Dwell On It

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

-Proverb

Of course we all know that we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover – a person by their appearance, race or colour – because they couldn’t choose or change that, right?

Well, ahoy Second Life!

How can racism, chromatic prejudice or appearance-based bigotry survive in a world where we may all change our face and form and colour at will. From human to robot to animal to ball-of-light to…whatever we please.

“What you see is what you get.”

-Proverb

To whatever we please is the key notion here. The shape you choose says something about you (as does your Second Life last name). The choice is not unlimited, and neither are our selection criteria, which further limits the options.

You won’t see Tateru as a dancing pile of poop – because I wouldn’t choose an appearance like that. Even if you change avatars and appearances at will, on a whim without care for the content, you’re exposing yourself. Because you’re the kind of person who would do that. The act shows your personality – perhaps more clearly than settling on a single avatar and sticking with it.

The green, red-headed, hairy, overweight misshapen dwarf in lingerie who appeared about two thirds of the way through my class… Is he going to disrupt it?

Answers on a postcard.

In RL we power-dress, and accessorise We select clothing, hairstyles, make-up that projects an image, and makes us feel more confident, in-control, relaxed, whatever. The psychological feedback effects on us are clear, well-documented and very powerful.

In Second Life, we do that with our whole bodies. We not only clothe our avatars, but make them short, tall, old, young, male, female, black, white, blue, green…whatever.

When we present ourselves in the outside world, we select our clothing based on our personality and on the image we want to project. We flip through magazines, watch films and television, and oftentimes select an outfit based on a celebrity or fictional character whose image we want to project. It colours our thinking and allows us to more readily assume the qualities and traits that we want people to see in us – whether we think those traits are there or not. Sexier, cooler, more confident, jaded…

In Second Life, we can turn the volume up.

“Are you ready to rock and roll?”

-Star Child

But appearance isn’t the only factor here. Just as telling is the dichotomy, when the words and actions of the person don’t match the avatar you see. Again, you’ve exposed a bit more of yourself than you realise.

“On the internet, everyone knows you’re a dog.”

-Modern Proverb

Second Life last names fall into a similar category. Given the list, many of us chose a specific name for a specific reason. And many of those reasons are the same – though there are always some exceptions. Look at the Overlords, many of whom turned out to be troublesome and/or underage. Or the Alphabetas whose name was first on the list – many of them chose the name because it was first, and they had no special preference. Random choice, of name or appearance still says something about you. Everyone knows you’re a dog.

The more we try to hide ourselves, the more obvious our inner selves become to everyone else.

“It’s funny how heterosexuals have lives and the rest of us have ‘lifestyles.’”

-Sonia Johnson

And that brings us full circle. Residents aren’t, of course, prejudiced about colour, appearance or race. They’re prejudiced about the personalities, priorities, creeds, and conscious or unconscious motivations that that cause us to select those colours, appearances or races.

Oftentimes it happens out of ignorance – but more often from a bipolar certainty about the world. If you’re right, then I’m wrong. Certainty allows for no half-measures, or shades of grey, or complex multi-dimensional decision surfaces. If you’re not right, you must be wrong – and that would be intolerable.

That’s the sort of thing that breeds crusades, jihads, oppression based on gender or sexual orientation, Christmas guilt syndrome, or widespread griefing of furry sims. Just plain, pig-headed certainty that your choices and your views are the right ones, coupled with an unwillingness to question and re-evaluate your position, and a touch of insecurity about your fundamental self-worth.

But don’t take my word for it. Use your brain. Look around you. Think. Question yourself and your actions, and look at things from someone else’s point of view whenever you can.

“With all things and in all things, we are relatives.”

-Sioux saying