A couple of weeks ago I was happily surprised when coming home to find the card in the mail that we wrote in February at Imagine 2007. A part of it was not surprising, and I think I even succeeded, but a specific idea had completely slipped my mind!
I succeeded in finding a job within the field of diversity, but I was reminded of an idea that I had in Wuppertal: how to deal with the fear that blocks us so often to approach the unknown. Oh well, it was actually not the solution or anything, but just another way to look at the issue.
I had been wondering that if fear often blocks people to open up, how we can get around this fear. If we can create a social epidemic, or a troyan horse, that enters our lives without notice, and dissolves the fear from the inside, when we are not being defensive.
Probably just a naive thought, but it was great to read this thought, that otherwise would have staid un-reraid in my notebook.
What is really possible in Second Life, regarding “Change”, with a capital C? And especially in my fields of interest: that is intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution.
I signed up for SL after the Imagine seminar, but I had some computer problems in the beginning. Since a week or two I can walk and fly around without much technical problems. After my first encounters with other avatars, I felt it was not much different from an average bar… But I realised I just had to look for the right places (and those are definetely not in the “most popular places” list in the search engin!). After Fraukes post on Better World Island, I went to have a look, but I never met anyone there.
Then last week I discovered a group of (future) mediators, who plan to use SL to facilitate trainings with people from all over the world. But they also have real ambitious plans: host Real Life mediations in SL…! You are not in the same place, but there is still the visual aspect.
Still, the thing that really interests me, is the intercultural apsect. What is actually possible in SL, apart from facilitating a training with people you know through RL. I mean, in SL you look like you want to. And these looks, even if you can change your appearance any way you want, ae not really connected to RL cultures. So do intercultural issues matter?
This afternoon I chatted with a teacher from a learning center in SL, who suddenly made remarks about what I wrote about my avatar in my profile (about communication in SL and intercultural possiblities). He told me he always reads peoples profile, because that is the only way to learn anything about another avatar: it is the closest you get to someones real colours!
Maybe I’m taking SL too serious, or maybe I still have to find out the use of SL in intercultural dialogue myself! Do you have any experience with this?
Surfing around YouTube I found this video. Very much in the spirit of We Are What We Do, this guy calls us for some small deeds to make a difference and to share those with him, in the form of a video response!
I have never uploaded a video on YouTube, but who knows I will manage this week!
If you want to host a world-café kind of event, like we did in Wuppertal, have a look at this video about Conversation Café . It’s in cooperation with Dropping Knowledge. I will check out what I need to do to hold an event in Amsterdam!
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AIESEC, Anne-Claire, Reflection | 
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