[sl/teen] My impressions on Interdependence Day V
Yesterday, I was given the opportunity to attend the first day of Interdependence Day V, a conference that’s taken place every year alter Sept. 11, 2001. This year, it’s taking place in Mexico City, which is where I live. =D
Why Interdependence Day? After the Sept. 11 happenings (in the US), a lot of people have focused on discussing terrorism, war and loss. This conference proposes to think about the consequences of it all on interdependence: the dependence of individuals, groups and countries of each other.
The reason why I was there yesterday is Second Life. There was a panel on the role of virtual worlds in this interdependence being streamed into the MG, and with participants both in-world and offline. It was very nice to see people that I’ve never spoken to but had actually heard of, like Mark Wallace (even if I didn’t recognize him right away). The presentations were brilliant. Sadly, a lot of the people in the audience, not getting to know the principles and practices in SL, were quick to openly classify virtual media as a set of banalities where all that 100% of the people care about is fashion and pornography.
The disagreement sparked a brief discussion (as there were severe time limitations); the bad thing is it prevented two of the virtual panelists from making their presentations, as the request for a time extension was denied.
I think that anyone who attended this panel has comments about it, including me, because it is an endless discussion; however, I have to admit I’m disappointed to see the refusal of major decision-makers and, above all things, people working in the academia of social science themselves refusing to listen to what people have to say just because it is based on a reality that they can not physically experience fully.
In my opinion, the problem is that virtual media are often seen by people who are unfamiliar with them not as media to get messages across, but as the proposal itself for as a solution to problems. I’d say that equals to saying, for example, that education is pointless because not 100% of the people who have formal education at some point in their lives take advantage of it or use it for the improvement of society. Still, that’s just my opinion, and this subject should be discussed and analyzed to death before drawing any strong personal conclusions. =P
To end, I just want to thank Global Kids and the USC, especially Rafi Santo and Tori Horton, for this wonderful opportunity. Now I hope I’ll be able to attend more SL and digital media-related conferences in the future. =D
Good luck to all the participants of the conference in the remaining days!
