Living a Second Life

On Wednesday evening the Museum of Science hosts a moderated discussion in your first life about the second life. Assistant Professor of New Media Eric Gordon of Emerson College moderates a discussion with John Freeman, an artist in Second Life, Pathfinder Linden, community manager for Linden Lab, and Wagner James Au, an embedded journalist in Second Life. While you might not age in Second Life and flying is par for the course, three dimensions and capitalism still thrive in the virtual world just as they do in real life. Once users create an avatar and an persona (name selections are limited, so be ready to give your true identity a break) you can do pretty much anything. Art galleries, lectures, classes, people watching in the park, nonprofit agency advocacy, showcases of new commercial processes, and everything we've never thought of yet are all possible interactions in Second Life.

The world they've created has 2 million "residents" within the 42,000 acres of virtual land (you can buy a plot with enough L$) – while we don't quite understand the conversion from Second Life money to US dollars, or vice versa, some mechanism apparently exists. The panel will convene and discuss the creative, social, and economic impact of Second Life. The event takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 7 pm in the 7 pm in the Museum of Science's Cahners Theater, admission is free – and we haven't heard if it'll happen in Second Life as well as, you know, life. Seating in the real world venue is limited and the event is free so show up a little bit early to make sure you've got a spot in the real life theater. Or is it theater of real life?

Update: They've opened up the talk to users of Second Life - and they'll be live on the web:

Image courtesy of New World Notes