Avatars

Just saw a PBS program called Digital Nation.  Fascinating.  I will watch it again because I was unable to see it in its entirety.

It's very well done because it is thought provoking.  It challenges the idea that access to technology by everyone is a good thing.  In one of the segments it also discusses the Proteus effect, which is the ability of people to think differently about themselves (and act accordingly) if, for example, they create an Avatar that is both attractive and taller.   Seems in our society being taller is perceived by most as being powerful.  Those people that create taller Avatars are able to be bolder and more effective in their negotiations with others and those that create attractive Avatars get closer to the people they are talking to and are more confident about sharing information about themselves.  Seems that once these real people have these experiences through their Avatars their minds absorb this information and they are able to enact similar behavior in real life. As Dr. J. Bailenson, Director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University says, "if it looks real and feels real, the brain tells us it is real".

In another segment there is an IBM virtual meeting set in Second Life by people that have never met in person but are meeting virtually as Avatars on a daily basis to discuss business issues. While this is a way to minimize travel costs and still be able to communicate cross-geographically, it is certainly a cold way to interact with other human beings.  I question whether in the end there is effective communication between all these unreal people and whether they are able to solve problems in the same way they would have if they saw each others' faces with normal human expressions reacting in surprise, shock, happiness, etc., to the content of a business meeting.

I love technology, it's a very powerful tool.  I also enjoy progress and change.  However, in this digital age we must balance the use of technology while maintaining the richness and value of human interaction.  The ability of thought leaders and scientists to conduct reasonable longitudinal studies is hampered by the speed of change in technology and its adoption.  Technology is moving faster and faster every day and with it we have great changes that help society and other changes that are impacting our ability to be human beings.

We all need to be more thoughtful as to which technologies we and our society should adopt.  First and foremost, I submit that we must protect the depth and richness of human interactions as much as possible.

Avatars are cute but I sense something gets lost in translation...

I am 100% supportive of Avatars if I could create one to clean my house,  another one to cook meals, and yet a third one to manage mundane things like paying bills and the like :).