Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are a relatively new phenomena. They are worlds hosted online by massive computers that allow users to communicate and interact with others as well as build things. In an article by Diane Mehta on forbes.com, Diane validates the idea that software like second life and minecraft are being used by people of all ages to interact online. I know from my own personal studies in psychology that second life has been used to treat social anxiety in many people across the world. Sometimes these people find it easier to interact with real people online than in person. Eytan Bakshy validates this thesis with data in his paper titled "Second life Social Influence EC". This helps build their confidence and leads to better personal touch and go relationships. On the other hand, virtual worlds are used by children to build things and utilize their creativity. Kids create their own virtual worlds in minecraft and build things however they'd like. My own cousin plays this game and he often hosts parties on his server where people join and help him build his village. I think virtual worlds are here to stay and will only become more popular as developers release more tools like this that fit a greater scheme of needs. I can see it mysef, even here at Baruch, people go crazy over this game called "league of legends" in the computer labs.