Emergence in the land of the Emergence: Second Life
I'm still not quite sure what the purpose of second life is. There is no one single goal. Granted, SimCity proudly claims there is no "goal" of SimCity: however, there is an inherent need of survival which is making a prosperous city. In second life there isn't even survival. There is no time limit. There is no need to eat. There's no need to drink. There's no need to procreate. There is no need for shelter. Second life characters are not, Tamagachi. Perhaps, there is a need second life exploits that make us different from most animals: we need social interaction. Second life takes care of these most basic of Maslow's needs, including the private needs that our neighbor’s lingerie shop offers.
Emergent behavior is that which comes about without the purposeful intent of the game's creator. I'm not sure exactly what the creators of Second Life wanted people to do. The program came with the tools to build art forms, the ability to chat, the ability to fly, gravity, scripting, ownership of land, and the ability to change one's appearance.
What struck me as being odd were the things in real life that were re-created even though they had no use because the needs are met. For example, I went to a lollipop shop. This was actually a front for a first life charity, but it seems strange to sell food items when we don't need to eat. Maybe carrying a lollipop around is a social enhancer as a conversation starter.
Another strange copy of the real world was a real estate brokerage. I thought this was strange because popular places are well documented in search functions and its well-known as well as what properties are for sale. Also, the enjoyment of second life is exploring new territory's and new worlds, you don’t usually need someone's advice and normally it’s free. Also the Internet brings enough information about good locations in second life as well as ways to filter the information.
If you're not going to die, does religion matter? These people think so. In their defense, this church fits with the other northern European style buildings on their land. It also pays homage to the more mature content of second life with a naked woman as their religion's logo.
I thought that most people like the environment and would choose to have it instead of industry. Even though there is nothing to burn, this designer needed smoke and a road.
If the point of second life is visual and social experimentation, this emergent behavior meets those criteria. After all, what is someone to talk about? Here is a movie theater with live movies playing. It even charges admission to enter, even though this is probably illegal in first life.