2009.08.22 19:00 - Avatars, aging and population

The Guardian for this meeting was Pila Mulligan. The comments are by Pila Mulligan. I arrived a little late to find Doug and Paul conversing (as I later saw in the log, about changing a Second Life avatar's appearance.)

    Paul Namiboo: Hi doug
    doug Sosa: hi, very quiet. the retreat? Very unusual.
    Paul Namiboo: I'm even having trouble steering my avatar, and tried to make my hair grey and failed!
    doug Sosa: to change hair, did you go to "edit" and chose "apperance"?
    Paul Namiboo: There was no one here at 1 either
    doug Sosa: fickle group.
    Paul Namiboo: Yes -- got full screen but moving sliders made no difference on screen
    Paul Namiboo: I'll try now
    doug Sosa: you have to choose "save".
    Paul Namiboo: Any clues
    doug Sosa: no. just experiment. No idea.
    Paul Namiboo: I did -- how then do I get change onto Avatar -- I thought drag?
    doug Sosa: You look good, nothing to worry about. just missing the fun.
    Paul Namiboo: Oh well, no responses to me on my offer to meet others tomorrow
    doug Sosa: i think i am a man dressed as a woman cross dressing.
    doug Sosa: Did you read the webpage for PaB?
    Paul Namiboo: I lost it
    doug Sosa: try playasbeing.wik.is
    Paul Namiboo: I'm trying to do too many things at once -- two book ms and many papers etc., as well as run my list
    Paul Namiboo: got to leave SL to get it?
    doug Sosa: I wish there were a good book on how productive people work. I am sure many are a mess, but some are quite amazing.
    doug Sosa: no, just open a browser window.
    doug Sosa: find it?
    doug Sosa: note it is wik not wiki
    Paul Namiboo: got it, I'll read later
    doug Sosa: good. the idea here is to see what the world is like if we try to drop assumptions about it. For example, for me the solidity of objects turns out to be a construction. if i drop it there is more movement.
    Paul Namiboo: How do I open browser windoow in here?
    doug Sosa: ah, you need a second window on your laptop. Not an SL window.
    --BELL--
    doug Sosa: but if i type a URL here you can open it from within. For example
    doug Sosa: http://nyt.com
    doug Sosa: or http://playasbeing.wik.is
    Paul Namiboo: http://playasbeing.wik.is/
    doug Sosa: hehe
    Paul Namiboo: Got it
    doug Sosa: here comes pila not yet clothed. Hi pila.
    Paul Namiboo: Hi Pila
    Pila Mulligan: hi Doug and Paul
    Pila Mulligan: :)
    doug Sosa: Pila is a great observer. quiet, but then..
    Pila Mulligan: senile
    Paul Namiboo: I'm still trying to learn SL
    Pila Mulligan: how do you like it so far?
    Paul Namiboo: very much, and we have something in common if you're senile -- I find I can't even dress myself here
    Pila Mulligan: :)

We next recognize this session as a convening of the SL Relic Society

    Pila Mulligan: I'm only 63 years old, so it may be too early to claim the excuse, but my mind is relaxing for sure
    Pila Mulligan: lazy even
    Paul Namiboo: Hah, I'm 77
    Pila Mulligan: well, there you go :)
    Pila Mulligan: you can claim the prize :)
    Paul Namiboo: some prize!
    doug Sosa: as i tell my friends, i've few clues that I am not 25, and several that I am.
    Pila Mulligan: that's the second oldest age I've seen in Second Life, Paul
    Paul Namiboo: My mind is still childish, and I intend to keep it that way
    Pila Mulligan: yes, Paul, another freind recently celebrated his (second) 45th birthday
    Paul Namiboo: that's great!
    doug Sosa: He lives in parallel?
    Pila Mulligan: I think he reset
    Paul Namiboo: I'm told that time on SL is subtracted from FL time

Pila has a question about population issues (having recently received an anti-Islamic email rant/video based on population growth rates)

    Pila Mulligan: I have a question
    Paul Namiboo: ask away
    Pila Mulligan: why is it that after 40 years of dealing with population caused problems people are now using population decline as a worrying point
    Paul Namiboo: It's a particualrly silly worry because the declines are in rich countries that put the most pressure on our life-support systems. That's exactly where we need declines
    Pila Mulligan: yes, I agree, but now people in those places are saying the cure is a problem
    doug Sosa: My thought is that in troubled economic times people are anxious and look for who to align with and look first at people like themselves in the social game of musical chairs. if thee are less of us, we will be swamped.
    Pila Mulligan: yes, the worry point appears reqularly in anti-Islamic rants
    Paul Namiboo: Yes, they are worried about the inevitable (mathematically certain) "aging" of the population that occurs when growth ends. But to keep birth rates up simply makes it a population Ponzi scheme unless you believe the pop can become infinite -- sooner or later aging (just as might happen to me some day)
    Pila Mulligan: the cure took a lot of effort
    doug Sosa: So we need to help lower the anxiety, which is the key ingredient of feeling one needs to align.
    Pila Mulligan: :)
    doug Sosa: I saw a movie once, a dram, about the Meji, and in a time of revolution the fear of picking the wrong warlord to align with.

Paul nudges the conversation back to real life

    Paul Namiboo: Do you two know each other in FL?
    Pila Mulligan: Doug and I have not met
    Pila Mulligan: I am in Hawaii`, by the way
    doug Sosa: that I know of :) because out there, you could be anybody.
    Pila Mulligan: :)
    Pila Mulligan: just a dirty old man
    Paul Namiboo: Great place -- especially in old days -- used to write at Honokowai (sp) just N of Kaanapali
    Pila Mulligan: yep
    Pila Mulligan: back when it was real
    Pila Mulligan: now it is part of Disneyland
    Paul Namiboo: Which island do you live on?
    Pila Mulligan: Maui from 1985-2005, Hawai`i since then (Puna)
    Pila Mulligan: aka the Big Island
    doug Sosa: Do you know Jim Channon in Hawi?
    --BELL--
    Pila Mulligan: I don't think so
    Paul Namiboo: Many of my colleagues still work out there on the Natural Capital Porject -- collaborating with State legislature some and the K School.
    Pila Mulligan: cool
    doug Sosa: He built most of the stores there and has a very intersting sustainable farm.
    Pila Mulligan: sustainability is a big issue on islands

Then the brief but pleasant session ends

    Paul Namiboo: My first wife (of 55 years) says we should eat here in Calif -- so I've got to go. Hope we'll meet again
    doug Sosa: Me too. project calls.
    Paul Namiboo: Many thanks -- enjoy Hawaii until we meet here again. Bye.
    Pila Mulligan: nice to visit with you both, see you next time
    doug Sosa: enjoying been with you. Special treat.
    doug Sosa: bye for now.
    Pila Mulligan: it is always fun Doug, thanks
    Pila Mulligan: aloha