, so much so that they created for themselves pictures to tie in the dots and called them constellations. There are some that say astrology will perdict what happens to our life. Well if it does.. I don’t personally believe that there is anyone on this little planet that has deciphered THAT code cause again we only see it from our one perspective. But I do believe it is our path of life and self discovery to connect the dots of light that we see, to make some sense of our own constellation of existence.

So what does that mean? That means this life will NOT let us stay on our one little dot of light. We can not stay sheltered in the belief I have the light I will travel no more. Our job is to play “Connect the dots”! So if we keep trying to make a straight line unwaivering … the atmosphere of the sphere of light that we are ON…. will eventually fade as we travel and we will be in the grey then the dark.. forced by the universe to endure hardships and difficulties that we previously concluded were outside our realm.. Because we WERE in the light? What happened?

You are traveling…learning … understanding…

But damn it … IT IS DARK OUT HERE! I feel alone. My light is gone. What do I do?

You can connecting the dots!.. smile.. Some of the journey will be dark, a vacuum, lonely.. but that is ok.. IF
You can fix your sites on the next light. The faster you can reset your focus, the faster the dark is only part of the journey. But if you spend all your time trying to recreate and morn over the light that just past? It aint gonna happen. You will continue being in the dark, feeling alone.

You have no choice… your journey’s speed is fixed.. you will progress thru this linear time of life at a fixed speed. There is no going back. The person that learns to control his vision and keeps searching out the dots of light in the universe, chooses his own time to leave the atmosphere of his current dot of light… is happy..and can avoid some of the “drop off into darkness feeling” that happens when the journey into the blackness occurs.

The journey when you step back is interesting in itself. How this dot connected to this dot. .. You could have never predicted. It is all a grand interesting entertainment. Relax and enjoy the journey.

The Growth Process

Pamala Clift — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:01:46 +0000

The Dawn of Understanding

You know as we grow in real life we have progressions, when I was a child I thought as a child type thing. You almost see the same type of growth occur in SL life.Babyhood: You come in game and you are fascinated to learn how to walk and tickled to death to find a cool Da OH dance, trying to learn to dress yourself and hit all the buttons to get from here to there.

School Age: As you learn to be part of this world.. you start building relationships and people you like to hang out with.

Teenagerhood:Here you usually develop a relationship that becomes precious and you start to explore the more intimate ways to convey and cement those feelings. This/or these relationships eventually end and the shock and disillusionment hits. What the HEY? People can be just as mean, misunderstandings can hurt just as bad.Many leave world at this stage not being able to accept disappointments and pain anymore in here than rl. Why put up with it? One world’s disappointments are bad enough. If they stay…

Adulthood: Here perspective is gained. You see the good and the bad points of the world, separate your heart from the experience and start to explore your options. This usually takes the form of some creative muse. Building a group, or building in general, designing clothes starting a business or club. Always relationships coming in and growing us as we and they touch. Discovering the fascination that comes from learning and knowing new people.

Old Age:Your inventory is bloated, your just as happy to give things away as to get them. You talk about the good old days when 25,000 on line was alot.. You look thru the many pictures you have and the lifes you touched and have touched you and you are greatful for the ups and downs and the wonderful option this world of SL has granted you.