Society and Information Technology in Second Life

Wednesdays, January 9 - July 30, 2008, 4-6, SLT/PT, 7-9 pm ET

on Berkman island in Second Life - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Berkman/114/70/25

 

Course homepage - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com

 

Instructor: Scott MacLeod (not on Harvard's faculty) = Aphilo Aarde (in Second Life)

http://scottmacleod.com/papers.htm

 

 

May 21 2008 Soc and Info Tech class transcript

 

 

 

[15:59]  Andy Evans: Hi Aphilo

[15:59]  Andy Evans: Hi Jayne!

[15:59]  Jayne Urqhart: Hi

[15:59]  You: Hi Andy< Jayne, Sara,

[15:59]  Jayne Urqhart: I am not following you, don't worry, Andy :)

[15:59]  Cindy Ecksol is Online

[15:59]  Jayne Urqhart: Hi Aphilo

[15:59]  Michele Mrigesh is Online

[16:00]  Boston Hutchinson is Online

[16:00]  Andy Evans: Aphilo, I just wanted to introduce myself... our foundation is doing some good research panel work here.. will stay as long as I can and drop you a note card about us

[16:00]  Claryssa Schmidt is Online

[16:00]  Kathy Memel is Offline

[16:01]  You: Hi Boston!

[16:01]  You: Greetings, Andy . . .

[16:01]  Andy Evans: Hi, glad to meet you

[16:02]  You: Yes, please pass me a note card - what is your foundation?

[16:02]  Andy Evans: Social Research Foundation... will put details & link in the note card...

[16:03]  You: {By the way, I'm in a remote location, and internet access can be stilted as well as involve lag, so please bear with the circumstances}

[16:03]  You: Hi Claryssa

[16:03]  Claryssa Schmidt: hi

[16:03]  Froukje Hoorenbeek is Offline

[16:04]  You: I'd like to begin this class by posing a question about the future of the Internet, vis-a-vis a global university -

[16:04]  You: what would this look like to you?

[16:05]  You: And then examine some of the presentations at the Harvard's Berkman Center's 10th anniversary.

[16:06]  01 Hifeng is Online

[16:06]  You: While the Berkman @ 10 conference brought a very wide variety of researchers from academia and business together

[16:07]  You: much of the discussion and presentations focused on questions of openness.

[16:07]  You: So let's chat a little about how the future of the Internet might articulate with University.

[16:07]  You: Hi Rain.

[16:07]  Claryssa Schmidt: hi Rain

[16:08]  Rain Ninetails: hi!

[16:08]  You: Second Life's type chat is fascinating because it allows for all of us to type at once, if we wish.

[16:08]  You: .... and for multiple lines of reasoning to emerge

[16:08]  You: and all of it, of course, is there to refer to, throughout the class

[16:09]  You: and as I post the transcripts - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com

[16:09]  Andy Evans gave you Social Research  Foundation activties  in SL.

[16:09]  You: into the future

[16:10]  You: So type chat potentially becomes an 'engine' of idea generation from conversation, and in real time

[16:10]  You: So, thinking broadly, how would you like to see University develop in the future?

[16:10]  You: Anything is possible, remember . . .

[16:11]  You: I'll start with some thoughts, but if you could take the courses you would like to take, obtain the degrees you might like to obtain, and learn what you would like to learn, what would you envision?

[16:11]  In Kenzo is Offline

[16:11]  Froukje Hoorenbeek is Online

[16:12]  Andy Evans: Is this for us personally or do you mean what we envision for college aged students

[16:12]  You: Potentially both.

[16:13]  You: Here's one scenario - Develop an online, free, degree-granting, global university, with Harvard as a key player, at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

[16:13]  You: What might information technology and virtual worlds add to the learning process?

[16:13]  Andy Evans: Yes, and make it interactive, not just lectures... simulated learning environments

[16:14]  You: Start with 4 undergraduate for-credit courses in the fall of 2008 or the spring of 2009, listed in the Harvard catalog, as well as a course at Harvard Law School.

[16:14]  You: Yes, Andy . . . for example?

[16:14]  You: Develop these into degree programs. Develop dedicated funding and an endowment for this, invested in socially conscious funds.

[16:14]  Andy Evans: For example... businesses are developing simulations here...

[16:14]  You: Continue this conversation in real time through this emergent, open University, and information technologies about these technologies.

[16:15]  You: INteresting . . . can you name some islands?

[16:15]  Andy Evans: training people to do tasks in hospital emergency rooms and other enviornments

[16:15]  You: I've found the most enjoyable interactions in world to be in academic like environments, with content rich information, where the interaction is between people.

[16:16]  You: Let individuals and groups build virtual worlds in Open Sim and Second Life (and Google Earth), that then connect as parts of this developing University (and MIT's OCW), to continue this conversation.

[16:16]  You: And on the speculative side: Include new forms of knowledge production, and research, medicine, music, as well as empathically deliver course content to speakers of all 3000-8000 languages with OLPC (one laptop per child), to make life knowledge-rich, better and more comfortable whereever people are, in ways end users can then develop, and we all might shape a far-reaching, global university.

[16:16]  You: Develop avatars that pass the Turing Test conversation-wise, an interactive Richard Rorty hologram for example, and we might create dialogue-generated knowledge and content, which then leads to very rich flow experiences for all.

[16:17]  You: What would you like to see, learn or teach Rain, Sara, Calryssa, Jayne, Boston?

[16:18]  Diego Ibanez is Online

[16:18]  You: Hi Hifeng!

[16:18]  Sonja Strom is Online

[16:18]  Jayne Urqhart: I am currently trying to study Chinese in a non-Chinese environment - very difficult when you are not immersed. I think virtual education could help a lot with this

[16:19]  Boston Hutchinson: It sounds like you're thinking of robotic professors eventually, when avatars can pass the Turing test. That would improve teacher/student ratio!

[16:19]  You: Yes, Jayne . . . virtual worlds are potentially very immersive . . .

[16:19]  Jayne Urqhart: When I leave my tutor, I don't speak Mandarin to anyone

[16:20]  Jayne Urqhart: so it is not as full an experience as it could be

[16:20]  You: and in SL it's possible to meet people with the native language one wants to learn, on one's own and then

[16:20]  You: , if they would like to like to learn yours, potentially create a win-win situation where you exchange a half hour a week each, for example.

[16:21]  You: But structured immersion also is and will be possible, increasingly so.

[16:21]  You: Has anyone used rosetta stone - the language learning software?

[16:21]  Jayne Urqhart: no

[16:21]  sara Gartenberg: i think virtual world is a perfect place to exchange information, but as jayne mentioned, it's not continuous experience

[16:21]  sara Gartenberg: i've used rosetta stone

[16:22]  You: yes, Boston . . . in the distant future, interactive avatars, especially where one can't tell the difference from humans might be very helpful, in a variety of ways

[16:22]  sara Gartenberg: but without using it in real situation, i've started to get bored ..

[16:22]  You: Yes, Sara, - what do you mean by continuous experience - and it could be, and one which privileges

[16:23]  You: words and ideas, especially . . .

[16:23]  sara Gartenberg: when i disconnect to the internet, i'm all alone

[16:24]  You: do you mean, Sara, that when you can't interact with others in world?

[16:24]  You: when you disconnect from RL to the Internet?

[16:24]  Juria Yoshikawa is Offline

[16:24]  sara Gartenberg: well, i could, but i seem to interact on the different level in reality

[16:25]  sara Gartenberg: emotionally involved, it's the difference beween vw and rw

[16:25]  You: And if avatars began to correspond closely with us - our animated faces, bodies, etc.?

[16:25]  You: tell us more . . .

[16:26]  You: And Boston, could you see teaching programming in world?

[16:26]  You: Who else here programs?

[16:26]  sara Gartenberg: those chat communication brings letters and words - but i assume we actually recieve information through nonverbal aspects

[16:26]  You: I took one porgramming class in world which was very successfully taught.

[16:26]  You: Hi Evus . . .

[16:27]  Boston Hutchinson: Not really a subject I'm interested in!

[16:27]  Evus Alter: Hi sorry I am late

[16:27]  You: such as gestures . . .

[16:28]  You: Claryssa . . . what would you like to see taught in world, and what are SL's or a virtual world like this advantages?

[16:28]  Boston Hutchinson: But theoretically, I suppose it would be possible. We might need some additional technologies to make it possible to practice and test and demonstrate software.

[16:29]  You: How could one create a 'dream' class or learning in world?

[16:29]  You: In the programming class I took in world,

[16:29]  Froukje Hoorenbeek is Offline

[16:29]  You: we downloaded python

[16:29]  Daisyblue Hefferman is Offline

[16:29]  You: and idle and text wrangler, and voila . . .

[16:29]  You: we were programming

[16:29]  Boston Hutchinson: Croquet, for example has great whiteboard technology, but virtual machines of various kinds would be useful in-world. What's here at present seems to be mostly entertainment oriented, but I suppose that could change.

[16:30]  Andromeda Mesmer is Offline

[16:30]  Boston Hutchinson: How do you run programs in-world?

[16:30]  You: Scratch, the free MIT programming language, that allows drag and drop programming, and which is really a learning tool, but I've also seen it used as a

[16:30]  Michele Mrigesh is Offline

[16:30]  You: programming language to create convergences in SL is interesting . . .

[16:30]  Aidan Aquacade is Offline

[16:31]  You: We learned something in world, and then tried it in the python window - not sophisticated programs, but programs nevertheless

[16:31]  Boston Hutchinson: Of course SL scripts are programming, and that could be taught in-world.

[16:31]  Enapa Pennell is Offline

[16:32]  You: yes

[16:32]  Boston Hutchinson: I'm curious about the possibility of teaching machines in-world.

[16:33]  You: What are some existing examples, Boston? As a kind of broad envisioning of University

[16:33]  You: that I characterized in the beginning of tonight's course,

[16:33]  Boston Hutchinson: Teaching machines have been around since the early 70s, but still don't seem to have become very useful. But the technology might be reaching a point where something interesting is possible.

[16:34]  Spider Mycron is Offline

[16:34]  Alexicon Kurka is Offline

[16:34]  Boston Hutchinson: I suppose some of the interactive training tools in here are really teaching machines.

[16:34]  You: I think that OLPC - one laptop per child - combined with software needed in say remote India vis-a-vis weather, or advantageous agricultural practices, in the local language, will be feasible.

[16:34]  Alexicon Kurka is Online

[16:35]  Boston Hutchinson: The Particle Lab, for example.

[16:35]  You: Empathy and understanding will potentially allow the people who are writing software, and that can eventually include those in rural India, for example, to get and create the information they need.

[16:35]  You: Yes, Boston . . .

[16:35]  Perry Proudhon is Online

[16:36]  Boston Hutchinson: Access to a Wiki is a very powerful step in learning.

[16:36]  Boston Hutchinson: OLPC provides that at least, though not in every language.

[16:36]  You decline Cecilia's at Muse Isle (59, 162, 28) from A group member named JenzZa Misfit.

[16:36]  You: A wiki is a very useful tool for both structuring information, as well as group participation, and joint knowledge production

[16:37]  You: There are 3000-8000 languages, and computing potentially will successfully translate these languages, as well as provide access to remarkable libraries . .

[16:37]  Boston Hutchinson: Perhaps there are more tools yet to be invented. Maybe the SL University will look radically different from anything we have seen before.

[16:38]  You: Many more tools, I suspect . . . the sky is the limit, isn't it?

[16:39]  You: With an open Internet, one can program 1s and 0s in infinite combinations to

[16:39]  Abigail Tinkel is Online

[16:39]  Boston Hutchinson: How will it all be organized? How to provide a learning environment that can adopt technologies as they become available?

[16:39]  You: shape infinite interactive media representations.

[16:40]  You: What do all of you think about the idea of University as an organizing institution?

[16:40]  You: Universities both produce knowledge and research through bringing together innovating bodyminds.

[16:41]  You: And, of course, Universities offer venues for art, theater, music, poetry, and so much more.

[16:41]  You: And in a virtual world, all of this is possible, but in novel ways.

[16:42]  You: Thinking back to learning experiences you've had in the past, where you've shaped them, or you've had far reaching flow experiences while learning or producing knowledge,

[16:43]  You: what would you include in a developing in world University?

[16:43]  You: Jayne?

[16:43]  Jayne Urqhart: standards

[16:43]  Jayne Urqhart: credibility

[16:44]  You: Great. ... So if the Berkman Center at Harvard could be instrumental over the next 10 years be instrumental in shaping

[16:44]  You: a global, degree-granting, (partly open & free?) University,

[16:44]  Boston Hutchinson: I'd substitute place for time, so that you could have a space devoted to a topic or course, but not be constrained to all meeting at the same time.

[16:45]  You: with courses initially listed in the Harvard catalog for undergraduates, at Harvard and MIT's standards -

[16:45]  You: for example the MIT Open Course Ware project might set some standards

[16:46]  Boston Hutchinson: And, of course, there could be very specialized courses, since you could assemble everybody in the world interested in a very narrow topic.

[16:46]  You: - this would be a good beginning, n'est-ce pas?

[16:46]  Jayne Urqhart: yes

[16:46]  Jayne Urqhart: as long as it is recognized by employers :)

[16:46]  Evus Alter: But, that is already hppening with online courses

[16:46]  You: I think that's very possible, especially with a developed OCW, Boston. . .

[16:46]  You: What do you think?

[16:47]  Arawn Spitteler is Online

[16:47]  You: Yes, clearly . . . as we've observed in previous classes, what emerges in the IT revolution is the possibility for individuals to associate with whom they will around whatever ideas . . .

[16:48]  You: Which ones, Evus?

[16:48]  Boston Hutchinson: Yes, I guess I' m thinking it would be useful to fill a virtual space with course materials, tools, presentations, all related to a topic. Like a web site, but with more graphics and intereactivity.

[16:48]  You: I think a Harvard / MIT inworld degree might be recognized by employers, perhaps.

[16:48]  You: What do you think, Jayne?

[16:48]  Jayne Urqhart: now? maybe not - eventually yes

[16:48]  Evus Alter: Once courses are offered then the entire program must be available

[16:49]  Jayne Urqhart: not sure I would want to gamble that at this point in time - if my goal was solely to be employed at the end

[16:49]  You: In some ways, courses can be viewed as programs, and our minds

[16:50]  You: as learning these methods, approaches, ways of analysis . . .

[16:50]  You: virtual worlds can do this like classrooms, I think . . .

[16:50]  Boston Hutchinson: Maybe the professors' offices could be attached to the space, and different professors could provide credentialed programs through their universities, while a shared space would be open to all, whether for credit or not.

[16:50]  You: Why not start soon, Jayne, and on a very limited scale

[16:50]  Jayne Urqhart: oh I think it should start yesterday

[16:50]  You: Absolutely, Boston . . .

[16:51]  Evus Alter: I don't think I amfollowing your thinking.

[16:51]  Jayne Urqhart: the sooner we get out of traditional education, the better

[16:51]  You: Almost all kinds of specialized knowledge - highly technical and subtle - that can be represented in language

[16:51]  You: can work in a virtual world, don't you think?

[16:52]  Evus Alter: I already teach on line, and others have courses totally inmersed in SL

[16:52]  Boston Hutchinson: I think one classroom, multiple universities and professors might be very productive of new ideas. It would be somewhat chaotic of course.

[16:52]  You: Which thinking, Evus?

[16:52]  Jayne Urqhart: Boston, I agree

[16:52]  You: Extraordinarily so, Boston, but potentially organized by libraries, publications, and professors.

[16:52]  Evus Alter: About plannig the online classroom. It is already happening

[16:53]  You: What do you teach, Evus?

[16:53]  Evus Alter: Sociology

[16:53]  Evus Alter: Intro courses

[16:53]  You: And which online courses interest you particularly?

[16:54]  Evus Alter: I am teaching an intro class, and the reason I am here is because I want it to be more interactive, I want my students to discuss face to face instead of an asynchronous environmet

[16:54]  You: But, Boston, although chaotic, it would allow anyone interested to come much more fully in contact with appropriate faculty members, and work directly with them, regardless of place

[16:55]  You: SL makes that richly possible, Evus

[16:55]  Evus Alter: yes, with some limitationslike I can't scape real time

[16:56]  You: It might be more like the University situation in Boston, Massachusetts or Amherst, Massachusetts

[16:56]  You: where students can take classes for credit at any number of universities, although they are awarded credit through their home institution.

[16:57]  You: if you or your children could take relevant courses all over the world in subjects of their choosing,

[16:57]  You: wouldn't that offer remarkable, developing opportunities?

[16:58]  Boston Hutchinson: I think the virtual world of Croquet offers more tools for education. For example, you can put a door to another world anywhere, and you can see through it to the other world. Also whiteboards and shared applications windows.

[16:58]  Evus Alter: "lie" demonstrations

[16:58]  Evus Alter: "Live"*

[16:59]  You: Yes, I would love to see Open Sim, Second Life, Croquet, Google Earth, MIT Open Course Ware all converge, with 'real' avatar instructors from universities teaching.

[16:59]  Boston Hutchinson: :)

[17:00]  You: Yes, Boston... and some of this already exists, but we need to identify where -

[17:00]  You: please post URLs . . .

[17:00]  You: This is a very interesting discussion . . .

[17:00]  Michele Mrigesh is Online

[17:01]  You: Let's take a 10 minute break and come back at 12 minutes past the hour to continue . . .

[17:01]  You: I'll post the transcript - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com

[17:01]  Jayne Urqhart: thank you

[17:01]  You: I'd also like to see http://brainfingers.com become part of this convergence . . .

[17:02]  You: See you soon . . .

[17:02]  Diego Ibanez is Offline

[17:03]  Jayne Urqhart is Offline

[17:04]  Jagger Valeeva is Online

[17:04]  DarkShadow Beck is Online

[17:05]  Jagger Valeeva is Offline

[17:05]  01 Hifeng is Offline

[17:08]  JenzZa Misfit is Offline

 

 

 

 

 

[17:11]  Boston Hutchinson: Some education-related projects:

[17:11]  JenzZa Misfit is Online

[17:11]  Boston Hutchinson: http://edusim3d.com/

[17:11]  Boston Hutchinson: http://sl.greenbush.us/

[17:12]  Boston Hutchinson: http://opencroquet.org/index.php/Main_Page

[17:12]  Veeyawn Spoonhammer is Online

[17:14]  You: Thanks, Boston.

[17:15]  You: And here's the course transcript up until the break - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com/May-21-2008-Soc-and-Info-Tech-class-transcript

[17:16]  You: In the same way that computing accelerated significantly the human genome project

[17:16]  You: and much of biological research is now computer based

[17:17]  You: how might computing make education more efficient, using Harvard and MIT undergraduate courses, as one example of what education means,

[17:17]  Daisyblue Hefferman is Online

[17:17]  You: but include other ways of envisioning education, please . . .

[17:18]  You: Can you characterize greenbush, Boston?

[17:19]  You: And edusim?

[17:19]  Boston Hutchinson: only a bit, but they have tools for primary education (maybe more). THey use SL & Croquet, and have interactive virtual world whiteboards for classroom use (by pupils).

[17:20]  Boston Hutchinson: Edusim may be one of the Greenbush projects.

[17:20]  You: What links can you, Claryssa, Sara, Rain and Evus point to, vis-a-vis transforming education, due to digital technologies

[17:20]  DarkShadow Beck is Offline

[17:20]  You: ?

[17:20]  You: Interesting

[17:20]  Evus Alter: individual links?

[17:20]  You: What technologies have your kids used, that you find remarkable, (if you have children)?

[17:20]  Alexicon Kurka is Offline

[17:21]  Evus Alter: I constantly use web sites posted in the internet to have students explore issues presented in class

[17:21]  You: Certainly . . . in the same way that Second Life offers a far reaching transformation . . .

[17:21]  Evus Alter: Like visiting the simulation to experience schizophrenia

[17:22]  Evus Alter: You were talking about empathy . .

[17:22]  You: with real time communication . . . thus privileging conversation as a kind of idea generating tool, an idea which emerged, in a sense, in ancient Greece, in colloquia and seminars and dialogues . . .

[17:22]  Rajah Yalin is Online

[17:22]  Boston Hutchinson: Yes, there is a schizophrenia simulation in SL.... Interesting concept.

[17:22]  You: Yes, Evus . . .

[17:23]  You: Schizophrenia meaning delusional . . . but it can take so many different forms, as I understand it . .

[17:24]  Boston Hutchinson: It's pretty superficial, but it's a start.

[17:24]  Evus Alter: forgive me,oldpsychology teacher

[17:24]  Abigail Tinkel is Offline

[17:24]  You: Here's the MIT Open Course Ware web page . . .http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

[17:25]  Boston Hutchinson: iTunes U is a good place to find many courses & lectures.

[17:25]  You: If we valued education and the practice of learning, the way we value other things, this web site is one of the most remarkable and valuable web sites available

[17:26]  Alexicon Kurka is Online

[17:26]  You: Stanford Professor Ramesh Johari - The Future of the Internet series on itunes is particularly germane to this class.

[17:27]  You decline ::CONTACT:: 3.1  on ::SATURN:: from A group member named Sonja Strom.

[17:27]  You: Here's one way to access Johari

[17:27]  You: on itunes - http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Technology/Computers/The-Future-of-the-Internet/23923

[17:28]  You: So there are a growing and amazing variety of education web sites available and for free

[17:28]  You: How to focus our own learning interests becomes signficant

[17:28]  You: A degree program does this

[17:29]  You: but we have agency

[17:29]  jeanrem Beebe is Offline

[17:30]  You: and with so many high quality resources, we might actively ask how we might select what we want to learn . . . and then learn it . . .

[17:30]  You: One question I'm particularly interested in

[17:30]  Aidan Aquacade is Online

[17:30]  You: - thinking broadly and out of the box -

[17:30]  You: is how we might access loving bliss naturally

[17:30]  You: :)

[17:31]  You: I have some thoughts about this, but what are some of your thoughts, assuming the experience is neurophysiological and cultivatable

[17:31]  Rajah Yalin is Offline

[17:31]  You: ?

[17:31]  Jagger Valeeva is Online

[17:32]  You: And how might information technology facilitate this in far reaching ways?

[17:32]  You: Evus, Rain, Sara?

[17:32]  You: Claryssa, Boston?

[17:32]  You: Here's one definition . . .

[17:32]  Evus Alter: Wht do you think?

[17:33]  sara Gartenberg: i think our cognitive capacity is far beyond than we are aware of :)

[17:33]  You: Meaning, Sara?

[17:33]  You: :)

[17:34]  You: Here's one definition -

[17:34]  You: While the following definition doesn't fully explain what loving bliss is for me, it does involve experiences that are deeply, gratefully, reciprocally appreciative and affectionate, both with a friend or friends, and alone, as well as profoundly and naturally high at the same time, and which are ongoing, biological, flow experiences.

[17:34]  sara Gartenberg: we exchange infromation through texts and data on the surface, but what's really going on in the brain can be much more

[17:34]  You: And, at the bottom of this web page, I list practices that I think help elicit it -

[17:34]  You: http://scottmacleod.com/LovingBlissPractices.htm

[17:34]  Rajah Yalin is Online

[17:34]  You: Yes, Sara . . .

[17:35]  You: So, one real life example of the way technology helps me access loving bliss regularly

[17:35]  You: are opera recordings

[17:36]  You: For example, when I hear arias from Mozart's "Die Zauberfloete" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0VN9csc7V4

[17:36]  You: I experience neural cascades of pleasure - a kind of loving bliss . . . and repeatedly . . .

[17:36]  Evus Alter: Ah, It gives you acces to the events that allow you to experience a state of flow

[17:37]  You: yes, Evus! So in a virtual world, once might

[17:37]  You: even create Mozartian dramas and arias

[17:37]  You: or new ones in new ways

[17:38]  You: Wagner's Festspielhaus in Bayreuth was one of the first attempts at shaping what we might call now

[17:38]  You: 'virtual reality'

[17:38]  Evus Alter: that you would not have access in a remote , poor place in the worold

[17:39]  JenzZa Misfit is Offline

[17:39]  Evus Alter: reality does not exist, it is all perception

[17:39]  You: Packer and Jordan in "Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality" - the first chapter, which is also online - art museum - outlines what is new about multimedia -

[17:39]  You: and the book focuses on numerous avant garde virtual reality explorations since the festspielhaus

[17:40]  You: Perhaps, Evus, but, first,

[17:40]  You: the OLPC - given to people in the developing world - could faciliatate such multimedia experiences, and ones where people whereever shape them . . .

[17:41]  JenzZa Misfit is Online

[17:41]  You: so I think we can create our own experiences of loving bliss, or whatever experiences we want,

[17:41]  You: and that digital technologies facilitate this in new ways.

[17:42]  You: I'm curious how each of you experiences bliss, and

[17:42]  Sonja Strom is Offline

[17:42]  sara Gartenberg: I've experimented with binaural beats to create the brainwaves that's preferably enduced

[17:42]  You: how you might cultivate this using digital technologies.

[17:42]  You: And loving bliss?

[17:43]  You: yes, . . . for example, Sara

[17:43]  You: url?

[17:43]  sara Gartenberg: moment

[17:44]  You: Other thoughts about bliss :)

[17:44]  You: Rain?, Evus?, Boston?, Claryssa? :)

[17:44]  sara Gartenberg: http://www.centerpointe.com/

[17:44]  Boston Hutchinson: Yoga, Zen, hiking...

[17:44]  sara Gartenberg: http://www.brainsync.com/

[17:44]  Abigail Tinkel is Online

[17:45]  You: and loving bliss? - please let me know as ideas emerge . . .

[17:45]  You: Yes, Boston . . .

[17:45]  You: Thanks, Sara . . .

[17:45]  sara Gartenberg: http://www.hemi-sync.com/store/home.php

[17:45]  sara Gartenberg: simple meditation works the best, after all to me ... :)

[17:46]  Arawn Spitteler is Offline

[17:46]  You: Thanks - I also think ecstasy - the drug - and i'm only interested in it as a reference experience, and interested in loving bliss naturally - is fascinating

[17:46]  Evus Alter: Okay Aphilo, do you experience bliss when you are teaching?

[17:46]  You: and suggests that loving bliss is neurophysiological.

[17:46]  sara Gartenberg: good question evus :)

[17:47]  You: I do experience intense flow experiences when teaching in Second Life - another definition of enjoyment

[17:47]  Evus Alter: or in RL

[17:47]  You: vis-a-vis Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience"

[17:48]  Evus Alter: yes. I would not dare spell it without looking

[17:48]  You: Besides the link above, here's one of my other web pages

[17:48]  You: that focuses explicitly on loving bliss - http://scottmacleod.com/LovingBlissFriends.htm

[17:49]  Jagger Valeeva is Offline

[17:49]  You: For Csikszentmihalyi, flow is an absorbed mind -

[17:49]  You: and involves the following -

[17:49]  Evus Alter: It is the experience of being one with the universe

[17:49]  You: http://scottmacleod.com/EudaimoniaFlow.htm

[17:50]  You: it can be, Evus, but creating that direct experience naturally isn't easy in my experience

[17:50]  You: How have you found to do that, Evus?

[17:51]  Evus Alter: When I tech

[17:51]  You: I've found warm pools in natural areas, of all experiences, to facilitate far-reaching release

[17:51]  Evus Alter: It is different for others, and very personal

[17:51]  Evus Alter: guided imagery works very well

[17:52]  You: So are focussed minds, and warm water, for example, technologies, or shaped by information technologies . . .

[17:52]  You: and can therefore environments like Second Life, among many facilitate this?

[17:52]  Evus Alter: There are a couple.

[17:53]  You: Does these give new meanings to conceiving of information technology,

[17:53]  Evus Alter: like Hauwai (51, 240, 90)

[17:53]  You: one definition of which, used by Harvey Brooks, from Daniel Bell,

[17:54]  You: is that technology is the use of scientific knowledge to specify ways of doing things in a reproducible manner.

[17:54]  You: and information technology does this in unique ways . . .

[17:55]  sara Gartenberg: sounds really interesting to me, like creating a doorway to different dimentions

[17:55]  You: What's novel about the Information TEchnology revolution, vis-a-vis Manuel Castells, is that it gives rise to the

[17:55]  You: Network Society

[17:56]  Sonja Strom is Online

[17:56]  You: so I'd like to think through with you at a later date ways in which we might explore some of questions above, in terms of implications of the Network Society

[17:57]  You: Yes, Sara. ... in many ways. . . . To close, I just like to point you to

[17:57]  Sonja Strom is Offline

[17:57]  You: the main Berkman@10 at Harvard - from May 15 and 16, 2008

[17:58]  You: web page - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/berkmanat10/Main_Page

[17:58]  You: to give you some information about what occurred

[17:58]  Andromeda Mesmer is Online

[17:58]  You: as well as the breakout sessions - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/berkmanat10/Breakout_Session_Matrix

[17:59]  You: many of which were videoed, and will be posted

[17:59]  You: I'd like to point out one in the bottom left corner of the matrix by Charlie Nesson

[18:00]  You: entitled - e Pi, i, Generativity and Recursion, - Charlie Nesson

[18:00]  You: which may already be posted . . .

[18:01]  You: Next week, we'll talk more specifically about this conference and some of its inmplications

[18:01]  You: especially in light of the idea of a global, degree-granting, open, free University, with Harvard as a key player

[18:02]  You: Please look over the wiki, and the matrix in preparation for next week . . .

[18:02]  You: I'm also curious next week about your thoughts about the experience of loving bliss

[18:03]  You: Thanks for coming, and see you next week ! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts