Another Melioria coffee house salon transcript: Tolerance in the Englightenment

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Our coffee House Salon held on July 23, 2011

My apologies for my tardiness in posting this--the convoluted adventure that is my meatspace existence has delayed me from attending to more important issues. What follows is the transcript from out second "coffee house salon" on the island of Melioria in Second Life. The subject was Tolerance in the Enlightenment, and participants prepared by reading a variety of pieces from the period including John Locke's Letters on Tolerance, an excerpt from an 18th century German play in which Jewish and Muslim characters were treated with great sympathy and respect, and the one of the key British anti-catholic laws of the 18th century. Please keep in mind that the discussion was conducted "in character" set in the year 1780 (which kept us from including some later interesting materials).

[08:12] Aldo Stern: The topic for today is...tolerance...particularly as it applies to various religions and religious affiliations in Europe.

[08:13] Aldo Stern: have you all had the opportunity to look at the readings that the Baronessa and I prepared in advance?

[08:14] OFlaherty Dreadlow: I confess that I haven't.

[08:14] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): Quite allright that is. It is merely to get the conversation going.

[08:14] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Yes, I have looked at the materials. And have been reviewing some recent publications by Monsieur’s Rousseau and Voltaire.

[08:15] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Ah, yes....I did read through it quickly.

[08:15] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): and I would start there...

[08:15] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): The Professore wanted to put the quote from the Jew, Shylock, at the beginning ... what did you have in mind with that, Herr Professor?

[08:15] OFlaherty Dreadlow: There are, of course, newer writings...from our friends in the erstwhile colonies.

[08:16] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Jefferson, for one

[08:16] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Indeed. Mr. Jefferson has stirred up quite a bit of trouble with his Declaration of Independence.

[08:16] Aldo Stern: oh excellent points...we will get to those in minute...

[08:16] Aldo Stern: in answer to the Baronessa, I put that piece from the play there, because I think it represents something ...the mixed state of tolerance and it's cousins, empathy and acceptance, in Europe have been for some time and remain mixed.

[08:18] Aldo Stern: the playwright puts words in Shylock's mouth that imply an understanding of the injustice of his situation and of his people.

[08:18] Aldo Stern: at the same time, that he is unlikable character and comes out badly in the end of the play.

[08:19] Aldo Stern: our feelings versus our ideals are often at odds...

[08:19] Aldo Stern: but let us start with ideals...Sere, you mentioned looking at Rousseau and others...what did you take away from reviewing their thoughts on tolerance?

[08:20] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): The idea that it is important to separate religious allegiance from civil allegiance.

[08:20] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): That for the good of the state we must allow every person the right to their own religious practice.

[08:21] Aldo Stern: then they are saying societies should tolerate religious differences not so much for ideals, but for pragmatic reasons?

[08:22] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): I think so. But both Rousseau and Voltaire clearly believe there are some common civil ideals that must bind us all together.

[08:23] Aldo Stern: civil ideals , but not spiritual ones?

[08:23] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): It is interesting, I think, that both of those gentleman seem to separate the two. Yet when each talks about civic/civil ideas they seem very much grounded in the Christian tradition.

[08:24] Aldo Stern: interesting, indeed...

[08:24] Aldo Stern: your Lordship, you mentioned the American, Signore Jefferson...do you have some insights into how he views the issue?

[08:24] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Well, that touches on what I think is the crucial point.

[08:24] Aldo Stern: yes?

[08:24] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Note that we tend to talk about religious tolerance....

[08:25] OFlaherty Dreadlow: In essence, that means that we "tolerate" those with dissenting--that is, incorrect--views for the sake of a civil society.

[08:25] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Jefferson wrote the Statute of Religious FREEDOM in 1777.

[08:26] OFlaherty Dreadlow: That states that ALL religious points of view--from the point of the state--are equally valid and is revolutionary

[08:27] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): I wonder if Mr. Jefferson would be quite so tolerant of a religion that required human sacrifice. That would seem to put religious beliefs and the common good at odds.

[08:27] OFlaherty Dreadlow: And, if I may broach a delicate subject, why most of views like that were hidden in secret societies.

[08:28] OFlaherty Dreadlow: That would violate a basic civil law and could be banned on that basis.

[08:29] Aldo Stern: but then is not Signore Jefferson essentially a deist.

[08:30] OFlaherty Dreadlow: He was but it was not crucial for him to be a deist to believe that--from society's point of view--all religions are valid.

[08:30] Aldo Stern: taking a philosophical perspective that there is a Divine, and all religions are some form of manifestation of that, and consequently all valid.

[08:31] OFlaherty Dreadlow: It's important to keep in mind that one period of "tolerance" can be followed by one of intolerance when those in "hiding" come out in the open and are...removed.

[08:31] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): I think his Lordship makes a interesting point about the revolutionary nature of this...as it does seem to be a mix of principles and ideals ... it is good for the state for the different groups to be productive elements of society.

[08:31] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Hence, the Masons....even more, speaking of Jefferson, hence the Illuminati.

[08:31] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): but also there is an idealism there.

[08:32] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): it not just simply like with the Jews in some places where they are tolerated, but not accepted, because of their banking skills and resources.

[08:33] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Exactly, until the wealth those areas provide become tempting and subject to jealousy.

[08:33] Aldo Stern: yes, or they are perceived as becoming too politically powerful.

[08:33] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Indeed.

[08:34] OFlaherty Dreadlow: AND they are identifiable because of the earlier "tolerance."

[08:34] Aldo Stern: as happened when the British were considering a naturalization act for the Jews back in the 1750s.

[08:34] Aldo Stern: popular opinion was stirred up and the act failed not so much on issues of faith, but because many English people feared the Jews could take control of their political affairs.

[08:35] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Which brings us to the crux of the problem: human nature that seeks to protect itself by attacking the "other"

[08:36] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): well is that not why the Freemasons are suppressed some places--fear of their power and influence?

[08:36] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): and isn't that what happened to the Jesuits as well?

[08:36] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): And it is often easier to "justify" acts of intolerance and suppression by appealing to religious belief and God, than to admit to jealousy and fear.

[08:37] OFlaherty Dreadlow: At the moment, their influence is open--consider General Washington--but there will undoubtedly be a reaction from those outside their area of power.

[08:37] Aldo Stern: well that is a very complex chicken and egg thing isn't it?

[08:37] Aldo Stern: like with Catholics in Britain

[08:37] Aldo Stern: there is a fundamental ideological difference between the catholic and protestant perspectives

[08:38] Aldo Stern: they each think they are the one true version of Christianity.

[08:38] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Yes, I fear my mother's family (I'm half British/half Irish) will suffer much for their refusal to "conform"

[08:39] Aldo Stern: but in trying to impose the ideals, there is a see-saw history of struggling for power, and kings of the different faiths, and the gunpowder plot and the Jacobites uprising... and on and on.

[08:39] Aldo Stern: there is fear of Catholics among protestant Britons not just because of issues of faith, but because of the history that is there.

[08:40] Aldo Stern: that is why they have the settlement act regarding the faith that their rulers must adhere to.

[08:40] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): which we had in our notes

[08:40] Aldo Stern: yes, Baronessa, we did

[08:40] Aldo Stern: thank you for finding that

[08:40] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): *grins*

[08:40] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): One thing that makes Britain and the papal states different from many other nations is the fact that their civil authority -- the king or the Pope -- is also a religious authority.

[08:41] Aldo Stern: ah an important point...head of state as also head of the state religion.

[08:41] OFlaherty Dreadlow: All wars--both military and political--believe that THEIR war will end all wars.

[08:42] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Hence the appearance, and often the reality, is that if you don't conform to the state religion you are somehow a lesser citizen.

[08:42] Aldo Stern: well speaking of political power...how do you all feel regarding the Jesuits...and speaking of popes and their authority...

[08:42] Aldo Stern: have the Jesuits been suppressed in so many catholic states because someone fears them?

[08:43] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Intellectuals of all types are feared by the state

[08:43] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): but not all states.

[08:44] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): the Prussian King and Great Catherine in Russia have taken in the Jesuits and given them refuge.

[08:44] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Refuge....not inclusion

[08:44] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): mostly for the pragmatic reasons I think...good teachers they are.

[08:44] OFlaherty Dreadlow: And refuge can turn into entrapment at any time.

[08:44] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): I know Der Alte Fritz thinks having them teaching in Prussia strengthens his state.

[08:44] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): There is often fear of things that one does not understand and cannot control. Most secret societies, including the Jesuits, fall into that category.

[08:45] Aldo Stern: There are some who see a connection between the Jesuits and the freemasons and revolutionary ideas that could potentially overthrow old systems in places like France.

[08:46] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Since Rome ruled the western world, we have seen outsiders being taken into the state as "workers" but they usually grow into threats to the state.

[08:46] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): Greetings...

[08:47] Aldo Stern: good day , Your Eminence. How good of you to join us

[08:47] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): Good Morning, Sir and Madame. Please continue your conversation...

[08:47] Aldo Stern: we were discussing the various manifestations of intolerance...and the suppression of certain groups such as the Freemasons and the Jesuits and the limitation of rights for Jews in many places, or Catholics in England.

[08:48] Aldo Stern: and I think one theme that we have seemed to agree on, is that at the heart of intolerance is fear.

[08:48] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): oh well, the age of enlightenment is an interesting topic...

[08:48] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): about the Jesuits...I have some definite ideas...

[08:49] Aldo Stern: yes, Your Eminence, what are your thoughts regarding the Jesuits?

[08:49] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): In my own opinion I don't think the Jesuits will be suppressed.

[08:50] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): first of all, if the Jesuits really introduce new ideas I don't see anything that will undermine His Holiness...

[08:51] OFlaherty Dreadlow: Not suppressed? Everywhere, Eminence....or just where the Pope holds power?

[08:51] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): There are some people who may disagree with my opinion, however, and we must obey the decisions of His Holiness...

[08:51] Aldo Stern: there is the possibility that His Holiness was pressured, particularly by the Spanish and French courts about the Jesuits, but that his heart is not really in the suppression and that he was secretly pleased that Prussia and Russia have given them refuge.

[08:52] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): The biggest problem, I think, will be the Spanish monarch.

[08:52] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Why do you suppose that the Spanish and French courts are so fearful of the Jesuits?

[08:53] Aldo Stern: Perhaps that brings us to the other side of this ... what moves some people to look upon the benefits of tolerance...and to give more rights to oppressed religious minorities in their countries...

[08:53] OFlaherty Dreadlow: And we should not forget the Dutch....who have been most tolerant.

[08:54] OFlaherty Dreadlow glances at the cardinal for his reaction to that

[08:54] Aldo Stern: we mentioned Jefferson and Rousseau and Voltaire, but I rather liked the quote we included in the readings from John Locke, the English philosopher and doctor who was such an early influence.

[08:54] Aldo Stern: and he seems to be saying that tolerance is what a good Christian would do.

[08:55] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): The monarchs of Spain are afraid of what will happen if their colonies and trade arrangements are subjected to an organization that isn’t Spanish. Jesuits actually stand for the Papal State.

[08:56] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Getting back to the Professore’s point, I think many of the current batch of philosophers make the point that Christian teaching makes it clear that all human knowledge is fallible.

[08:56] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Thus it is difficult to assert that one group's understanding of religion is better than the rest.

[08:56] Aldo Stern: which brings us back to a philosophical underpinning for tolerance.

[08:57] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): philosophy is one thing, but ultimately when most states act ... when governments act, when rulers act, they are doing what they see as good for their interests.

[08:57] OFlaherty Dreadlow: and this is probably a good point for me to beg your pardon.

[08:57] OFlaherty Dreadlow: I fear I have another engagement...

[08:57] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr):

[08:57] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): We have appreciated your company and insights, Lord Dreadlow.

[08:59] Aldo Stern: your Lordship, thank you for joining us .

[08:59] Aldo Stern: anyway, Baronessa, you were saying?

[08:59] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): well...

[08:59] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): that Prussia takes in the Jesuits because they are an intellectual resource.

[09:00] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): they take in the Jews and treat them relatively fairly because they have resources and skills.

[09:00] Aldo Stern: the British have arguably done the same.

[09:00] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): Russia has also done the same, I know.

[09:00] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): And so Prussia has separated religious belief from acting for the good of the state. Very progressive.

[09:00] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): and sometimes maybe one nation might take in the French protestants just because they are thinking it will annoy the French.

[09:01] Aldo Stern: *laughs*

[09:01] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): but apart from insuring the survival of the Jesuits, I see accepting the Jesuits into Russia as a more progressive action, especially because of what they can do for education.

[09:01] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): ja, Eminence you are right, I think Catharine likes the Jesuits for what they can do to advance learning in her country.

[09:02] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): pretty much backward they are, you know.

[09:02] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): exactly

[09:02] Aldo Stern: yes, she desperately wants to create a modern nation.

[09:03] Aldo Stern: It is essential for Russia's survival and that means modernizing thought and education as well as industry and the military.

[09:04] Aldo Stern: but as we have said before...

[09:04] Aldo Stern: it is one thing to be tolerant of a religious group or an organization for pragmatic reasons, but it is another to see the "other" as a person.

[09:05] Aldo Stern: to accept him and his beliefs

[09:05] Aldo Stern: which is why we included the last bit from the play Nathan the Wise

[09:05] Aldo Stern: because what is interesting to me in that is that the Jewish characters, unlike Shylock, are likable and sympathetic.

[09:05] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): Don’t forget that during most of the 18th Century, the church is a kingdom with a monarch (pope), prince (cardinal), land, and money.

[09:06] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): ja. eminence

[09:06] Aldo Stern: the individuals in the play ..., Muslim, Jewish and Christian

all have good qualities

[09:07] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): But 1773 is the year that the Papal State dissolved, and most of the cardinals became representative of their kingdom’s monarch ... not the Pope. This is especially true in Spain.

[09:08] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): The people who are afraid of the ideas of the enlightenment think the new ideas will destroy the christianity of the Church because they could undermine the traditional order and rules of the church. For example, the church had strong views about the nature of the universe.

[09:09] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): I forget the name of the scientist who was executed by the church because he described a theory of the universe which contradicted the church’s teaching.

[09:10] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Cardinal, do you think that the notion of religious tolerance ought to extend to matters of science?

[09:11] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): For the most part I agree. On the one hand I think the rule of the church, or I shall say the belief, should be under control by the Pope himself, but the Jesuits are another matter.

[09:11] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): Because of the Jesuits I think the church will be better able to focus on what we should focus on to do better.

[09:11] Aldo Stern: but again, as the Jesuits showed ... or John Locke stated ... learning, science, new ideas do not necessarily undermine our faith.

[09:12] Aldo Stern: we can be good Christians, ..or Jews ... or Zoroastrians I suppose, and still believe in the importance of new ideas and reason.

[09:12] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): But learning and science can undermine the ideas that have been promulgated for centuries by the head of a religious group like the Pope. That can seem very threatening.

[09:13] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): I certainly accept it will be threatening, but the oversight of the papal state is needed because the inventor of a new idea might overreach and cause further rebellion.

[09:14] Aldo Stern: change is always threatening from a certain perspective.

[09:14] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): But the Jesuits seem to be changing the thinking of the church especially on education and new scientific invention which is needed in the world today.

[09:15] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): I think we can agree that it is more difficult for a state to be tolerant of dissenting views, whether religious or scientific, when the head of the state is a religious leader.

[09:16] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): But I would like to get back to the ideas of Locke about how ordinary people view other religious groups.

[09:16] Aldo Stern: which is why as you said Sere, it was so interesting that Frederick of Prussia has separated the civil and religious authority...

[09:16] Aldo Stern: and his primary concern is what is good for the state.

[09:17] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): That separation makes it easier for ordinary people to be tolerant of other religions, I think. It seems almost a necessary precursor.

[09:19] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): I enjoyed the conversation today but must be going.

[09:19] Aldo Stern: we are very pleased that you could join us, Your Eminence

[09:20] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Thank you for coming Your Eminence. We have appreciated your ideas

[09:20] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): I am glad that the people have thought about the importance of enlightenment ... I am not one of those ultra-conservatives.

[09:20] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): have a good day...

[09:20] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): a pleasure it was to meet you.

[09:20] Giovanni Marco Byers (joubert.byers): pleasure to meet you all too.

[09:20] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Good day.

[09:20] Aldo Stern: arrividerci

[09:22] Aldo Stern: well shall we finish with Locke?

[09:22] Aldo Stern: the bit I was really impressed by was this:

[09:22] Aldo Stern: "I esteem that toleration to be the chief characteristic mark of the true Church."

[09:23] Aldo Stern: I think Locke sees tolerance as a Christian duty.

[09:23] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): A very revolutionary idea, and one that has resonated among the Enlightenment thinkers.

[09:24] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): well I think especially those who have a broader, less dogmatic view of their Christianity.

[09:25] Aldo Stern: like a Jefferson?

[09:26] Aldo Stern: unless I am very much mistaken we are all getting mentally tired.

[09:27] Aldo Stern: but may I sum up a few pints and see if we agree...

[09:27] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): I think perhaps you are right, Professore.

[09:27] Aldo Stern: that the root cause of intolerance and persecution may be ideological...or based in issues of faith...

[09:27] Aldo Stern: but he real engine of intolerance is fear.

[09:28] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): I would agree with that

[09:28] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): An excellent summary.

[09:28] Aldo Stern: and that the growth of tolerance is to a great extent based in pragmatism.

[09:29] Aldo Stern: but what will give it greater resonance is the philosophical ideals...from a broader view of what it means to be a person of faith.

[09:29] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): hmmm

[09:29] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): maybe

[09:30] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Certainly if tolerance can be made to seem like a core tenet of faith it is easier for most people to practice it.

[09:30] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): but what makes tolerance work in my old homeland in Franconia...where both Catholics and Lutherans coexist happily...

[09:30] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): is simple humanity...you live close with people and you see them as people, not a papist or a Lutheran.

[09:31] Aldo Stern: or a Jew

[09:31] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): ja

[09:31] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Living side by side reduces the amount of the "unknown" -- there is simply less to fear about people you know.

[09:31] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): my husband he was a Lutheran but not such a good one.

[09:32] Diogeneia (diogenes.kuhr): maybe that helped?

[09:32] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): If tolerance is a Christian virtue, your late husband might have been the very best kind of Lutheran.

[09:32] Aldo Stern: well on that note, I think we can bring this to a close

[09:32] Aldo Stern: I found the discussion very interesting

[09:33] Sere Timeless (serenek.timeless): Thank you for leading us Professore.

Life wasn't sufficiently complex....

...so I got involved with owning and running a sim.

A portrait entitled "Idiot with Sunset"

Once again, it's been a while since I've talked to y'all. This time there is a good reason (in addition to the usual reason why I haven't been writing for a spell: i.e., my congenital fecklessness).

A little while back we had an announcement from CapabilityTodd Elswitt, builder and co-owner of the Melioria sim, that he and his partner, Blue Revolution, would be closing the sim down due to rl demands on their time and resources imposed by them buying a house.

Being the eternal goddamn cheerful optimist that I am, I asked Cap and Blue if they would be willing to sell the sim to someone who would do their best to keep it going. To my surprise they said "yes," and I then rounded up some other folks to put together the means to take it over and run it.

For those of you who haven't been there (or missed my previous post about it) Il Principato di Melioria is a spectacularly lovely build that represents a fictional (but more or less historically plausible) island principality off the southwest coast of Italy, set in the year 1780.

The charming jumble that is the village by the harbor on Melioria

The sim is open for roleplay, but also for general visitors and educational activities. For example, there are already lessons in ancient Greek and Latin being conducted in the Villa on Sunday afternoons. The build itself is a lesson in art and architectural history: the villa for example, was described by Cap as "a virtual interpretation of a World Heritage site in Vicenza, Italy. Built in 1565, this elegant country house was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome and has since influenced the design of thousands of subsequent structures."

Eventually, we will be working on ways to convey that kind of didactic information through handouts and some form of architectural "treasure hunt" game. Melioria isn't just something that's pretty to look at or fun to play in (though it is both of those things). There also is substantial potential for this build to serve as an site for various experiments in virtual learning, and to function as a venue for diverse educational meetings and classes.

With those considerations in mind, a couple other folks came forward to help save the sim, do some reorganizing, and then run it. Besides me, the new owners include Sere Timeless (who some of you may know from her involvement with Renaissance Island), and Aldo Stern (former proprietor of the Falling Anvil Pub in Tamrannoch, Caledon0. Our sim manager is Aria Vyper, who, as La Donna Ariella, has been a long-time resident and administrator of Melioria. We all have been working very hard (along with Cap and Blue, who have been happily and doggedly assisting) addressing the many details of the transition and the reorganization. But in many ways, the key person in this process has been Aldo--without him, saving the sim simply would not have been possible. And he has thrown himself into this job wholeheartedly, even facing the utterly discouraging task of finding appropriate 18th century mens' clothing, and giving up his avatar's Maori-style face tattoos (which he has had since 2005), in order to fit the theme of the island.

Aldo Stern 2.0

So, you may ask, what's involved in reorganizing a sim like this?

Well kids, more than you would think. First of all, we had to try to think about how to make the sim work financially with expanded income sources. This meant building a sky platform for an entry area with additional retail spaces, as well as an rp info area and rental office. Aldo created the initial version of the platform, and Sere is even as we speak applying her creative talents in improving the look and functionality of the landing point and adjoining market space. Other new residential rental spaces were added in to the build itself. Then we had to reduce prim usage, in order to accommodate the potential new renters and vendors.

Furthermore, we wanted to create new elements that would facilitate and enhance roleplay. This has involved the placement of "archeological" relics in various places (including an "excavation" on the less built-up side of the island), and the introduction of new businesses in village such as a metal-smith's shop and an 18th century coffee house.

Aldo in the coffee house. The coffee booth is based on 18th century London-style coffee house furnishings, but the rest of it is very Italian, including the fact that respectable women are allowed in.

This coffee house will be of particular importance as a venue where people can gather and talk and interact, similar to the "Keller" in 1920s Berlin. In a successful rp environment, it helps to have a "common space" where the players can count on going to encounter each other and have some plausible reason to interact. RP, after all, is a social activity. And yes, before anyone whines about it, we know coffee houses in 18th century London and Paris did not allow women to enter. In Italy, however, many did, so that is the model our Melioria Coffee house is based on. Everyone--including respectable, intellectually-inclined ladies--are welcome to socialize and join the discussions.

The trick in all this reorganization effort was to accomplish our collective goals without doing massive violence to Cap's build. Yes, we had to cut the number of prims being used and create new income-generating and rp-related spaces, but we tried very hard to do so without destroying the overall look and feel of the sim.

With Cap's ongoing help, I think we've managed to do that.

So I hope you'll come and visit, maybe even think about renting a space or holding an educational event or meeting here. Or if you're a vendor, hey, let's talk.

Next time, I'll fill you in on the rp storylines that seem to be developing.

~~~

Name Dio's ship winner!

~~~

Since he won the contest, I let Aldo take a turn at the steering oars. It didn't end well.

Well, I waited to get some more entries, then I got kinda busy with other crap (like the public service announcements) and finally I just decided it was time to pick something.

So the winner is "Aanu"--ancient Egyptian for "beauty" or "that which attracts your own soul."

My thanks go to my old friend Aldo for the suggestion. In fact, I want to thank everyone who sent a suggestion. There were some fine ones.

Aldo gets a trade blanket and some cigars. Any of the rest of you who entered, come look me up in-world and I will be happy to take you sailing in Aanu (provided of course that SL is being kind to sailors). And what the hell, I'll probably give you some cigars and blanket too, if you want.

~~~

Has Second Life changed...or have we?

~~~

I've been trying out some different things lately--this is Alsium--I'll tell you more about it soon.

~~~

Not too terribly long ago, I was talking with my friend Aldo, and he mentioned that he had gone in-world to pay his rent on the Falling Anvil pub in Tamrannoch, Caledon. While doing so, he got an IM from Prokofy Neva, who he has known since our days in The Sims Online. Prokofy isn't perhaps the easiest person to get along with, but Aldo seems to do pretty well at it, and Prok seems to have respect for him. He said that Prok asked him if he thought that SL is dying, and Aldo replied without hesitation, "no...but it definitely is changing."

So he and I kicked that around some: how it is changing; the evidence for why it isn't dying (unless the labsters seriously settle down with the intention to kill it, once and for all); and speculation about why it is changing. And the thing that I came to conclude is that, yes, Second Life has certainly changed, but perhaps more importantly, a great many of us have changed and are continuing to change, both in how we approach our virtual lives and how important those lives are to us.

Of course, all I can really give you is personal anecdotal evidence for this. I wish I had hard numbers based on serious research and extensive surveys of former and current SL residents...but I don't. All I have to go on is what I am seeing and what I have experienced myself. So yeah, this is yet another opinion carefully extracted from the recesses of mine own middle-aged ass, and its ultimate value should be judged within that highly questionable context. But I can say that I have witnessed--and experienced--some things that make me think that an awful lot of us have changed, much more so than the platform itself has.

For starters, you probably noticed that I haven't written anything in a dreadfully long time--since June. I'm sorry about, but there's a great many factors that influenced that: I took on a new job that has been very intense, one that required me to move again, and that has involved some energetic kicking-of-ass-and-taking-of-names to get things on track. So, by Gawd, I just haven't had the mental energy (nor sufficient time) to actually sit down and write more of the palsied drivel that I was regularly spewing here. More importantly, I felt like I didn't have anything to say that was even remotely worth you all taking the time to read. Not like that stops lots of other bloggers from wasting their readers' time, but hell's britches, y'all, I got more respect for you than that.

To be honest a big part of what was going on was that SL just didn't seem all that important in the larger context of the real life shit that I was dealing with. Yeah, I kept showing up in-world when I could, and I even tried out some new stuff, which I will tell you about in another post. But an awful lot of the time I was angry, and I transferred a lot of those feelings about real life stuff into how I was acting and interacting with people in-world...and, yeah...jeezuschristonafuckingpogostick, I became the original Holy Roman Bitch.

Partly this was because I was having to be a ball-bustin' beeyotch in my rl work, in order to get shit done, to shut down the forces of vile self-interest that were torpedoing the work that needed to be accomplished, and to make sure that the agencies I was working with would not be pissing away the People's money.

I guess I kinda found it hard to shut that off at the end of the day.

And you know, it seems that a lot of friends and acquaintances are going though a similar thing: if you have a job, more than likely, the pressures of doing it well and making sure that you keep it will have an impact on what you are like when you go in world, if you go in-world at all.

I know Aldo is going through something like this. Hell, he is planning on getting rid of the Falling Anvil--that's the oldest continuously operating social venue in Caledon--the home of what may have been one of the first (if not the absolute first) storytelling series in Second Life. His partner Betty has already abandoned her shop next door to the Anvil. She tells me it hadn't been profitable for a long time, but she had held on to it for sentimental reasons, because it was her first place of business in SL, and she and Aldo met there in Tam and wound up getting married irl. But now, it apparently just doesn't seem that important to her in the same way...

Another interesting aspect of this is that Aldo checked in with Desmond, his landlord, to see if there was anyone still on a waiting list for land in Tam, and Desmond replied that no, he actually had quite a bit of land available throughout Caledon. So I take that as another indication of many of us having changed what we consider important--like having a piece of property in a certain place...

Oh, and I had a sad bit of news from another one of my good friends--the kind of news all of us have had recently. My old friend Roku--yes, that Roku, the inspiration for the cynical, gunslinging, hard-ass woman security guard/courtesan in my stories--told me that she was giving up on SL. Leaving her dancing job, selling her land, pullin' up stakes and headin' out. To some extent this is because she's got some health issues going on (and I regualrly say a prayer for her continued progress with it). But most of all, she said she "just wasn't having fun anymore."

Another friend of mine--a very smart and creative lady, an academic irl, dedicated to the idea of education in SL--suddenly announced to me not long ago that she had given up on a particular sim that she had been associated with for a long time. This was a project that from its inception had been meant to have educational value, but the organizers never really quite figured out how to make it work. This friend of mine had nonetheless hung on--literally, for months, if not years--always hoping for an improvement, working to help make the sim live up to its potential. And then all of sudden she decided it wasn't going to happen. She shook the dust from her sandals and moved on. And I don't think it was about SL changing, or the sim changing (if anything, it was perhaps that it wasn't changing). Something changed within her....I think...

I know what that feels like. For a long time, I cut way back on spending time in Deadwood, and it wasn't because of what was going on there. There new build is SUPER, the folks there are working hard to make good stuff happen and to do good rp... so it wasn't the sim or them...it was me.

Likewise I have now left Hogwarts. Why? Well, a lot of people I liked to play with aren't there anymore. But at the same time, some very good folks--folks who I am extremely fond of--are still there. But I found it hard to keep going and putting in the kind of commitment it took to play one of the adults in that set of storylines. Again, it wasn't the sim or the people or the stories--it was me. I think I just got tired. And mean.

I think you can see these kind of changes in the personnel at the Lab as well. While I was taking a break from blogging, M took his leave. Mind you, I never had issues with M the way some folks did. I liked the fact that it appeared that he was trying to make LL run in a more business-like fashion. Of course, he was fighting with a corproate culture that had essentially embraced irresponsibility and elevated fecklessness to the level of an admired virtue. But I wonder, was he forced out, or had something changed inside of him? Had he gotten burned out and tired...or simply saw that what he wanted to happen just wasn't going to happen?

And woopdefuckindoo, now we have Phillip back. Except he's changed too. Did you notice how the whole Emerald thing was handled? There seemed to be none of the old Phil Rosedale style, hippy-dippy, warm and fuzzy, "well kids, let's see how we can work this out with you creative little rascals" type of response, where things would drag on and nothing would happen and you would know that in your heart of hearts, somewhere, a group of miscreants was getting mollycoddled in the typical overly optimistic, California mollycoddling tradition. Nope. Instead it was a fast and hard response, with Phil himself coming forth and saying "hey motherfuckers. You CAN"T DO THAT SHIT. Now cut it the fuck out, RIGHT NOW, or I will make castanets out your testicles."

And lo and behold, the castanets were made.

So either Philip has really changed, or maybe his understanding of how things have to work has evolved.

But things do keep changing. Including us. I'm starting to spend some more time in Deadwood again. I am really enjoying my experiments in NEW STUFF in an ancient Roman sim (which I will tell you about soon, if you would care to listen). I've come to grips with the fact that even though I need to be keep being ol' Blood and Guts in rl, I can get back to being a bit more reasonable in-world. And I am going to get back in the habit of writing here..not as often as I used to, but more often than once every three months.

And I definitely want to get a set of those new Philip Rosedale-brand castanets.

Clackity-clackity-clackity-clack

Hmmm. I guess maybe I haven't changed that much. I'm still pretty mean.

~~~

The intersection of storytelling and RP

~~~

There obviously is a growing element of the RP community that is focusing on their play as a context within which they can develop, advance and tell stories. I saw evidence that other elements of themed-sim society is acknowledging and even promoting this trend when I saw on the Caledon Library blog that JJ Drinkwater from the library and Aldo Stern -- pub owner and founder of the Clan of Seafarers and Storytellers -- is going to host a storytelling session featuring key elements of rp backtories. This will take place on August 24th at the legendary Falling Anvil pub in Tamrannoch, Caledon.


Storyteller and publican Aldo Stern in his establishment, the Falling Anvil Pub, which is, as far as I know, is the longest-continuously operating cultural venue in Caledon.

I have had the pleasure of being permitted to oversee some of Aldo's storytelling sessions when he has been unable to do so personally because of rl crap, and I always enjoy them. But this one particularly intrigues me as it is the first such session I am aware of where the emphasis is on encouraging rp folks to share key stories from their background narratives. It should be interesting and I sure as hell plan to be there.

Here is what was posted on the Library Militant blog:

"The Heart of the Tale: Key Moments from Your SL Roleplaying Stories
Summer Storytelling Session at the Falling Anvil, Caledon Tamrannoch
August 24, 2009 at 5:00 PM SLT
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Tamrannoch/230/108/22


Sponsored by the Clan of Seafarers and Storytellers, The Falling Anvil Public House, and the Caledon Library.

If you create and tell stories utilizing the tools of roleplaying (RP) in Second Life, do you have a favorite character you have developed? Can you tell a tale that would help us understand who that character is and what motivates them?

A growing element of roleplaying community in Second Life is involved in “RP Storytelling” -- the use of rp to develop or advance plot lines for stories that cross over into written stories, to explore character interactions and relationships for these stories, and in many cases, to act out scenes from stories to be recorded visually. At the heart of a successful RP storytelling project are well developed, engaging characters, and in most cases, what makes a character work is their backstory. And at the core of that backstory there often lies a seminal moment -- a key story -- that provides essential insights into who the character is, and how they became who and what they are.

RP storytellers from throughout Second Life are invited to come to the Falling Anvil to tell a short tale that encompasses a seminal moment from their favorite character’s backstory.

Each tale should take no more than ten minutes to present, and will be presented in text form (no voice). If you wish to take part, please contact JJ Drinkwater or Aldo Stern to be be included in the lineup of storytellers. While pre-registering is encouraged, drop-ins are still welcome the night of the session and will not be turned away: you’ll just get added on to the end of the list and go in order you sign up"

~~~