A. Riddle
Table of contents
No headersIn some ways Riddle is the ultimate "old timer". Some of us may be older in years, some have more time in Second Life, and some have known Piet longer in RL. Riddle has rubbed shoulders with Pema in the virtual worlds probably longer than any of us. So his perspective is particularly important and the following account is wonderfully informative
Riddle is maddenly busy and so we had trouble getting together in SL for a private chat. Finally I emailed Riddle a bunch of questions which he graciously answers here. In reading this, I thought the questions were irrelevant and I left in the numbers to show the separation of thoughts and a couple of notes . -Adams
1. Around 1978-79 I was meeting the lady who would become married to me. She
asked me why I wanted to 'play' with these computers machines. I
talked about how I could experiment with, anamorphize, model, simulate
and play with these computers. Get the results faster. Make mistakes.
And turn them off without moral / ethical problems.
At some point I discover VRML and people using it to create 3D virtual worlds. Some early experiments were really exciting. pointworlds.com was one of my favorites. Objects were data collections with size, color and distant denoting important charactistics/info.
AlphaWorld was one of the first and best avatar, building and scripting
worlds. I had the big question mark laboratory there. BuilderBot
built it. They became ActiveWorlds and sold the software as
personal/corporate universes. Nez bought one and built Video Ranch 3D.
Nez, Victoria and some KPig people ran it for a few years. I would
visit but didn't chat. It closed down for a couple years.
Technology advanced and VR3d came back with streaming audio and video
overlain in-world. Concerts, dancing, movies, book signings and
lectures.
Piet Hut showed up and did a series of 6 weekly lectures. The logs are near www.videoranch.com/html/pietsroundup march182007.html He also stayed around and "played" with the locals. For fun, do a search for "Piet" in www.fashionstate.com/vr3d/index.htm
it is a long page with no anchors. The
3rd and 4th searches are great. If you go to VR3d (no fees) there is a place on
the billboard map called "Piets Hut" click to transport to a most
relaxing mountain cabin with a little lake, dock, easy chairs and
inside a book on the table.
Then I found "Ways of Knowing". Imagine a bunch of avatars discussing
things that mater. Qwaq was a crude avatar land, but rich in shared
application space. Being able to put spreadsheets, documents,
applications, etc. up on the wall so every person could (via voice
chat) discuss our ways of knowing. Piet and Steven held court there
(Steven still does) with the finest set of scientist assembled. Being
voice oriented, Qwaq is much more a lecture (one person talks for some
period, then switch). The typing channel only used for
side-commentaries. Being a bunch of scientist the discussions become
somewhat analitical (my thought no offense). However, Steven has them
doing meditation exercises. I found myself taking the artist point of
view.
I see from the logs that I was at at least the second recorded session
on April 1st. I was stuck with a very stupid avatar. I met Storm the
monk for the first time. The religious community in which the Tea House was
located in set the tone and population. I found myself playing the
scientist and artist in those sessions. But, Play was the main theme
and that was exactly where I fit.
VR3d is still just play, entertainment and relax. Qwaq is serious
(though due to some technical problems I have not been there so should
not say). SL is about right. SL PaB can be very different from one
session to another.
I never really did "Role Play" like the fantasy sites/worlds. As I
lighten/loosen up the definition of role playing, I think I am doing
this. Depending on my mood, I sit down to a channel da jour. Enter
the VW that fits (or will fit) my mood for the next hour.
[Note left in the text by Riddle: for more information on virtual worlds, , there is a site of sites - social network for VWs (www.associationofvirtualworlds.com]
2a. Last April, and probably a few months before that (due to Qwaq /
WoK) I had lost touch of something. I went looking and found WoK-PaB.
I had dropped most long meditation practices because I just did not
have the time. Steven's 25-35 breathes at wake-up time was great.
Pema's 9-seconds every 15 minutes (1%) was just right. I got back in
touch with a missing side of the big picture. My person had lost the
big picture point of view. That POV was always important to me and I
needed it back.
2b. Over time the commonalities of reflections start taking on a view
themselves. Being one that combines all out-o-box and human nature and
law of physics and blind belief and natural flow and the musical sound
track I thrived in the repeated "where are you now?" of every 15
minutes. Without going on and on about the importance/relation of POV
to what is, I developed and revisited(moved back in) my "which side are
you seeing now?" states.
2c. Over the year, we brought ourselves and our new friends/travelers
up to levels that touch Being and allow odd questions could be posed (modern Koans?). Not just
Pema or Stim asked us to question the essence. Avastu, Storm, Caspion,
Cal, Adams, et.al.
were there presenting the most common yet unusual POV, what-if and
beyond. And what if we just wore it loosely? And what if we stood on
the shoulders of all the presentations so far. And what if Pema gives
us 5 letters that stand for words that might or might not stand next to
each other.
3. A year ago Pema was leading everything. And we were all children
together. Now we are a family or hierarchical tree helping newbies
and helping questioners and helping explore what we already know, but
have not told each other yet. PaB grew to Kira which has grown 5-9 arms.
We talked of our dreams. Now we dream our talk. That is important and huge growth. Besides, I can now chat in my seemingly scattered / flighty way as I wish to do and some people follow.
[Note I asked Riddle about how RL religious practices interatct with PaB]
4. After 20 years of studying all religions, doing comparitive
experiments and making up my own, I took the surface level principles of
those down any one depth for another 20 years. 2.5 years ago I ramped
up my studies of Judism (learning old Hebrew, my Bar Mitzvah, etc.). PaB brought the complimentary factor back into in-depth study. To spend
14.75 minutes taking any one thing to a distant land. Then in a flash
instant to relate back to the whole, see the connection, sense the
unity and perhaps get it. PaB balances me. When one spends live out on
several edges there needs to be a counter balance.
It works the other way too. PaB can get theoretical, abstract and
un-grounded and falling back on concrete examples of a 2-5 thousand
year old tradition to both comfort and knowledgeable.
Yet... it doesn't work sometimes. I have no 30-second elevator intro
to PaB when I want to interject some point Adams made during
yesterday's session. There are just times I can not readily think it
out and nobody with common ground to discuss it with.
[Note the next question was whether there was anything else Riddle would like to add that were not in my questions]
5. I would like to add more time, but I can not (really believe I can
not). I would benefit from a keyboard with a better working space bar.
(oops, read question wrongly).
5. As comfortable as you have made me with SL and PaB friendships there
are still things in my life, my past and my thinking that have not fit
in yet. Perhaps some day I can relate to the group some of those
examples. Some in the group may know what a live blade coming at you
does to time. Most would know the equivalent of being on stage in
front of 10,000 and hitting the wrong B# and then just smiling the
smile of joy. I have the greatest of inner needs to discuss out of
body mishaps and flukes with somebody that has done same. Are we
ready to discuss parallel universes/realities. Or speak of Magic.
There are simple, complex and chaos levels. We always discuss the
simple. We edge up to the complex at the end of the hour. When will
be explore chaos, the chaotic states, the over whelming of the rules,
the overrunning of 'your' borders.