If the girl is doing this to damage other girls, perhaps take vengence on a friend who likes older men, or if she IMPERSONATES a real 37 year old male, then she is acting unethically. Chat rooms, however, are different from virtual worlds in subtle ways and VERY different from real worlds. In chat rooms you often don't know the gender of your comrades at all unless they reveal it to you. This has been true even of email. Gender and age matter in relationships in the real world. In the virtual world, it isn't an issue unless it's extended beyond the playground.
Sarah On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Janice Carello <[email protected]>wrote: > Yes, there is something unethical going on: the 15-year old is > misrepresenting herself. Parents may lie to their children about his being > Goofy (which itself may be considered by some a questionable practice), but > most older than 8 or 9 know he is a guy in a costume. > > What is interesting for me in this dicussion are the power issues. We use > aliases and avatars and such and to protect ourselves or to gain agency in > the world. Where are the lines between self expression, > self-protection, and abuse of power? > > Dana asks: "Suppose instead I write a program that invents new solutions to > scientific or mathematical problems, solutions no human is capable of > generating no matter what? Who is the owner of the solutions as > intellectual property?" > > If one writes a program that invents a virus that hacks bank computers and > steals millions, can it use the money? Should the person who wrote the > program be held responsible in any way? > > I'm writing this between conferences with students, so I'm having a hard > time keeping my thoughts together, but I've also been reading a lot about > multiple personality disorder and can't help but wonder if this discussion > doesn't relate to that in some way: if one I have multiple personalities and > one of my alters commits a crime, who is held responsible? > > On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 9:09 AM, Jason Olshefsky <[email protected] > > wrote: > > >> I do think it's possible to make simplistic layers: vague gender >> identities come to mind. In the vein of my Goofy analogy earlier as it >> relates to rights, consider a 15-year-old girl has a 37-year-old male >> persona online; he enters a chat room as a 15-year-old girl and tries to >> "pick up" other 15-year-olds. Is there anything unethical or illegal going >> on? >> >> -- >> Janice >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en.
