been quite a while since i posted, partially because of school. just haven't found anything interesting to say to the general public. This changes that quite a lot.
now, as i'm sure some of you remember, i'm a nerd. it's interesting to see how that's become something that a person can say without expecting any derision. jane mcgonigal is banking on that, in fact, and hopes to use nerd-power to save the world.
for anyone out there not interested in watching a 20 minute TED talk (shame on you!), the basics of what's being discussed here is that gamer-nerds have spent well more than the "standard" 10k hours mastering gaming. there's an entire generation of gamer virtuosos. what does this mean for humanity?
well, gamers are pretty good at certain things. problem solving is, of course, necessary to any gamer. what's more, gamers have attuned themselves to a thought process that expects to overcome any obstacle, no matter how long it takes. furthermore, studies have shown that behaviour patterns capable of effecting overarching change in a video game can persist in real life (no, i'm not interested in turning this into a violent games are bad argument. trust me, it doesn't relate).
jane has been developing games to help change the world. one such is evoke, which i haven't given a chance yet, but am about to. simply put, i'm too interested in this idea to not share it before i do anything else.
check it out, folks. let's save the world.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Victory!
By Dave
We've been back in school so updates have been few and far between but much of this blog has been dedicated to following the health care reform debate. Tonight that debate has been laid to rest.
President Obama has been criticized by all sides over the last year and while we can't know the counter-factual, we do know that many have tried before and have failed. This history makes tonight all the more impressive. The House of Representatives acted boldly and courageously. It wasn't an easy vote. We don't know what November will bring although it is not hard to predict some Democratic losses, as almost every incumbent party loses seats during a midterm election.
So in the face of political repercussions, our elected representatives chose to do what was right instead of what was good for their individual reelection chances. That doesn't happen often. I'm really proud of them tonight and I plan to call my representatives tomorrow to personally let them know. I hope you will do the same.
We've been back in school so updates have been few and far between but much of this blog has been dedicated to following the health care reform debate. Tonight that debate has been laid to rest.
President Obama has been criticized by all sides over the last year and while we can't know the counter-factual, we do know that many have tried before and have failed. This history makes tonight all the more impressive. The House of Representatives acted boldly and courageously. It wasn't an easy vote. We don't know what November will bring although it is not hard to predict some Democratic losses, as almost every incumbent party loses seats during a midterm election.
So in the face of political repercussions, our elected representatives chose to do what was right instead of what was good for their individual reelection chances. That doesn't happen often. I'm really proud of them tonight and I plan to call my representatives tomorrow to personally let them know. I hope you will do the same.
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