[staff] GK in Netherlands to Pursue International Justice Through Second Life
Last month Rik and I made a trip to the Hague in the Netherlands to pursue their involvement in our creation of the International Justice Center in Second Life. The responses we encountered to the concept of using a virtual world like Second Life for the public good was unexpected and surprising.
Rik, Nicola (our amazing point of contact at the court), and myself:
However, before I can get to that, I wanted to post about today's headlines, read in the national free newspaper within the cafeteria of the International Court a half hour before our meeting, making fun of recent U.S. efforts to track terrorists... in Second Life!
Watch the video to hear the translation. It would be funny if, as an American, it wasn't so embarrassing, as well as indirectly implying that nothing "real world" or "serious" could be occurring in this "game":
This press encounter is what I am used to around Second Life. Either a dismissive attitude towards Second Life (the reporters), an irrational response to overblown concerns (the U.S. government), or, in the case of this article, both. What surprised me about the responses to Global Kids' proposed use of Second Life, over the course of four meetings with three organizations, was the striking absence of either.
It seemed clear to all with whom we spoke that virtual worlds are just another viable media with which they should be engaged. No one asked about sex in Second Life, or the presence of gambling. No one suggested that it was too different or weird to expect regular folks to use, or too otherworldly to tackle real world problems.
Rik and I were prepared to make the case for the relevance of virtual worlds as a vehicle for social change and education, not prepared to have to reign in people's imagines as they explored with enthusiasm the various ways our project could support their work - whether it was for lawyers around the world, journalists covering the court, or the workings of the court itself.
It was very refreshing and helped the project get off to a tremendous start.
The question, of course, is why? Why were all of these ex-pats in the Netherlands able to approach this new medium without prejudice and lacking the protective cynicsm I so often encounter? If you have thoughts, please post them below.
