Why are the cartoon pictures called avatars?
I thought that an avatar was a supreme or God that has been incarnated to earth.
The traditional definition of avatar reads as follows:
NOUN:
1. The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
2. An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
So an avatar on line is interpreted as being an embodiment of an actual person, like the classical definition of an avatar is an embodiment of a god or a concept.
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February 24th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
because the sad person who made them called them that
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February 24th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Well, the "avatar" I know is one that represents your personal image.
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February 24th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
The traditional definition of avatar reads as follows:
NOUN:
1. The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
2. An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
So an avatar on line is interpreted as being an embodiment of an actual person, like the classical definition of an avatar is an embodiment of a god or a concept.
References :
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/avatar
February 24th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Well now only Yahoo could answer that one. I for one would have prefered having them called our guardian angels. Or our stand in, or double. An avatar is a reincarnation of something. Not incarnated. Like in karma.
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February 24th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
yea.. same word, but two different meanings
another one for it is: online image of somebody in virtual reality.
well.. the term dates at least as far back as 1985, when it was used as the name for the player character in the Ultima series of computer games. The Ultima games started out in 1981, but it was in Ultima IV (1985), that the term "avatar" was introduced. To become the "avatar" was the goal of Ultima IV. The later games assumed that you were the avatar and "avatar" was the player’s visual on-screen in-game persona. and yea.. it went on to internet forums too..
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wiKi!!