This gets to the point of why I’m concerned about the youth of the 21st century and, in particular, those in our Lutheran schools.
The Proteus Effect. Sounds like a great title for a new movie, but that’s not what it is (at least, not yet). It’s an attempt to explain why some people’s online personalities contradict their offline selves and even influence their offline behaviors. Sharon Begley wrote about this in the 25 Feb 2008 issue of Newsweek magazine in her column titled “Our Imaginary, Hotter Selves.”
It doesn’t take much for one to figure out that they can become someone different than themselves when they go online. Country musician Brad Paisley demonstrates this with his tongue-in-cheek song “Online” (“I’m so much cooler online”).
As interactive online technologies evolve, the potential to alter yourself has become increasingly comprehensive… the way you talk, the opinions you express, the facts of your life, and even the way you look (your “avatar”) …all can be used to present a persona unrecognizable to those from the real world who thought they knew you best.
In his doctoral dissertation, “What is the Avatar? Fiction and Embodiment in Avatar-Based Singleplayer Computer Games,” Rune Klevjer commented specifically on the use of avatars in computer games. But I think his quote below says much about the broader effects of virtual embodiments:
“…an avatar is interesting and playable not just because of what it makes us able to do or perform, but because of what happens to us in the world that the avatar lets us inhabit.”
But let’s go one step further… From taking on a virtual embodiment different from the real self, what happens to us in our real world?
In her Newsweek column, Begley refers to studies by Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson and Nick Yee regarding the effects of our ability to alter our appearance online (e.g., with an avatar in Second Life). They are the ones Begley credits with the term “Proteus effect.” An excerpt from Begley’s column:
“Your physical appearance changes how people treat you,” says Bailenson. “But independent of that, when you perceive yourself in a certain way, you act differently.” He and Yee call it “the Proteus effect,” after the shape-changing Greek god. The effect of appearance on behavior, they find, carries over from the virtual world to the real one, with intriguing consequences.
What’s scary here is that the change in “you” online appears to change the “you” in real life – at least, for a little while. Read Begley’s column for some examples – both beneficial and detrimental.
I’m concerned that society will attempt to convince our youth that it’s o.k. to be something different online. I don’t think that’s compatible with what we, as Christians, believe and teach about living a sanctified life (virtual or real). (Note to self: need to do some deeper thinking on this)
How can Lutheran schools turn the tables on this Proteus effect? Rather than allowing virtual appearances and behaviors to filter into real lives, can we impact youth in such a way that their offline appearance and behaviors impact their virtual selves and reflect the sanctified life we live from baptism to resurrection?
No answers here, yet, but I’m convinced the answer lies somewhere in a proper application of the Gospel in our classrooms – a teaching strategy exclusive to Christian schools that we often fail to apply properly to real (or virtual) lives.
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An afterthought… The movie “The Matrix” is an entertaining film that also questions a future where the line is blurred between one’s real self and their virtual self. The lead character Thomas Anderson is represented in the digital realm by an avatar called Neo, who possessed supernatural powers. What part of Thomas Anderson is Neo, and through his experience in the digital realm, what parts of Neo become Thomas Anderson? What is the impact on your real self-image of being told “You’re the One” in a virtual world?
This brings up a whole slew of theological things to consider regarding the elements of postmodern Christianity represented in “The Matrix” … a topic for some other day.
