Chapter . Diving into the Deep End

 

“Each world while it is attended to is real in its own fashion.”

 
 --William James, The Principles Of Psychology, 1890
Diving into the Deep End

Merlot Masala, Second Life

When a user logs on to Second Life, they’re presented with a bouquet of default avatars to choose from and then customize. In the early days of the system, the default avatar was a rather plastic-looking male or female character. It was bland, Caucasian, and brunette. It was simply dressed in jeans and what might be taken as a cotton T-shirt. This expressionless vanilla avatar quickly reminded one of Ken or Barbie. But it allowed people to enter the system quickly and ...

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