Get a (Second) Life!

Is the real world becoming virtual?

Posted on April 20, 2007 | Permalink

By Lane Casteix

WOW! Just came back from a trip to Dallas and read a very interesting article in the Southwest Airlines magazine, Spirit. In it was an article about Second Life, a virtual world online that is becoming very real and looking more and more like a glimpse of the future. And it is spooky!

This is more than a game; for some it is their real world. At Second Life you can be anyone and do anything, good or bad. You can even make money - or lose money - real money! The medium of exchange is the Linden, which like other currencies are pegged to the dollar. At the time this is written about 265 to $1.

Laugh if you want, but early adopters are looking at this virtual world to see how they can use it to sell their real products and make real dollars. Some big brands are participating in Second Life.

But all is not utopia in Second Life. Like the real world it has a dark side, which includes crime, and like the real world a cry for "government," in the form of "el Presidente," Second Life creator Philip Rosedale, to do something about it.

There is even redemption in this virtual world. Where man goes, either as flesh and blood or as pixels, he still has spiritual needs to be filled. Sin in the virtual world is still sin. The Bible teaches if you think it you have in effect done it; you are held accountable for your mental sins as well as the real ones. And there are lots of "mental sins" in the very hedonistic world of Second Life!

Frankly, I am not sure what to make of all this, but I do know it could be important enough that it needs attention given to it to see where it is going and what impact it can have on business. My suspicion is the impact will be significant!