Cao Fei: Avatars | Art21 "Extended Play"

My impression is that the personality of an avatar

is actually quite close to one's own.

This comes from my observation of some 
people and their avatar's demeanors

and their way of doing things.

For example, the distance avatars keep from 
one another when they interact in Second Life

is very close to what happens in real life.

When someone gets too close to you,

instinctively, you will move a step or two away.

Because, even though it's the 
interaction between two avatars,

you can still sense the subtlety

and the degree of intimacy

and so the need to keep a distance.

I think it applies to many things,

including the way they talk or type.

Some people are very rude.

They may bump you,

or the language they use may contain 
a certain degree of violence.

I think the avatar's identity is 
basically akin to one's true persona.

Maybe it's just me,

but I think some people might 
reveal their true persona

through the behaviors of their avatars.

When we travel through Second Life,

we inevitably project our first life into it.

We in fact bring many of the dilemmas

and quandaries that we face in our 
real life to the fore in Second Life,

hoping to resolve them.

Or we hope and attempt to use Second Life

to decode and interpret our real life.

But we are unable to untangle or find a solution

to the intrinsic dilemmas of the human condition.

The fact remains that we cannot really 
resolve our own plight and predicament.