Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

     To be honest, a virtual world sounds a bit intriguing, yet there is a feeling of concern over the overall concept for me. A virtual world allows users to get away from their current life to experience a whole new lifetime with more opportunities, and basically, more acceptance of everyone. It’s something that I’m not familiar with at all, yet the overall model does share some similarities with video games that I’ve played in the past. I admit to enjoying MMORPG’s, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, which are video games centered around numerous concepts of fantasy and magic. They allow you to live vicariously through a character in a completely different setting, where the world is open to one’s imagination.

     Anyway, moving back to virtual worlds, there are some that allows users to experience a world other than this, and there are some that are a complete replica of the world we live in today. A ton of pros and cons go with the concept of a virtual world. Obviously, the reason why people actively participate in virtual worlds like “Second Life” is to live and experience another life that deviates from perhaps a repetitive, boring, and unsatisfied life they experience now. There are many things that we as people will not be able to do in one lifetime, and without real resources (money & time) limiting out opportunities in virtual worlds, players are able to do so without worrying about opportunity costs and trade-offs. In second life, as stated from the NY Times article “No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the Real You”, users can teleport to private islands and splurge on luxury brands that are the cyber equivalent of Prada waders or a Rolex watch.” Now one of cons of living in a virtual world is how addicting it is to live a life that isn’t yours. No matter how bad your life is in the real world, you will always be treated better in the virtual world, where you have money, friends, and time. It creates a positive sensation that pulls users to customizing and spending more time on the virtual avatar – sometimes to the point that they’re in the virtual world longer than they are in the real world.

     But that’s not to say that virtual worlds are a threat to people of course. With the right technology and concepts revolving around virtual worlds, there could be huge benefits to not only entertainment, but also businesses. For example, virtual worlds would be extremely helpful for business conferences and meetings. A problem with this, as stated by Surinder Kahai, a professor from Binghamton University is, “that virtual teams may not share national and organizational cultures, and that virtual workers should make a conscious effort to see things from their colleagues’ point of view.” Another point is, that virtual teams can’t take advantage of the kind of impromptu “water cooler” conversations that occur in a real workplace, where colleagues can share information they may have forgotten to communicate in meetings. The lack of human contact may lead to serious feelings of isolation. All in all, virtual worlds can be extremely helpful for business efficiency, but human interaction is something that is needed amongst our race and human life. I can’t wait to see what other innovations come out of virtual worlds – maybe one where our minds can directly go into one!