Izanagi writes:
The ironies of Life
I don't know, I have a little more faith in people. I like to think that people will surprise in very interesting ways.
Sometimes it is the surprise in interesting ways I am most worried about.
For instance, many people who play MMOs, or even video games in general, often utilize the scientific method in order to achieve a desired result in a game. After all, many games these days are more than just shooting your way through a level. Many times, they require thought and precision. This is especially true of MMOs where a player cannot cheat and must abide by the rules set out in the game world the developers have created. Players will make observations, collect data, test hypothesis until they find a workable solution to overcome a problem, and they will enjoy doing it too because it is a problem to be overcome. Now imagine if educators could harness this potential - think about how many potential scientists are there right now on WOW.
Many people who 'play' such games for real, such as in Iraq or Afghanistan may have a different perspective. Have you considered the effect politics, or indeed public opinion at large, may suppress such optimism?
I think humanity is on the verge of a scientific revolution. Just like most scientists don't accept "God did it" as an explanation, hardcore gamers don't subscribe to the idea of luck - they work to understand the rules of the game and use those rules to create statistics, make predictions and improve their strategies. As more and more people get into gaming, the number of people with an intuitive understanding of how science works will only increase. All it needs is a catalyst.
Optimistic indeed! I just hope enough people can understand algebra to make the US a bit more than janitors, fast food service workers, and cashiers (!).
Perhaps that's why Creationists are handing out copies of Darwin's "The Origin of Species," they sense the growing threat and so are attempting to discredit it. But life is ironic, and in attempting to avoid their fate, they may serve only to hasten it.
Well, it appears at least in the US 'none of the above' is growing at quite a pace when asked about religious affiliation. Yet only around 1% claim atheism. It seems a bit weird when one 'personal relationship with God' is cursed by another claimed 'personal relationship with god.'
The preface to
Origin of Species will go down in history the same way as
Thomas Bowlder's rewriting of Shakespeare and Gibbions has, it created a new verb. Except instead of bowdlerization, we will have cameronization, meaning prefacing a book by someone too stupid to know bananas (or any other food crop or animal) have undergone extensive genetic selection.
Not to mention Marijuana (or mention it as well, to be honest).
Perhaps such a definition may be broadened to include any classic work. Such as a preface to
War and Peace by Sarah Palin,
Les Miserables by Newt Gingrich, Or
The Holy Bible by Pat Robertson (as one example among many).
Edited by anglagard, : No reason given.
Edited by anglagard, : sometimes fewer words mean better communication
The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas - uncertainty, progress, change - into crimes.
Salman Rushdie
This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It’s us. Only us. - the character Rorschach in Watchmen
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