I can’t relate to the video games much.. I never played anything beyond SSX and Mario kart.. but there was one comment that stood out to me:
‘Only games allow for that kind of interactivity [to have an active part in the determination of the world], which forces you to wield your imagination.’
I think there are many people working in careers with the sole intention of developing creative solutions to complex global problems. Poverty, world hunger, climate change, water and energy crises, public health crises, etc. Many people spend their days actively wielding their imagination, in an effort to determine world outcomes – whether engineers, economists, policy makers, scientists, doctors… They are interacting with the world, visualizing what could be improved, and then repeatedly testing possible solutions until finding something that works. I think that all of the innovative technologies we’ve developed over the years – AI included – are incredible feats from humans flexing their imaginations. So I think that life can allow for that kind of interactivity - to take an active part in determining the world.
But I think the main difference between video games and real life is often scale of impact and levels of freedom (access/ability to make an impact). It sounds like in many of the video games, you have power over much of your environment – you can literally destroy or create entirely new worlds. Whereas in the real world, there are much more limitations, boundaries, rules, pre-established environments within which you have to operate. I could also see the possible constraints that would inhibit the level of interactivity in life compared to what you could access in a game. Especially for children and teens, who have limited freedom to get outside their home and explore new neighborhoods, new cities, new countries with all the new people, cultures and ‘worlds’ that that brings. So I could absolutely see the allure of getting to experience an entirely different world via video games – and maybe that’s why children are drawn to them most? Because it gives them both freedom and a feeling of meaning (making an impact on a world) that are largely restricted in their real lives?
Thank you so much for your comment, and for your argument! I'd rather have a good argument than 1,000 likes.
I think you are absolutely right-- there are those kinds of people, and they are the ones that change the world. In a sense, I think that's my ideal audience: I want to inspire people to believe that that kind of impact is possible.
As I wrote about in "Pure Play," games are just one way of flexing the imagination in order for us to think outside the box and to solve problems. I think many other types of Play help with that, but also, now I realize that many types of work involve that same sort of activity.
I think I just never realized it because my own experience with professional work has left me very jaded. My work in accounting was definitely not impactful in any way. The creative solutions I devised only helped our company make more money, which essentially translated to the executives making more money. My work in EMS is impactful, but on a really small scale-- one person at a time.
It's been cool for me to see how you are able to impact the world with your professional work. I think that's a really rare thing, and I really admire you for that. In some ways, I'm jealous of what you are able to do, and sometimes I think I made the wrong decision by changing my career. Maybe I could have found something like you are describing, like you get to do...
Still, I think games and Play enable kids to be able to envision that kind of impact on the world, to believe that it is possible, and to have that desire planted in them. The goal, though, is to eventually move away from games as the sole/dominant way of doing that, and do it more in the "real" world.
This is so relatable to me, I did the exact thing with my brother, arguing about who gets to play WoW. I remember those sick days quite vividly too, except for me it was nacho chips and pear lemonade.
You wrote this so well, I loved this line especially: "But I wasn’t looking at the screen, I was looking through it."
I added The Tower to my reading list, you made me too curious about it.
I know my LEAST favorite gaming memory is when I had a friend over and we played Ninja Turtles on the Gamecube together, all three of us. We got pretty far into the game, but I kept dying and they got irritated by me so they made me stop playing. So there I was watching my friend and little brother playing without me, lol.
Video games are also a great way to bond with and make new friends. Nothing can beat the screaming and wails from another room as a LAN-party comrade just realized their trade carts got sacked. Trudging along an IRL golf course is just a low-fidelity version of the same experience.
Agreed that I prefer AoE than golf, but I recognize that using your body is in some ways a completely different kind of game. I love doing that too. Apples and Oranges.
I can’t relate to the video games much.. I never played anything beyond SSX and Mario kart.. but there was one comment that stood out to me:
‘Only games allow for that kind of interactivity [to have an active part in the determination of the world], which forces you to wield your imagination.’
I think there are many people working in careers with the sole intention of developing creative solutions to complex global problems. Poverty, world hunger, climate change, water and energy crises, public health crises, etc. Many people spend their days actively wielding their imagination, in an effort to determine world outcomes – whether engineers, economists, policy makers, scientists, doctors… They are interacting with the world, visualizing what could be improved, and then repeatedly testing possible solutions until finding something that works. I think that all of the innovative technologies we’ve developed over the years – AI included – are incredible feats from humans flexing their imaginations. So I think that life can allow for that kind of interactivity - to take an active part in determining the world.
But I think the main difference between video games and real life is often scale of impact and levels of freedom (access/ability to make an impact). It sounds like in many of the video games, you have power over much of your environment – you can literally destroy or create entirely new worlds. Whereas in the real world, there are much more limitations, boundaries, rules, pre-established environments within which you have to operate. I could also see the possible constraints that would inhibit the level of interactivity in life compared to what you could access in a game. Especially for children and teens, who have limited freedom to get outside their home and explore new neighborhoods, new cities, new countries with all the new people, cultures and ‘worlds’ that that brings. So I could absolutely see the allure of getting to experience an entirely different world via video games – and maybe that’s why children are drawn to them most? Because it gives them both freedom and a feeling of meaning (making an impact on a world) that are largely restricted in their real lives?
Thank you so much for your comment, and for your argument! I'd rather have a good argument than 1,000 likes.
I think you are absolutely right-- there are those kinds of people, and they are the ones that change the world. In a sense, I think that's my ideal audience: I want to inspire people to believe that that kind of impact is possible.
As I wrote about in "Pure Play," games are just one way of flexing the imagination in order for us to think outside the box and to solve problems. I think many other types of Play help with that, but also, now I realize that many types of work involve that same sort of activity.
I think I just never realized it because my own experience with professional work has left me very jaded. My work in accounting was definitely not impactful in any way. The creative solutions I devised only helped our company make more money, which essentially translated to the executives making more money. My work in EMS is impactful, but on a really small scale-- one person at a time.
It's been cool for me to see how you are able to impact the world with your professional work. I think that's a really rare thing, and I really admire you for that. In some ways, I'm jealous of what you are able to do, and sometimes I think I made the wrong decision by changing my career. Maybe I could have found something like you are describing, like you get to do...
Still, I think games and Play enable kids to be able to envision that kind of impact on the world, to believe that it is possible, and to have that desire planted in them. The goal, though, is to eventually move away from games as the sole/dominant way of doing that, and do it more in the "real" world.
This is so relatable to me, I did the exact thing with my brother, arguing about who gets to play WoW. I remember those sick days quite vividly too, except for me it was nacho chips and pear lemonade.
You wrote this so well, I loved this line especially: "But I wasn’t looking at the screen, I was looking through it."
I added The Tower to my reading list, you made me too curious about it.
Thank you! I like your snack choice haha. It’s funny how particular we get.
What are some of your favorite gaming memories?
Very particular ahah, I still do that sometimes.
I know my LEAST favorite gaming memory is when I had a friend over and we played Ninja Turtles on the Gamecube together, all three of us. We got pretty far into the game, but I kept dying and they got irritated by me so they made me stop playing. So there I was watching my friend and little brother playing without me, lol.
Video games are also a great way to bond with and make new friends. Nothing can beat the screaming and wails from another room as a LAN-party comrade just realized their trade carts got sacked. Trudging along an IRL golf course is just a low-fidelity version of the same experience.
Agreed that I prefer AoE than golf, but I recognize that using your body is in some ways a completely different kind of game. I love doing that too. Apples and Oranges.