UtneReader
Latest
Gamer: the ideal conformist?
The provocative cover story in the latest issue of Utne Reader, an alternative journal that primarily digests works published elsewhere, proposes that video games train us to conform. The article concludes: "don't worry that video games are teaching us to be killers. Worry instead that they're teaching us to salute."You can read the full argument here; the gist being that to succeed in games we must conform to their worlds (there isn't room for innovation outside of the rules and patterns designed by the developers). The author suggests that experienced gamers are then better equipped to navigate the various laws and institutions created by societies. This might indicate that, on average, gamers tend to be more successful (following predetermined means), but also implies that we don't think outside the box. We simply accept. Follow. And salute. Pshaw![Via GameSetWatch]
