Perception

Perception can be defined as the whole of stimulus that create reality around us and shape our general response depending on what we see, feel, smell or hear; most of the time as we grow up, we are taught on how to respond to "negative" stimulus, as to ensure our survival and continued existence, but as a recently educated being in the path of buddhism,  most of these reactions you come to learn, are not necessarily the most appropriate, and even your "perception" of reality might not be the most accurate.

Early on your path of buddhism,  you come to learn that in life there are 3 absolute truths in life, which may cause you grief and suffering when trying to negate or fight agaisnt them; impermanence, change and your own sense of self -these roughly cited and presented, for simplicity-. Impermanence teaches you that nothing in life is permanent and hence, trying to hold onto things is futile -the key to happiness is actually learning to enjoy what you are given- and accepting change as a fact of life, supported by the final notion that everything you do, big or small will always affect someone.

When it comes to SL, perception and how you present "reality" to others may vary, -the same may apply to the 3 fundamental truths- but it is all there; haven't you ever marvelled at the concept that no matter under how many alts people may try and hide to bend the truth and alter your perception, the real person always shines thru? There's always so much you can do and struggle to hide the truth, specially shielded by the "anonymity" our beloved virtual platform may offer, but in the end, your true self, that which makes you an unique human being will always be there.

That would be why I have come into the habit of not turning anything presented to me by life or others as absolutes, specially so when it comes to SL, there is always that which you are shown, and what truly lies beneath.

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Happiness

Being happy, or at least somewhat content is something all humans beings want, we wake up and make our ways day after day in a constant pursuit of perfect happiness we're not always successful on, simply because our definition of bliss is not the same as everybody else's and truth be told, those things we believe will get us to that point will most likely shift or change over time.

In the Documentary, "Ted Talks - The surprising Science of Happiness-" challenges the idea that we really don't know what we want -at least when it comes to perfect happiness- and that our psychological immune system will in fact make us accept things that we didn't think would make us happy, in order to maintain our mental health.

After having watched this piece a few days ago, it did challenge the idea of Second life as a platform in our daily lives; most of us use this parallel existence to fulfill areas in our RLs that we think or know will make us happy, but have no access to for a number of reasons. Does SL bring users perfect happiness or is it only just another fabrication of our brain? Are we under the illusion that just because we can alter the way we look and the world around us, we are in full control of our bliss?

According to this research, happiness doesn't exist, it's only a defense of our brain to keep us going through the days, and the perception of it can be changed altered and tweaked beyond recognition depending on the situation we are in -which would explain why in SL, some users enjoy drama and the attention it comes with it or creating situations that makes them the center of attention, it is their idea of bliss whilst in the platform-

Be as it may, it being real or not, make your own kind of music while being respectful of others, just because it's been recently discovered that it's not a factual matter that can be measured, it doesn't mean that you are given permission to sacrifice other people's idea of happiness to profit your own.

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