Today I participated in a round-table discussion that touched on the culture of on-line virtual communities. At some point, one of the participants pointed out that in Second Life people have been known to maintain a rich parallel existence.
For example, she said, couples have gotten married in Second Life, and have even used that on-line virtual world to conduct illicit affairs. I found these two concepts both intriguing and puzzling, when considered together.
“If you marry someone in Second Life,” I asked her, “Does it still count as cheating if you only cheat on them in real life?”