5 Matching Annotations
  1. Jun 2024
  2. Nov 2023
  3. Jan 2018
    1. One reason that games (outside of gambling) are such a great escape from the real world is that bad consequences are rarely serious or lasting.

      This sentence disregards the ability of measured gambling to teach some of the most important lessons of gaming. All games have the ability to have serious and lasting consequences. To say that is not true is to pretend that a holiday dinner with family of mixed political and religious views always goes swimmingly. My own wife held a grudge against me for decades because I teased her about winning Monopoly when the #fakerule of Free Parking was set in place before we started playing. My dad still doesn't talk to certain family members because of his inability to politely trade in Civilization. I still hate my older brother for making that terrible deal with my little brother who thought it was innocuous. Gambling can teach real loss and real danger, and it can be done at the smallest stakes. Teaching people to evaluate evidence and make the best decision based on that instead of fluky past results prevents some from poorly choosing because of hindsight bias. Also, it can teach someone how dangerous dumping emotion into gaming environment decisions can be.

    2. not necessarily video games

      I don't think anyone should deny the draw of a video game over a "more traditional" game. The entry level of the video game medium is such a low bar that many people, including my own spouse, say they don't like "video games", but will play Trivia Crack, or Words with Friends without a second thought. Video games is the easiest way to grab the attention of the most people, in my opinion.

    3. Unsurprisingly, 21st-century college students are somewhat different from those of the preceding decades, even as those differed from earlier students.

      Not to sound snarky, but I am certain older generations were open to outside-the-box learning as well. Certainly games for centuries have taught lessons of morality and economics, such as Gyan Chauper and Pallanguzhi in India (1).

      1. (2013, February 10). Foundation meets demand for traditional Indian board games. National, The (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates).