I like the notion of a happy family of strangers, but it doesn't seem the least bit possible: Examples: a) School b) Work c) Organizations They work in subcultures, like Second Life, because they're in a mutually agreed system. Unless you can get people to start thinking systemically about the planet, I don't see how the happy stranger theory would work, even though I find it quite tempting. The fact that what we do online is virtual, is precisely what makes it different and what makes it work: It's not real life