AN ARTICLE in the New York Times on the virtual world called Second Life drew my attention to a new phenomenon that is becoming more popular by the day. Second Life is a virtual world, where people sign in and become residents of this new all-virtual world. They join social circles, go into business, play sports and even can create their own hobbies and crafts. In this world you can choose your world, make a new life for yourself and live in a world far away from the sometimes too hectic and stressful real life. It becomes, as the Times described it, a “Utopia” for people. Second Life has meant second chances for lots of people who have joined this virtual world. Some artists have used their virtual character to create art and sell it, managing to reach a success in the cyberworld that they did not manage to achieve in the real world.

One of the residents bought an island in Second Life and was selling pieces of land to new residents, after which she became a successful businesswoman. Her virtual self is a beautiful woman who owns a nice pet and has a handsome husband, which is quite different from her reality. She created her own new reality and seems happy with it.

Second World has steadily attracted more and more people and businesses. There are embassies on Second Life, Sweden just opened an embassy there, and universities also have opened campuses where virtual classes are held, classes so effective that some consider them much better than the real classes. Art is thriving there too, with the Louvre having a branch there. Lately the Liverpool Orchestra announced its first virtual concert on Second Life, which is going to take place on Sept. 14.

It seems like such a wonderful opportunity for people to create a new reality for themselves, and enjoy in cyberspace what they cannot in real life. A world that is beautifully constructed and allows freedom and creativity. It occurred to me that to live there and change some of the aspects of my life would be such a comforting experience, especially when one gets frustrated by reality. If I lived there, what would I want my life to be like? So many thoughts race through my mind, and all of them seem to point to the same direction: Freedom. To be free from social restrictions and daily annoyances would be great. How about creating ones own work environment where people respect each other’s opinions and where being in charge does not mean it’s an open invitation to exploit employees and insult them?

I could walk on those green lawns in Second Life not worried about passersby and harassing drivers. I could go into any shop I wanted to without double-checking if it allows women in. I can also enjoy a day in the museum followed by a concert then hangout with friends. A place where I do not need to worry about a haphazard law preventing me from practicing my life as a human being, or where I need to have a male approving every step I take. It seems to be such a comfortable way to live, if only it were real!

People have become addicted to this world that they spend hours on end immersed in it, which really says that so many of us need to escape from the real world into something less aggressive and frustrating. But even in the dream world things are not that perfect, bad guys also seek the same thing, they want to be in that world. The Times articles mentions that some use it for crime and terrorism, a certain character spends his time arranging for his enemies to be deleted from the system and creating “bombers” whose endlessly self-duplicating pieces of data close down whole sections of the world at a time. And for sure others will join in and continue the terror wave also in cyberspace, which takes us back again to the concept of escapism and the question that has to be asked: Is there another world that we can really escape too?

Sadly, I think the answer is no. What we can do is enjoy a few moments of pure imagination and day dreaming in cyberspace, then we have to land back in the real world and figure out how to make our parts of it as close to that dream as we can.