I first came across Second Life at a demonstration session put on by one of Linden Lab's gurus at SciFoo camp in 2006. Since then I've heard about it occasionally, but was recently reminded about the details of how it works by Sean's post on his talk in Second Life. This is all well and good and, although I'm not currently spending time in Second Life myself, I can see that there is real educational potential there, particularly with people like Rob involved.
But sometimes things get just plain silly! The Guardian is carrying a story of a real life couple who got divorced because the man was carrying on a platonic relationship with another woman in Second Life (I guess I should mention that his avatar also slept with a prostitute avatar also). So, first, while some things, like attending a talk by a cosmologist, may be almost as good in Second Life as in real life, I'm guessing sex isn't one of them because it lacks the whole, you know, you getting laid part! Second, if you wanted to misbehave with a non-human toy form, put together from basic building blocks, you might as well make yourself a Lego partner - at least you could touch that.
