'I was terrified when I sent him my photo. I was in love with him and he said he felt the same but I knew it was make or break when I sent the picture and yes I was a bit worried because Goddess was nothing like me.
***
‘I designed the Goddess to be everything I felt I wasn’t in real life: slim, sexy and confident.
Being her was a way of escaping the usual drudgery and I actually started to prefer my online life to my real one.'
Location: Dublin, Ireland. (No, I just live here.)
Posts: 654
And how is this different from "love" in general? The image a lovestruck person creates in his or her brain, of the the object of his or her affections, is the original "virtual reality simulation".
Jane Austen didn't need a computer to develop her simulations, and you don't need to turn off the computer to know what happens when the simulation breaks down, the scales fall off your eyes, and you see the other person as they really are, warts and all.
1) None of us show the same personality to our boss, our wife, our neighbour, our kids. We all retain multiple personalities ready for use in different situations.
2) But all of the people we meet in real life filter their conceptions and understanding of us through their own pre-conceptions which are largely hard-wired in.
So we have (a) the core personality that we "really are" but when talking to someone we might be putting on (b) a secondary personality which is filtered and then interpreted by the person we are talking to as (c) who we "really are" - as far as they are concerned.
So where does this take us when we go on-line ? Quite far I guess.
Despite many faults in my character I'm happy to be who I am. But if pressed to construct an avatar for computer use, what would it be ? Hmm......
exactly, OFSO - hmmmmmm.... I thought about it, and the best I could decide was - I'd like to be a cheetah or a leopard, and that's hardly an Avatar... or maybe we're just spoilt by the 'general standards of beauty' (rubbed into our brains by the yellow media)? Well, there are 2 or 3 things I'd like to change about me physical self, if it were possible (like being under 1.69 to be able to wear 11 cm heels all the time without having to look down on people ). But then the whole (mental) outlook would be different - and some of it I really like, so...
Location: Why oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?
Posts: 1,054
All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
they're a pair of fugglies who couldn't meet anyone in real life, so they resorted to online and met that way Presumably both are more interested in the ability to communicate with each other on the same intellectual level rather than on how each looks. If only more people thought the same way. Mind you, I wouldn't want to meet her wearing that harem suit
That's a bit harsh Milo - they're just a couple of ordinary folks who found each other. Nothing special, but they're content with each other so who are we to criticise their appearance.
Do you walk along the street telling passers-by that they're "fugly"?
And you, of course, are better looking than Burt Reynolds?? No?
poor G&T, I wish I had known it could disorient someone so much... If you had a local currency-euro converter-thingy, you could get it in euros? As for the question, the appropriacy of heels about 10 cm for a man of about my age... why not? I guess it's possible to get used to it after the mid-age crisis, too? If you mean 1 man of 69, that is.
As for Avatars... we were told in a seminar, that besides all the obvious vices the internet is the chance for a person who lost their legs to get them. Which made sense. (And the story of these people is actually quite heartwarming, too, in my mind). And then I thought - if I had to create an Avatar... it wouldn't make much sense to have it just like I am. I wouldn't want to be exactly the opposite either. Having one almost like me, without the faults (and shorter, for the heels ), ... that would be kinda weird. A fantastic creature wouldn't probably do either. But people do it?
But if pressed to construct an avatar for computer use, what would it be ? Hmm......
I have constructed "online avatars" twice in my computer life (neither of which I used - I was just playing with a couple of games). Both times I made them as much like my real self as possible - bald head, fat gut and all
"Do you walk along the street telling passers-by that they're "fugly"?"
But I'm not walking along the street. Nor are they. I'm commenting on a pair of people who have chosen to highlight themselves in the "media". Which makes then "open house" for comment upon.
"And you, of course, are better looking than Burt Reynolds??"
Who he? Do you mean that craggly toothed bald bloke with the leer and chest wig? He doesn't come anywhere close.
