Home Based Businesses

www.weforum.org 26.01.2008 Open Forum – Virtual Worlds – Fiction or Reality? Second Life is one of the new ways of extending life to the virtual space, for example, allowing us to attend Wimbledon while standing next to one of the players or living out our social desires anonymously without restraints or risk of sanctions. More and more people are turning to virtual reality to establish who they are, what they know, who they interact with and how. This will influence how society is structured in the future and how real or fictive this virtual world will be. 1) In the context of the virtual worlds we are creating, what is the difference between fiction and reality? 2) With the ease of access to these virtual worlds, how do different generations react? 3) How does this world of immediate access, limitless social skills and unrestrained behaviour influence our moral framework? 4) Should the focus be on the technological or human side of progress? Philip Rosedale, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Linden Lab, USA Florence Develey, Pastor, Switzerland Rafael Capurro, Professor, Information Management and Information Ethics, Stuttgart Media University, Germany Joseph Weizenbaum, Former Professor of Computer Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Reid Hoffman, Chairman and President, LinkedIn Corporation, USA Moderator Loïc Le Meur, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seesmic, USA; Young Global Leader