Second Life: Let's not let it replace the first

By Editorial

Last spring, when The Santa Clara previewed the latest and greatest among technology at the university, professors and administrators hailed Second Life as a veritable educational revolution. Indeed, Second Life seemed to teem with virtual creative possibilities. In one class, students even made use of Second Life for a group project, using the game to create a short film "about how technology can distance you from human interaction."

Does anyone else see the irony here?

Complete with avatars and replicas of the Mission and de Saisset Museum -- filled with artwork, mind you -- Second Life seeks to go one step beyond technology and into the treacherous world of virtual reality. In Second Life, one can enjoy most of (the first) life's pleasures -- virtually, of course. Avatars on Santa Clara Island can read, socialize, listen to music, go for walks, visit the museum, even have sex! Students can use Second Life for creative projects, as previously mentioned, or for study groups and library research help. Professors can stream lectures from their very own virtual classrooms in Second Life.

But all of these amazing capabilities of Second Life beg the question: Why?

Why would a student need to visit the de Saisset and view uploaded versions of art, when they could just walk a few minutes from their dorm or conveniently located off-campus house to see them personally? Why would a student meet up with friends in front of the virtual Mission Church to have a leisurely "chat," when they could just as easily get off their computers and meet up with friends in person?

Undoubtedly, Second Life will offer a slew of educational benefits and conveniences to students, professors and administrators alike. But what will it do to the Santa Clara community in the process?

In our 21st century world where technology is virtually (no pun intended) ubiquitous, the creation of Second Life may seem to some as the logical next step. After all, technological developments of recent years have not only simplified life, but utterly transformed it, changing the way we work, communicate, apply for jobs, entertain ourselves and even socialize.

Thus far, however, none of these technological advances have been so bold as to herald themselves as the "Second Life."

Technological advancements like Second Life that work to mimic reality so faithfully do great damage to communities by removing people from society and putting them in front of a computer screen.

Critics of MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites worry that the Internet has negatively affected our generation's ability to interact socially.

Many even interpret cell phones and iPods as alienation devices that work to segregate individuals within a community.

As one of the very first Santa Clara Second Life movies warns, technology has great power to "distance you from human interaction."

If not used properly, Second Life could very well contribute to this problem. Second Life, as awesome as it is as an educational tool, must be conceived of as just that -- an educational tool. Contrary to what its name suggests, Second Life should be an accessory, a corollary, to life, not a successor to it.

For the day sexual activity of Second Life replaces that of the first, we've got a problem.

And with all the porn floating around in Second Life, hopefully the Santa Clara Island offers birth control.