Via things magazine, I discovered an article in the Archinect about how when the people of the virtual community Second Life are given freedom to build whatever they want they recreate suburbia.The author of the piece broadcasts his own prejudices. I hate shopping as well, but I winced at this:

[L]ike most utopias, [Second Life] is currently threatened by the all-encompassing allure of shopping.

Later in the article, some architects wander into Second Life and their first bumbles into this new environment make for an amusing transcript. Notice also that Second Lifers get rather annoyed when someone tries to extend their property with “3D graffiti”.

Before they can be properly indoctrinated, ideologues are usually made to unlearn important lessons about human behaviour. When lots of ordinary people are given access to a world where they have immense freedom and power, as in certain spaces on the Net for example, those lessons are taught again.