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Are We Our Avatars?

A real life person sits behind each avatar.

But when do the lines begin to  blur?

When we are two weeks old on screen, we are secure in our corporeal self; we know who we are, what we look like, where we are going -- well only "maybe" on that last part.

But as the years pass, how much of us becomes reflected in our pixelated persona? Which self image do we see when we think of ourselves?

It is a strange teeter totter ride for those deeply enmeshed in a digital existence. We make friends, form alliances -- even fall in love within bodies made of pixels and coding. Do we forget our real lives in favor of our fantasies? Do we limit ourselves to what we can only feel and touch?

We each make those choices and as time passes the division between the fingers on the keyboard and the animation on the screen come closer together.

Can they meet and merge?

Only time will tell.

Comments

serenejewell said…
My theory is that we are creating a new being - an extension of our consciousness. We will never be totally separate. But it is an entity that is somewhat removed and to the side of our "normal" self. It is more free to roam about. Trippy stuff.
Unknown said…
Yes, we are the same person, or part of the same. You are many people inside you, you may only choose to be one in your avatar, but they come from you. Same thing happens to writers. If a writer is writing about a drug dealer for example, there is a part of him that is feeling this person, and is this person if only for a little while.

So an avatar and what they build is a real good window into their soul if you will. So when someone takes me to this deep dark dungeon with torture equipment.... yes that is a part of who they are.

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