Book Review — VIRTUAL WORLDS: Rewiring Your Emotional Future

The Public Relation Associate of Media Village, Liz Statenstein, mailed me a copy of VIRTUAL WORLDS: Rewiring Your Emotional Future after I offered to review the book. This is that review.

As soon as I opened the cover of Virtual Worlds I was relieved to find that my tired old eyes would not be suffering from eye strain. The text is large enough without being to large to allow ease of reading… Thank You Media Village!

I was sucked into this book from the first paragraph of this easy to read in a day book.

Virtual Worlds are 21st Century versions of 1960s mind-expanding drugs, but they are expanding more than just the mind. Virtual worlds and enhanced social networks allow us to explore new universes, expand our emotional range and depth, change the nature of communication and create different identities for ourselves. You can now create multiple versions of yourself with different names, gender, ethnic heritage, passions, dreams, and even relationships.

Although my online personality in virtual worlds reflects my real life self… meet me in Second Life and Real Life… pretty much only the physical representation is different to picture me as I wish I were physically. Jack Myers statements that people are able to recreate multiple versions of themselves and test out what they would really like to be; allows the use of multiple emotional perceptions of ourself to help learn about what alternate selves can become. These emotional perception changes rings a loud tone of truth to me.

I am particularly interested in how, as Myers points out, the intellect has been given control to over come most all emotions. We hear often people talking about emotions of the gut (something is wrong… I feel it in my gut) or heart, (I feel like my heart is breaking) but almost alway, these emotions can only be allowed with approval of the brain.

VIRTUAL WORLDS makes the bold statement:

The brain has, in essence, captured dictatorial powers over emotional — and physical –well-being. As new generations learn in Virtual Worlds how to empower emotional centers to gain power and control equal to the brain, the natural evolutionary process will ultimately lead to a re-balancing of the human psyche, spirit and ego.

These virtual worlds and social networks are allowing people to experience new emotional depths and ranges, and as these emotions gain use, will they change the very essence of how we view ourselves and how we communicate?

To a degree, Myers discusses the expansions of virtual worlds and how there must be marketing changes to keep up with the potential of these virtual worlds, how and why virtual worlds are real to the user, and how wireless is the next frontier.

The last chapter of the book is the first chapter of a new virtual world reader generated fiction; which sets the opening ground work for the direction of the new book.  The readers of this book are invited encouraged to allow themselves to be totally immersed in this virtual world, and send in your ideas, thoughts, chapter.  Once the chapter is chosen it will be published and then be opened to the readers to write the next chapter… until the book is complete.

Each accepted contribution and its author will “authorize Myers Publishing LLC all reprint and publication rights in all media with no restrictions. If your chapter is selected as the official Chapter 2 for CyberParadiseSociety.com, you will be granted a non-negotiable share of all subsequent revenues generated by the book (upon completion) and properties developed from the book.”

I enjoyed this book which gently fed me more than one idea to ponder.  It is an easy read which can open thought processes in your mind you may have not considered.  I rate this book at 4 stars out of a possible 5 stars. I feel it is written for the parents or friends of people that are actively involved in a virtual world more so than for the person involved.

If your friends or parents don’t understand how or why you are so involved in a virtual world, you may want to consider buying them a copy of this book which might, just might, add a little glow to that light bulb above their head.