Futile Rant #4: SL and IQ
While working on Plywood, I've noticed an underlying theme developing in the strips: everyone in SL is smarter than average. This is especially true of those folks who might appear to be complete airheads on the surface. I know I've mentioned this before, but I still believe that nearly everyone in the SL community is firmly on the righthand side of the intelligence bell curve. They have the technical sophistication to use a computer and enjoy doing so (granted, not such a huge achievement nowadays, but the trait still filters out a considerable number of people), and they have the vision to understand Second Life to begin with.

When you stop and think about it, Second Life is fairly high concept. There are no monsters to fight, no experience points to earn, no quests to complete. It's a completely freeform platform, to use however you wish. Most folks just don't get it. How many newbies log in, wander around for an hour or so, then say "Booooring!" and log out for good? The ones that stick around are the ones with the savvy and the imagination to see the potential of the Grid. In short, we're in a pretty sharp crowd here.

Now, given that, why is the Grid populated with so many complete idiots?! I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader. But here's a hint: apathy and anonymity. And it's really starting to wear a little thin.
Posted by Moriash Moreau at 5:38 PM