Are We Our Avatars?
A real life person sits behind each avatar.
But when do the lines begin to blur?
When we are two weeks old on screen, we are secure in our corporeal self; we know who we are, what we look like, where we are going -- well only "maybe" on that last part.
But as the years pass, how much of us becomes reflected in our pixelated persona? Which self image do we see when we think of ourselves?
It is a strange teeter totter ride for those deeply enmeshed in a digital existence. We make friends, form alliances -- even fall in love within bodies made of pixels and coding. Do we forget our real lives in favor of our fantasies? Do we limit ourselves to what we can only feel and touch?
We each make those choices and as time passes the division between the fingers on the keyboard and the animation on the screen come closer together.
Can they meet and merge?
Only time will tell.
But when do the lines begin to blur?
When we are two weeks old on screen, we are secure in our corporeal self; we know who we are, what we look like, where we are going -- well only "maybe" on that last part.
But as the years pass, how much of us becomes reflected in our pixelated persona? Which self image do we see when we think of ourselves?
It is a strange teeter totter ride for those deeply enmeshed in a digital existence. We make friends, form alliances -- even fall in love within bodies made of pixels and coding. Do we forget our real lives in favor of our fantasies? Do we limit ourselves to what we can only feel and touch?
We each make those choices and as time passes the division between the fingers on the keyboard and the animation on the screen come closer together.
Can they meet and merge?
Only time will tell.
Comments
So an avatar and what they build is a real good window into their soul if you will. So when someone takes me to this deep dark dungeon with torture equipment.... yes that is a part of who they are.