Let’s talk games. Particularly, video games. Table Top Role Playing Games are a rather different arena, just as important, and perhaps I’ll talk about those at a future point. But for now, I want to discuss why and how video games can change the world. For the better.
There was a time, and perhaps still so, that video games have been regarded with great skepticism and quite often, hostility. “What a waste of time.”, “People are ignoring reality!”, “They are ruining the youth, the nerds, the adults, humanity at large.” “Why do people constantly have their faces stuck in screens, why do everyone’s kids want to be zoning out on video games all the time!” If one is listening to these voices, it would seem like video games must obviously be “bad”. But very rarely do I ever hear anyone say, “Huh, I wonder WHY that is?”
Dr. Jane McGonigal mentions this in her book Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. WHY are people turning out in droves to engage video games, virtual reality and screens in general? One, video games and virtual reality ARE a part of “reality” already, or they wouldn’t exist. Two, if “reality” is so great, then why aren’t people lining up to “stay in it”. (again, assuming that the two are separate “realities” somehow — which they aren’t) Meaning, apparently there is something “broken” about this level of “reality” that people want to escape from.
\But video games (and VR, but generally just going to focus on video games for now) aren’t solely for distraction and escape. They can certainly function that way. But so can food, or sugar, or alcohol, and a whole host of other things humans engage with. Let’s be clear that video games (and other screens, or technology) do not get to be the only “blamable” mechanism of distraction for humanity.
So what are they? Well, at first, they were seen as sort of amazing constructs as the technology burgeoned and evolved. Then they basically got hand-waved away as trifles, then eventually with rejection and hostility; and it has only been in the past decade that we have seen a major sea change in this regard, and that video games are now seen as complex and rich works of art, with more layers of value than previously believed. Many more studies have been conducted on video games, in many different arenas, from possible addiction, increases/decreases in aggression, physical and social benefits, a variety of impacts on humans at different ages. We have a much better idea of their impacts than we did decades ago.
And surprise, surprise, there are benefits across many of the different areas. Sure, there is the possibility of “addiction” (again, like other things in this human-psyche oriented world), but in general, we don’t see all these supposed hideous, negative impacts. In fact, we see some actual benefits and positive impacts. We also start to see something particular about gamers themselves and how they approach playing, or maybe one might say, particular issues with particular solutions. Depending on the game, all sorts of skills can be called upon to work through what a game is presenting, and not just the physical coordination of the running, jumping, combat, but also thinking through puzzles, considering impacts of choices made, and even emotional qualities of how we respond to what happens.
This is an untapped resource available to humans, and not just for “those hardcore video gamers”, but for anyone who even lightly dabbles. The question is, how do we start recognizing this, and how do we start taking advantage of this to do real good in the world.
This is only Part One, because I wanted to set the stage for these benefits, that there ARE benefits, and why they can help change the world. For the better.
