2011.02.27 19:00 - Some People and their Sliders

The Guardian for this meeting was Calvino Rabeni. The comments are by Calvino Rabeni.
This is an experimental session, that (by request of the participants)  was (semi) anonymized by changing the names.  The style (quality or tao) of the speakers cannot be concealed.  We do a thought experiment -- in the spirit of "what you have vs. what you are" -- about the idea of qualities of self and what it would be like to be able to vary them (or the degree to which we already do that).
 

A: Good evening
B: and to you sir
A: You look different .. did you get a haircut?
A: Hi W!
B: Hi W :)
C: hi
B: I shifted the gender slider a little A
C: out dancing?
B: paris for a coffee
C: ah good, pays to be "dressed" for the occasion
A: Is there a slider ? That's news to me .. but it sounds like a good idea though
C: did you meet any interesting people there?
B: metaphorically speaking
C: it's more like a slider board, quite complicated like a DJ's setup
B: I had coffee with a friend who is interesting, but it was pretty quiet
B: Z :)
A: Quiet but interesting sounds good
C: PDQ!
D: hi ~waves~
C: peace :)
B: 2nd that
A: 3rd time is a charm
D: giggles
C: ( with Z as the base we make a peace symbol)
B: lol
D: whats PDQ ? and yay \ . . /
C: the first syllable of your names
D: oooh cool
D: laughs for no reason
--BELL--

C: hi X
D: h X :)
E: waves
D: darn I could think of one!
D: couldnt*
B: Hi X :)
D: doh
A: This business of identity is getting to be so much work these days :)
D: was going with stmi
C: one?
D: yes lets do away with it then
C: lol
C: we'll post the log with all names removed and all say what we want
D: whoa, anarchy!
A: There's an idea ... all in favor say Aye (or Maybe)
D: and someone trying to figure out who
A: Then it can be a puzzle for the readers to figure out
D: feels compelled to consider the owner of the group :P
D: butt aye?
B: aye
E: fine with me, won;t change a thing I say, however.... if we were to change avatars with each other, I would find it dificult to be "me"
A: The whole identity thing .. we could at least have more templates and sliders and technology for it .
E: scratches head and wonders why
C: if we did I'd put on one of your old dresses
A: at least five for example for gender related properties
E: :)
D: hi M, yay \ .. / more people to toss the salad
F: greetings
E: hello M
C: hi salad
B: hi M
D: (word salad) :P
F: sophia, I hope you know the meaning of the term
D: word salad?
D: im quite familiar with it
F: the phrase "toss the salad"
A: OK the issue on the table is, whether the session log should be anonymized ...
E: listens
A: All opposed say Nay
E: yes A, Aye
D: oh, no, i thought it was when you take tongs and flip aroound dressing with tomatoes and stuff
C: sure, it'll be fun
A: I vote Aye
F: you should check it on urbandictionary.com
E: the anonyminty, W?
D: word salad being one of the sx of neurological defect of some kind, or a mental d/o
D: i was being silly
D: ah, maybe i wont check it out right now lol
E: there are 2 definition there M
C: it's not really anonymous, we could put squares beside each line and make people guess who said it
D: hehe
D: ok sometimes it does seem like # 2
D: but i speak typonese
E: a give-away, we will rey on X to correct typos so we really can an anonymous
D: haha
D: yes dead givaway
E: lol
A: So having this anonymity, .. hmmm, I don't feel any different
A: not getting the urge to say anything in a different fashion
A: but maybe my neurons haven't adjusted yet
E: could have used a bt of this at this morning meeting
A: Hows that, X?
E: the meeting title would have been" Yes XXXXX"
D: laughs
D: i do think the flavor of people responses get through
A: Where was that.. where I live it only goes up to three X's I think .
A: Surely, Person
C: I wonder what sorts of theatre X goes to, my imagination is running wild
A: As a thought experiment .. suppose we did have all these "identity sliders" for style .. and could change them at will
A: then what would happen
A: no norms to rebell against?
C: actually I often find that if I read a log of a meet I've been to people "sound" different each time
E: sliders?
D: i do change them at will, every time i leave the house
A: yes, Person B here has changed a gender slider
A: and I was proposing we needed at least five of them
D: 5 genders?
A: for different qualities of behavior
E: dificult for me to find 5 aspect to change
C: hmm, gender, attractiveness, assertiveness, style, age
--BELL--

A: Different qualities that have a bearing on ones relationship to sex and gendered behavior .. at LEAST 5 ...(note this is from http://www.integralworld.net/harris22.html):
A: Spectrums of sexual behaviour and expression. 1. Introvert to extrovert. 2. Monogamous to polyamorous. 3. Masculine to feminine (outward and inward). 4. Asexual/disinterested to highly sexual.
D: check
F: I like #4
D: :))
A: looks like 4 but. #3 has two branches
A: outward and inward, so counts as two sliders
E: and #5
D: ok # 3 doesnt play with much in rl
D: dont*
A: These are the "vanilla" ones.. the common ones
E: doers for some
E: does
A: You might add one for creativity
A: and one for "need for novelty"
E: novel like original?
A: yes, like ... is it the same every time, or different?
C: you'd think creativity would be fueled by a need for novelty
A: it might be, C
A: but some people might like variety but not be creative
A: and rely on their partner(s)
C: unless we slide skill as well
A: skill .. yes ..
E: like enjoying eating different desserts, rather than making differen cakes
D: haha Y
A: hehe Z yes
E: oops, call me X
A: OOPS edit out "Z"
E: lol
A: the Editor will take care of such slips
E: you can leave that one in Y!!!
C: hmm, ok, but that would be independance vs depandance
A: :) Person
D: I meant Y for the one across from me
A: There might be another slider for Motivation perhaps
D: yes
A: like .. hmm Love? Money? Security? Adventure? Spirituality?
A: Control?
A: Power?
A: etc.
F: a nice sandwich?
C: worth
A: Anxiety management
D: grins
A: Recreation
E: yinyang of each
C: oh no, there was an ad like that sandwish comment on TV a bit ago
A: How did that go?
E: (is it on youtube)
D: every thing seems to be on youtube
F: yes there was
C: the girl gets in the car and the guy says "this is how the date will likelygo" and describes a pretty sad state of affairs, then he offers to just give her supper in the car and she gives him what he signed on for
C: I have no idea what they were selling
D: oh lord
D: lol
D: doesnt sound like something i want to buy
C: probably not a dating site
D: laughs
D: i can say my extrovertion and motivation sliders go up when i leave the house
D: out of having to
E: poinless to be extraverted when you are alone
C: it feels good
A: Well some people charge around the house constantly
D: giggles
E: I bet they get their way too
C: sadly I'm more extraverted while alone
D: hehe
A: I had someone in the flat above like that
A: My B/GF and I would listen to the footsteps and say .-- What the XXX is she up to, up there?
D: maybe xxx
D: lol
A: I think she was exchanging the contents of each closet, every day
C: I suspect that many people would choose extravert if they had a slider for it
D: i was going to say, maybe cleaning
A: Being a compulsive organizer ...
C: :)
--BELL--

A: OK, that shows a possible need between chaos and order .. from Wild to Highly Predictable
D: really W? i make extroverts as friends but feel no desire to be one, really
D: most of my friends are extroverts
C: examine that for a second... :)
D: do extroverts have a whole internal landscape that introverts do?
A: yes, that's a good one to think about
C: that used to be true of my sl friends, until I figured out what was going on
D: yes i think i see what your point may be
D: but i wouldnt be me
A: There's a lot of social pressure to be extroverted
A: and all the movers and shakers, the charismatic public figures, are for the main part extroverted
A: but the world would totally collapse if that's all there were
D: you think?
C: there would be a lot of conflict
A: a world of yang without yin would just expand like a balloon and either explode or become really diffuse
A: true, lots of conflict
E: yes
D: thats assuming an extrovert has a controlling personality
E: no balance
A: the NOISE LEVEL WOULD BE UNBEARABLE
D: giggles
C: they would feed off of one another and get worse
D: laughs at feed off of
D: ive met extroverts that are gregarious, not imposing
D: imposing*
C: lol, then we could slide back to introvert and mediate for a bit
A: Sure, if we controlled the sliders
A: Which to some degree we do
A: uppers or downers?
A: jogging or yoga
A: the sun goes round in the sky and causes our chemistry to slide the sliders
C: I think a gregarious extrovert would like having quiet friends
D: a quiet friend is befriended by a gregarious person
C: balance
D: and then pestered enough so she doesnt slip under
C: ah yes, the "project"
C: or concern
A: Meanwhile what is the quiet friend thinking?
D: maybe that time moves so fast or is so slippery
D: fast
D: so doesnt mean to not return a call
A: Maybe .. sure, I'll return your call really soon (meaning some time this month)
D: laughs
C: still, it is good to be pestered once in a while
A: Sure, C
A: And secretly "You should try Reading some time"
D: im my head she was Y
D: lol
A: I'll pester you some time :)
A: Anyone want to sign up for being pestered?
A: (or doing the pestering?)
D: i pester all day at work, so no thanks
A: It's a lot more work to be a good pesterer
E: looks at slider...
C: I'll have my answering machine all warmed up and awaiting you anxiously
D: hehe
D: my job is to be a pesterer
A: You're right, people have to be PAID to pester people .. it's WORK ..
A: that means they wouldn't naturally do it
D: and follow up to pester some more
D: time is slippery, many mean well
C: I've gotten lazy since everyone calls with reminders
D: ;p
--BELL--

C: pestering is kind of judgemental in a very personal way
C: though I'm sure it's not meant to be
A: If intros ran the world we'd have 90 seconds of talk every 15 minutes of silence, not the other way around
A: Pestering is a loaded word for something not necessarily unpleasant
A: What amount of the day is taken up trying to keep all the automatic pestering machinery going ... emails and reminders and alarms and notices and calls and project planners and notes and ... and ...
F: well, if you allow it. I mostly do not
C: ah, so guys are intros and woman are extros?
D: yes i see what you said about pestering, its not the best word i used
E: a lot of energy can be generated pestering
B thinks of the carpet bombing of America, by AOL discs in the mail, as related by a friend
A: /this person remembers that
D: eek me too
C: I have a passive approach to scheduling, so to me pestering is essential :)
A: modern technology provides us the ability to outsource our pestering
C: art projects everywhere benefited greatly
A: maybe more and more
C: autopester 2.0
D: ugh i dont like the sound of that, something else to unplug
A: Art projects benefitted?
C: I've seen everything from wind chimes to toy cars made out of discs
D: yes, art projects?
D: oh good they were put to good use then!
A: There's an emerging profession "virtual assistant" ..like having a secretary or helper, but online
C: you never saw all the videos, "Look what I made out of my AOLs"
D: nope :P
A: The disks are good for scaring away birds
D: but thats hysterical
C: we have too much to do, keeping track of it all in our minds fills it with non-essentials
D: yes, seems purposeful
A: It's odd ... why Linden Labs hasn't created an aggressive ad campaign.. I wonder why
A: I've NEVER seen a TV commercial that says .. "you could be having more fun in SL, not watching stupid commercials like this one"
C: balancing the "geek" factor, maybe they ae embarassed
D: ive wondered about that myself
E: I must be off, see you soon
F: I do not at all have too much to do
A: Well B, we do have too much to do / think about .. that is why we have "beliefs"
D: :)
C: ok, have fun, um, you
E: :)
D: hehe bye E
F: in fact, I do not have enough to do
A: Goodbye fly well
B: bye E
C: ah yes , but you said you don't allow yourself to be pestered, maybe there is a link?
F: purely intentional, E
A: Not enough to do ... could that be a statement of an extrovert?
D: i think i have too much, but other have more
A: Too much to do could be a statement of an introvert
C: or a controlled introvert
C: self-controlled that is
A: Extroverts, I think, have trouble not doing
D: what's the difference between and introvert and someone who just isn't shy
F: I have an easy time of doing nothing
A: Ok, some extroverts actually meditate .. that's possible?
D: i can do nothing for days! and have
C: ergh! now I'm jealous
D: laughs
D: not lately
C: define "nothing"
A: I think it means "nothing an extrovert would approve of"
A: like .. cleaning out the closets
A: What is a good amount of time for a meditation .. 90 seconds? 10 minutes? an hour? All day?
D: i still cant tolerate more than an hour
D: ok 1/2 hr with intention
A: Not sure I believe you, that you do nothing for days :)
D: ok :)
D: you mean in a monk in cave sense, no of course not
C: "sitting on the dock at the bay..."
A: Once I did sit on a dock for an entire day
D: my butt would hurt after an hr
--BELL--

D: i mean nothing to do and no where to go thats pressing or have to
D: no cleaning, no laundry
A: No "maintenance" jobs ..
C: seriously I'm going to bean you and steal your identity
D: ha! it would bore you in one second
A: Really, why would you steal that?
A: In a word ..let me guess .. it has to do with whether or not one has decendants
D: i have a high tolerance for boredom i think
C: mine is too tangled up in expectations and duties :(
D: most peoples are
D: and that is a lovely thing, actually
C: speaking of which...
B: duty calls...ladies and gentlemen ...bewell
D: bye see you later :)
C: have a good chat
C: bye
A: Goodbye, Persons :)
D: :)
F: bye male or female person that is leaving
D: maybe you can delete everything I said :) and not just my navatar name
D: laughs
A: The world depends on the transcript .. it's part of the information food chain
D: what does it feed?
A: not sure we should upset the ecology
D: pictures something hungry out there for data
D: all the 100111100001001010010100100011111001001
A: Story .. it's about the story, not the data
A: Gossip is what really makes the world go round
A: Not data or Love
D: interested in what is going on over there
D: and not here?
A: hehe
A: novelty .. needs to be moved around
A: to keep "here" from stagnating
D: a deep human trait it seems, to need novelty
A: My cats are nutty-for-novelty
A: constantly on the prowl
D: my cats are just nutty
F: weelll, it is time to make like a prom dress and take off. good day, nameless people
D: lol bye F
A: Hasta la vista, F
D: bye for now :))
D: me too, have some things to do that i havent been wanting to do
A: ohhhh , s/he said the "DO" word
A: :)
D: hehe
A: OK bye, D, take care