I just watched this. Highly recommended. Howard Ross talks about how our unconscious biases affect our interactions and our world.
This discussion is very important in a very diverse community like Second Life. And I would love to have this conversation extended and applied to virtual communities, especially because our unconscious biases are working on artificial stimuli, like fabricated avatars that differ from our real selves in varying degrees.
Are we perpetuating those biases by the avatars we choose and design? By how we interact with avatars that make us feel uncomfortable either by what they represent or by their quality? Do we judge people by the avatars they choose? In what ways?
I am Filipina in real life. Short, brown-skinned, dark hair, dark eyes, overweight, disproportionate.
I chose Opal to be tall, fair-skinned, redheaded, blue or green or teal eyes (depending on my mood), hourglass-shaped.
Knowing that, how do you perceive me now? (Honesty would be much appreciated.)
