Esoteric immersionism

May 27, 2009 - in Homepage, SL Philosophy by: Gwyneth Llewelyn
15 Comments

Does this mean that LL shouldn’t make any further improvements to SL? By all means, no, not at all. An easier-to-use SL will attract more “tourists”, and since the number of those that remain Residents is always small, the more “tourists” are at least willing to visit, the better. Many people have forfeited SL in 2004 or 2005 because they had impossibly underpowered computers or quickly tired of the many grid blackouts back then, and thus gave SL away — only to return now in 2009, with a brand new computer, a good broadband connection, a much better grid infrastructure in place, and suddenly realise what SL is all about. This happens all the time. Most, of course, will never return after a first bad experience. Improving the experience is thus quite important, as well as having more and more reference works (studies, both academic and business) explaining what SL is being used for. This will make SL more widely available, even though the vast majority will never “get it”.

Similarly, most esoteric traditions in RL have tried to make themselves more widely available as well — even though charlatans outnumber by far the few available real teachers. Not because they wish to gather more “faithful converts” (esoterism dismisses the whole notion of “faith”, as in “completely and utterly ‘believing’ in what a so-called ‘authority’ says”, since it runs contrary to any path of self-improvement — you need to believe in yourself only), but because they simply wish to make themselves more known to eventual, potential human beings out there, who do have the right mindset, but had no opportunity thus far to find a teacher. SL should be promoted in the same way: reaching out to the furthest corners of the world, not because “everybody will benefit for being in SL”, but because the number of people that will is so small that they ought to get the opportunity to know about SL and join it.

This might also be the reason why LL doesn’t do any mass-market advertising. It runs contrary to the whole idea. Word of mouth (which in esoterism is known as “oral transmission of teachings”) is the only way to successfully reach someone with the right mindset to join SL.

So is SL a religion after all, and not a virtual world? You tell me I’m definitely not the right person to talk about it, anyway…

PDF

[Page 1] [Page 2] [Page 3] [Page 4] [Page 5] [Page 6]

Readers who viewed this page, also viewed:

http://twitter.com/RolandLegrand Roland Legrand

Nice post. I also like this notion of SL as a country. I explain SL to people who are not familiar with it more as a communication or a network tool, because talking about is as a country would seem weird to most people. For myself however I consider it more and more as a place which is important to my life, like a city or a country can be important to one’s life.
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/ Gwyneth Llewelyn

I agree, Roland, look like complete weirdos if we say those kinds of things in public

I should add just a comment to the text. Although the comparison with religious thought came naturally — and is purposefully meant to be provocative — I’m not proselytising in any way. In fact, the whole notion of proselytism is obnoxious to all esoteric traditions, and doesn’t make any sense whatsoever: people cannot be “converted” to esoteric traditions, they either have the proper mindset to be willing to understand it, or they haven’t, and it’s worthless “pushing” the ideas to them.

Similarly, I think that the same happens with Second Life. Mass-marketing and massively advertising SL to the mainstream makes little sense, as most people will never really grasp the concept. The best we can get with that is more tourists — if we can get a lighter SL client, less lag, and a much better “first 15 minutes experience”.
Anonymous

This is insitefull. I’ve never thought about it like this. I love SL because it is my country. What a simple concept and very apt.
I think of it as a place through the wormhole around another star.
I have to agree, we need a better first 15 minutes. My friend who I lured to the dark side came back after his first visit and said he didn’t know what to do until some girl befriended him, took him around, dressed him up, had a good time and now he has connections and he got it. I see him inworld often. The emotional involvement with his avi changed his surroundings into a real space vs. a scene in a game.
I am scared of a lite viewer, I don’t want to lose all those extra tools buried in the presant viewer. But I’m a nerd.
http://twitter.com/giulioprisco Giulio Prisco

Great post Gwyn. I guess I am what you call a “regular tourist”: someone who spend a lot of time in a place, but remain a citizen of another place. It is not that I don’t get immersionism. Rather, I find so much added value in strongly linking the activities of my SL selves with those of my RL self that I would lose a lot if I were to separate them. I have two main avatars: Giulio Perhaps (who is getting a new look as we speak, how I wish I could do the same for my RL self), and Eschatoon Magic, plus many rarely used alts. Some of my alts are completely pseudonymous, but I don’t have time to use them much.

Concerning spirituality and religion: some readers may not be aware that there is a group of Cosmic Engineers in SL (see cosmeng.org), some of whom are interested in a transhumanist-flavored interpretation of spirituality (or a spiritually-flavored interpretation of transhumanism) who meet regularly in Second Life. Our esteemed friend Extropia is, of course, part of the group. We have now a dedicated island in Second Life, Transvision Nexus, and look forward to welcoming all old and new friends, and all visitors.
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/ Gwyneth Llewelyn

Thanks for the comment I should state, by the way, that although I definitely enjoy talking to Transhumanists and discussing their ideas, I’m not a Transhumanist myself. Transhumanism is like a religion without spirituality; I personally favour the reverse approach But their approach to an unfailing belief in technology as a way for making human life more bearable (now) and transcendence (in the near future) is definitely one I don’t discard — at least the first part, since it’s clear that we, as a human species, are far better off with all the technological advances!

Nevertheless, I should be posting an intriguing suggestion soon which should show clearly the way my own ideas run contrary to Transhumanist beliefs… I’ve let Extie chew on this for a couple of weeks in order to see what flaws she sees in the argumentation. It’s a Great Unifying Theory (not mine; I cannot claim any credit for it; it’s actually a very very old theory) which will sadly turn down any chances for transcendence through Transhumanism (at least, through the technological aspect of Transhumanism).

This will definitely not mean that I won’t publish any more of Extie’s lovely essays here! Rather the contrary: I expect to post more and more, as she produces them. She does a quite thorough job of dissecting concepts that fascinate me, like her theories of self, which are some of her best work.
http://twitter.com/giulioprisco Giulio Prisco

Well, I would rather define [my personal interpretation of] transhumanism as spirituality without religion (your “reverse approach”): spirituality in a natural universe without any faith in the supernatural (which is what is often implied by “religion”).

I definitely look forward to reading your ideas on these matters, how about organizing a presentation/debate in SL? I would hazard a guess that we will find out that our ideas are not mutually exclusive.
Extropia DaSilva

‘Transhumanism is like a religion without spirituality.’

Why, then, did Ray Kurzweil call his book ‘The Age Of Spiritual Machines?’. I think it is more accurate to say that transhumanists prefer means of transendence that are scientifically falsifiable in principle. The Dalai Lama commented, “the systematic training of the mind- the cultivation of happiness, the genuine inner-transformation by deliberately selecting and and focusing on positive mental states and challenging negative mental states-is possible because of the very structure and function of the brain”. Neuroscience backs him up, since brain scans of Tibettan Buddhists practicing meditation show activity in the prefrontal cortex that is far in excess of what one would see in ‘normal’ research subjects. On this issue at least, the Dalai Lama is not spouting mumbo-jumbo; he is offering genuinely useful techniques for improving the mind.

On the subject of why SL is not as popular as some might hope, I think it still suffers from a superficial resemblance to videogames. In my experience it is not uncommon for someone to say ‘there was not enough action’ as a reason why they quit. I believe the reason why large numbers of people are turned away is the same explanation for why a tiny minority get so hooked: SL has no point. What I mean is, it has no structured goals like a typical MMOG. Instead, goals may emerge as a result of interactions with the various communities that have formed inworld. But there is no guarantee as to when this may happen. When it does, you feel much more like a part of those communities and of SL itself. You know your place and functions in that society. But until that happens you just wander around without much clue as to what you are supposed to be doing.

About augmenationists: Maybe I am just lucky, but I have never met one of these legendary augmentationists who insist on knowing my ‘real name’, age, sex, credit card number etc etc before they will even speak to me. Instead, just about everyone adopts the position that, since it is a subjective POV, one cannot really say my opinions on ‘self’ and how it relates to my avatar are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. All that can be said is that it makes sense to me, but is not necessarily a useful way of thinking for someone else. Most people who claim not to see any distinction between their ‘self’ and their avatar are happy to accept that I see things differently. OK, we might debate about it but I like to think neither party would force their POV on the other. SL is big and complex enough to support many such viewpoints and, in my experience, it does just that.

As Gwyn is obviously aware, the famous essay on this issue is ‘Immersionism Versus Augmentationism’. I wonder if the debate surrounding that essay would have been different if, instead of ‘versus’, it had been called ‘Immersionism AND Augmentationism’. That would have implied these were two philosophical systems at work in SL, but which were not necessarily in competition with each other. I dunno, maybe it would have completely altered the way we approach the two viewpoints?

Extropia DaSilva- wait until you see how she links a preference for Coca-Cola with mind uploading and digital doubles…
http://soulgate.blogspot.com/ Avatara Alchemi

I started writing a story some years ago based on some ‘out of this world’ personal experiences… and then SL clarified somethings for me: AVATAR most commonly refers to the deliberate descent of the soul into the individualized manifestation in lower realms of existence for special purposes – Descent into a sentient being while remaining awake to the greater reality; While remembering ‘home’.

Countless numbers of avatars descend and advent into our Universe. Some avatars are believed to be souls blessed with certain abilities. They were known by the ancient ones as the Keepers of Memories.

Are we simply copying nature, descending into a 3D world as avatars?

Just a thought
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/ Gwyneth Llewelyn

A very good point, Avatara! I used to do some classes about religion — not tied to an particular one — and the comparison of the duality between your RL self (what Extropia names “primary”) and your avatar (“secondary”) is clearly comparable to the notion of “the avatar as a manifestation of a deity”, which exists on our material plane of existence and elsewhere. Indeed, the name “avatar” was well chosen
Pingback: Putting Second Life in Perspective « Khannea – Suntzu's WebBlog
Khannea

You are correct – and those who adopted it have the “greener pastures gene”.

Let me explain that. Why do people live near the pole circle? Which human in their right mind doesn’t get up and leave when living in a hard place? Yet for some reason people do not leave a hard place, stick to it and venerate it, with vague arguments such as “my parents and grandparents died here, I cant betray their legacy”.
I say, thats all rationalization – in reality a large percentage of humans have a pioneer gene. As soon as they hear abut gold in them hills, they get up and leave. I even dare suggest there is an overlap between predisposition towards ADHD, anomie disorders (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/26587/anomie) and nomadism (As this study http://www.slate.com/id/2193472/ suggests) and adoption of alternative realities.

This has contributed to the success of humanity spreading everywhere – but there is also a flip side. Sedentary humans – the kind that take great pleasure in watching Big Brother and Stars Skating in Circles) HATE the restless. Yes, I said “the restless” and I said “HATE”. Why do citizens loathe gypsies, jews, bedoeins? I say it is because the sedentary desire to enforce a memetic status quo. They want fundamentals to stay the same. They cannot have the underlying rules of existence to shift or evolve. As such they actively persecute the nomadic, or will go as far as kill them. Don’t tell me you haven’t felt this at one time.

Second Life is not a new religion – it is the first stirrings of a fundamental change, and I would *love* to see an analysis that makes more plausible than I can make plausible, what precise qualities Second Life has that triggers the racism gene of sedentary humans?
http://khanneasunztu.wordpress.com/ KhanneaSuntzu

Transhumanism is a religion that is based on /disenchantment/ with traditional spirituality. As many people I know IRL swear I am spiritual, as there are who insist I am spiritually barren – my conclusion is I have transcended spirituality and have evolved into transhumanism. Smug? Maybe! – but do bear in mind I believe most transhumanists don’t have a clue how bad it will get actually transmorphing into something posthuman – It may in fact be deeply traumatic.

Spirituality is supposed to be existentially soothing. I do not thing a consistent pathway towards posthumanism will actually be very soothing. It may actually even be ‘postextistential’ . In that case – the bhudists were right all along.
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/ Gwyneth Llewelyn

What an interesting concept! I do agree that spirituality is supposed to be existentially soothing and I guess I never saw this angle of transhumanism before. In fact, I have been teasing with Extie for a while about the common points between esoteric religions and transhumanism — both sides would agree that transcending humanity is the focus here, and while esoteric religions are very keen in pointing out that the means to do so is within our own selves and within our own abilities (i.e. there is no need of “external agents” or “magic”), transhumanism relies on technological advance. That’s fine — esoterists would claim that the ultimate goal of transcending humanity is easier if you just rely on mind advance (more precisely, changing the mindset), they’re also the first to say that this path is not available to all (meaning mostly that the ability to really change your own mind is not easy and not possible for most human beings). Transhumanism is more “democratic” in that regard: changing one’s mindset, catapulting it into post-humanism, is just a mouse-click away (so to speak).

Interesting, however, to consider that although the process may be universally available one day, it might be a painful and traumatic process. Esoterism, on the other hand, is all about ending suffering
http://khanneasunztu.wordpress.com/ KhanneaSuntzu

Even though I *try* to maintain an anti-teleological stance (“..no fate but the one we make for ourselves..”) this way of thinking remains compelling. One of my foibles is regarding earth and transhumanism is aspects of a birth, or a germination. The earth is a seed and its darkening and shriveling just before sprouting – and this is intended to be in some cosmic cycle. Consciously I do not want to believe in that because I think humanity faces some dire consequences if we don’t rationally decide – the era where we can rely on faith *in any way* is about over, we are losing the cutesy puppy factor.

Spiritualism .. what is it? It is a sense of the supernatural, essentialism. Thats what we call “ietsism” in the netherlands – somethingism. Most religious people here are ietsists – they vaguely believe in some benevolent, *soothing* reality, a sort of cosmic pharmacist offering, antidepressants, tranquillizers and pain relief. The whole spiritual metaphor consequently follows the zeitgeist in which it inhabits – in plutocratic or authoritorian eras you had to “plead’ the higher realities, just as you had to plead a king or wealthy benefactor. In scientic/industrial time spiritualism became something of an alchemical process where you could cleverly “harvest” the benefits of the higher through sound science. In modern times the relationship of people with “the spiritual” is chillingly like a consumer walking in a convenience store, handing out his “karmic credit card” and taking home a number of spiritual benefits. See I miraculously found the watch I lost 3 years ago, it must work.

It will be extremely painful for a lot of people to exorcise this reliance. It is like a grieving process, where a child has to accept the fact that her parents are dead and now she is fundamentally alone and uncared for. The new spirituality must be a recognition where we say, we did this, that and that, and that got us where we are, and we should be neither smug or proud about it, it’s just a recognition of what is, and what can be. In essence we won’t feel so inadequately anymore that we somehow need to transposition metaphysical authority (judgement, shame, veneration, aspiration, hope, reward, punishment, shock, awe) into a transcendant tribal authority but it comes into focus and transpositions as a sharp image on ourselves.

Mind you, this can still be a metaphysical worldview – in becoming transhuman we don’t need to be disenchanted with hopes and dreams – but we become the actors instead of the reactors. Where in the old days we were mostly sick, weak and pathetic day workers standing half exhausted, traumatized and terrified by the potato fields as the gods duked it out in thundering storm clouds, and the knights barreled across the fields jousting on armored horses – and we were spectators largely groveling before our materialistic and paternalistic betters. In the new future we “log in”, take up our purple set mjolnirs and excaliburs, the ones we deserved to get after grinding endlessly in Stratholme, and incarnate as gods, albeit very minor ones. What, you thought Thor became the Ubermensch he is without some serious grindage?

I have often said – I simply adore religion. It is very persistent LARP. But the time is near to recognize that jesus, mohammed, allah are all just NPCs.
http://soulgate.blogspot.com/ Avatara

I also liked the sound of all those ‘As’, but I specifically chose it as my SL name in reference to my comment above – Thanks Gwyn

Recently I made my memoires blog public – quite a feat given it is a definite act of wearing my heart on my sleeve. SL has helped me come to terms with much of the innefable I’ve experienced in life, particularly my coming to terms with what it means to me in particular.

Please feel free to have a read at http://soulgate.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-03-31T21%3A21%3A00%2B11%3A00&max-results=6, starting at the bottom (from the oldest post).

Feedback is more than welcome
http://my-second-life1.blogspot.com/ Lucynda Riley

I remember when i first heard about second life a year ago. I learned about it while watching a Law and Order episode where they used something like second life as an example. I guess Linden Labs didn’t want the real one used. That led to a quick search on the internet and there it was. Then and now I think its the coolest thing.