How many lives have you got?  SecondLife, a free 3D virtual world, isn’t just for nerds; it’s a lively role - playing blogosphere of the imagination, one where role play is as real as it gets, partly because you choose what/who you want to be and in what kind of life - and feedback isn’t obligatory!

How might it help in ‘real’ life? It provides an opportunity to try things out safely. You have an alter ego where your real identity remains hidden. There’s a lot to be said for experiencing how it feels to be someone entirely different - gender, race, religion, historic time - can provide a huge learning experience. How about designing a spacecraft which looks more like a flying Tudor ship and being able to solve an organisational problem at a stroke? Or climate change? Or design a new hospital? Or local authority office?

Many universities now have second life sites; you can walk into the library, the students’ union, visit a lecture….

One of the most wonderful things is that SecondLife provides opportunities for the severely disabled to have an alternative life, to experience the same world as others in that second life community. Their voices are heard; they feel affirmed; they play.

What might all this teach us in the here and now? That profound things can be said where there is trust and no comeback; that mistakes can be made and learned from; that play is a basic need and one which enables ideas to sparkle; that we can all be innovators…