Chapter Four - Avatars as representative moral agents

Abstract

Avatars are the second version of ourselves—the ones that enter the digital world as our representatives, and through which we experience the alternative environment. Throughout life, one of the questions we ask ourselves is “who” we are. There is no single answer and we change over time. We are products of our times, our cultural background, our experiences, our families, and our values. But, also inside of us are hopes and dreams that we may or may not express outwardly. The digital world allows us to transform ourselves, to be everything we wanted to be in the physical world but for one reason or another, could not. Avatars are (usually) customizable representations or agents of our actions within a virtual world. Our avatar selves need not be human, or even animals. They can be cars, planes, spaceships, or imaginative creations. The choices among avatar types are determined by the designer and programmers. In 2023, most avatars are still cartoon-like, animated characters; but that is changing. When a user creates an alternative persona, they are creating an entity—if only a digital one. Every person has a way of acting, and unless unconscious, a sense of what is right or wrong—a set of morals. Importantly, experiences that our avatars have in virtual worlds impact us, the physical humans, emotionally, in ways that we carry into the physical world.