“Joan, you’ve gone too far!” my First Life writer friend said after reading point 4 from my previous post. “You can’t tell writers they can learn to fly—or whatever!—by watching a cartoon avatar move around on a computer monitor!”
Thankfully, we were on that old-fashioned social-networking device called the telephone, so he didn’t see my self-righteous grin. “Whatever,” I said, “right back to you! I can too!” (By the way, neither of us are young enough for such childish behavior to be acceptable, but, oh well.)
Another “real” virtual experience: After my friend Agate (right) and I danced the Whirling Dervish on OSHO SL Meditation Island, we left feeling as if we had indeed just practiced that awesome form of meditation.
He may be right when it comes to flying a 747 jet, but he’s wrong to see such a separation between the avatar inside the computer and the human outside it. Just ask the scientists who study visualization and the professional athletes who practice it.
I didn’t get the connection right away. Oh, I did notice a few things:
- As my “cartoon avatar” wandered about Second Life on that flat panel in front of me, gazing across a wide, empty landscape, it was I, the human, who felt lonely.
- When an avatar friend appeared, it was I who felt joyful.
- When a “griefer” pushed my avatar, I was the one who experienced a flash of fear—despite the fact I was safe at home in my recliner, my dog barking, a cat curled up at my side, the humans in the household making racket throughout the house.
Then one day, my avatar friend Clarissa Tolsen suggested we go surfing. Now, I live in the very middle of the North American continent, so far from surfing waves I didn’t even see one until I was into my second decade of life. But I love to watch surfing, and I adored the late great HBO series John From Cincinnati, so I donned a swimsuit and off we teleported.
So okay, I didn’t get wet; I didn’t break any bones the numerous times I fell off my surfboard. But I glimpsed the skill it takes to pick just the right time to catch that wave, the muscle strength needed to guide the board, and the thrill of watching the beach zoom up to you as you ride atop a wave. Nor was it mere intellectual knowledge—my human muscles were almost as sore as if they’d done the work, and my brain exploded with the endorphins that come from an accomplishment like that. I’m not gonna sell everything I own and move to a run-down motel in Imperial Beach, CA, but if I ever do have the chance to try surfing in First Life, I’m not going to laugh it off like I would have before.
That’s when I realized what was really going on with Second Life. It’s one gigantic creative visualization exercise!
When I immerse myself in an SL experience, I’m doing what professional athletes have done for years: develop their skills by visualizing themselves actually performing the sport; what some medical professionals encourage their patients to do: visualize themselves well; and what even music teachers suggest to their pupils: visualize playing that guitar and you’ll master it a lot sooner.
There’s no shortage of studies proving that visualization works. Heck, it’s even being used to clear up acne!
So I may never surf in First Life, or fly an airplane or sail a ship, but if I need to experience those or any of a thousand other activities in order to write about them, Second Life will be my first resource.
What about you? I’d love to hear about your “real” experiences in Second Life!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting concept – and one I’ve believed for a while. I just learned today that the US has an olympic training location for swimmers that has a contraption that pulls the swimmer through the water faster than they are currently able to swim. The person explaining it said it was to get the person used to that feeling. I think that there is more to it than that!
Thanks for sharing that information, b52. I’d not heard about that training mechanism you mention. But I do think athletes are way ahead of the rest of the world in understanding that the brain doesn’t distinguish between “real” (i.e., physical-plane) experiences, and “imagined” or visualized.
Glad you stopped by!
Joan
That’s a really cool idea. I haven’t come across this though. but I really want to try it out and see. thanks for the information. Cheers