I think some people here took the "alias versus real person" distinction too literally ...
Sometimes people create a metaphor to try to convey an idea but it backfires. It takes on a life of its own and detracts from the underlying point. That surely happened here. I hope we can dispense with the "real people" thing. It's just not helpful.
You can't do that with people at the office. Or your neighbors. Or at the corner bar. That's 3-d life, and there you can't offend and outrage people you have to see every day, people you have to live next to, or people who might punch you in the mouth.
I think another argument that fell flat is this SI/3D dichotomy. You're right. You can't do that with the people at the office, or the corner bar, or your neighbors, at least not easily, but you can do it easily at a downtown bar. The distinction between SI and 3D is an erroneous one. On the question of accountability, the distinction is not one of cyberspace vs. physical space, it is one of anonymity. Anonymity can be created in 3D as well as here, although not as easily, if one is so inclined. So insisting that SI is uniquely different from 3D has not been very useful, either. There are, indeed, things about this venue that are different, but not totally different from the various venues we find in 3D, It seems more useful to compare and contrast the various venues or aspects of venues than to declare a dichotomy. That just invites argument.
In the course of that, you're mentioned a couple of things about SI that are both distinctive and significant. One is that this world is not physical. That means that no one can knock your teeth out. It also means that we lack some of the clues for reading people that we may have elsewhere. The other is that there is an off button. What goes on here does not need to intrude into the rest of your life unless you want it to or let it. It makes sense to me to analyze and argue about the significance of those differences in our little world. It is interesting and helpful to do so. It makes no sense at all to argue about 3D or real people or actions vs. words. |
