In a blog I wrote few months ago, I referred to René Descartes’ famous saying “I think, therefore I am”, asking if personhood and identity is basically our collection of thoughts, and if the body should be viewed as merely a vessel for those thoughts, and therefore not at the core of our identity. Is the body just a tool to help us navigate and interact with different environments, and therefore just an extension to identity? Or is the body part of our being?
“… regarding the metaphysical key to personal identity are discussed: the body view and the personality view. According to the body view, an individual is identified in terms of his or her physical body. According to the personality view, an individual is identified by his or her unique set of beliefs, desires, memories, goals, and so on”
In some futuristic version of life we may decide someday to almost completely abandon the physical world, and hence with it might go our physical selves in favor of virtual environments and virtual bodies created by us that would make the slow paced physical world seem pointless and obsolete. We may even create virtual bodies capable of processing stimuli through sensory organs that we cannot even imagine today!
Click here for a philosophical comedic discussion on Virtual Identity.
Therefore can we argue that physical form whether “real” or virtual is merely an extension to the thoughts that control these changeable bodies? If the body becomes as interchangeable as the glasses and clothes I’m wearing, can it not be viewed as an accessory, or are my glasses and clothes part of my identity?
Why do I ask these questions? Because a core component of being immersed when performing a task or when reading a book whether online or not, is to be able to identify not only with the environment and characters we interact with, but also with the characters and persona’s we take on ourselves. How do we view these characters that we take on? For example, when interacting in Second Life with other participants using my Avatar, is my Avatar now part of my expanding identity? Or is it just a tool and an extension to it? After all I can easily log out, and log back in using a completely different Avatar.
Whether my Avatar becomes part of my expanding identity or whether I merely view it as a curious tool or implement and therefore just a useful extension will determine how immersed in the learning experience I become. The Avatar and its environment must convince me that it has become part of my identity. And the character that I am supposed to “be” in a computer game together with the game environment must completely transport me and immerse my senses so that the distractions of the physical world become nothing more than irrelevant distant whispers.
Boellstorff (2008) conducts an extensive immersive study of Second life where he finds that many people tend to treat each other according to the appearance of their avatars. One of the residents of SL comments during this research: “I sort of judge people based on their avatar appearance; I don’t tend to like tall skinny blondes!” This and many other examples presented by Boellstroff, suggest that environments such as SL have become worlds where people do indeed fully identify with their characters to the point where they judge each other based on appearances and based on “in world” actions, in the same way we do in the physical world.
From an educational point of view this is indeed good news because it means that we have at our disposal now tools that educational establishments can put to good use in order to make education an immersive experience.
In Learning and Identity: What does it mean to be half-elf? By Gee, J. P. (2003), Gee emphasis the importance of being able to identify with being a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, or an engineer when learning:
“For example, a child in a science classroom engaged in real inquiry, and not passive learning, must be willing to take on identity as a certain type of scientific thinker, problem solver, or doer”.
James Paul Gee derives a set of learning principles from his study of learning during computer games as players attempt to master new games. He suggests that adherence to these principles could transform learning in schools, colleges and universities, both for teachers and, most importantly, for students. There are 36 principles in total (Click Here).
Many of these principles have the question of identity and embodiment at their core. His Eighth principle “Identity Principle” discusses the relationship between the real world identity, the virtual identity, and a projective identity:
“Learning involves taking on and playing with identities in such a way that the learner has real choices (in developing the virtual identity) and ample opportunity to meditate on the relationship between new identities and old ones. There is a tripartite play of identities as learners relate, and reflect on, their multiple real-world identities, a virtual identity, and a projective identity”
Here, the projective identity comes into existence when this virtual identity you see on a screen, or imagine while reading a book becomes something that you relate to and care about. By reflecting on your virtual character, you help to shape it so that it acts in a manner that fits with your set of beliefs and values. If this is the case, then this virtual character you see on screen becomes an expansion of your identity, or as Gee calls it, a projected identity.
Category: E-Learning
