tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402915042780490574.post6474708243454610369..comments2024-03-28T00:13:01.688-07:00Comments on Critical Damage: Ignorance is Bliss. Kill the Scientists.Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402915042780490574.post-1327452031098871262011-09-27T08:29:10.582-07:002011-09-27T08:29:10.582-07:00Wanting to shoot the scientific messenger is a rec...Wanting to shoot the scientific messenger is a recent trend only because in a more distant past, the standard practice was to burn him/her at the stake :P<br /><br />Jokes aside, while I share a concern that despite the impact science has had in our lives, fact-based decision making (as opposed as relying on religious dogma or just going for what appeals to the basest instincts of the people) is still very much an alien concept for many, I don't think games are the worst offenders in that sense. <br /><br />In a way, even when the narrative of a game is definitely questionable, the act of mastering a game can be seen as a scientific problem, where the player has to figure out the ruleset of the game world and bend it for his/her own benefit. It is a pity that rarely this element is wrapped in a narrative that involves a scientist depicted in a positive light (apparently, Mengele works better as a game character than Salk) or wrapped in an abstraction with scientific meaning (and the potential is definitely there, given the recent news of a complex biochemistry problem being solved by gamers).<br /><br />Last thing: the post contains factual errors related to the Italian scientists' case. The accusations expressly does not concern the fact that "they didn’t know there would be an earthquake". Summarizing a bit, they are put on trial because they said in a press release that there would be NO earthquake (actually, that there was no risk). The additional relevant facts are that the city was located next to a fault line, that they knew that most buildings did not have enough seismic protection (in fact, the earthquake also caused 70.000 people to lose their house), and that there is general consensus in the scientific community that while tremors do not necessarily indicate an imminent earthquake, but they are nevertheless a warning sign. Furthermore, they have been brought into trial because the relatives of about 30 of the victims claimed that they were planning to go and sleep in the car or outside the city and they then decided to stay at home after hearing the press release. It's quite a complex case, more related to scientific communication and negligence than scientific truth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402915042780490574.post-55410189377845311582011-09-21T09:41:17.789-07:002011-09-21T09:41:17.789-07:00at least in the US, anti-science positions are pre...at least in the US, anti-science positions are pretty clearly linked to pro-religious positions (A lot of groups who attack the idea of global warming tend to also support attacks on evolution in favor of intelligent design, for example) - and for me that's the element that JJ is really missing to make me feel weird about it.<br /><br />then again I play with the non-murderous jetpacks and I try to high-five as many scientists as possible so :3zachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827394612058010645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402915042780490574.post-8270723315413467572011-09-21T04:42:00.572-07:002011-09-21T04:42:00.572-07:00Adrian,
Yes, it is an assumption I am quite conte...Adrian,<br /><br />Yes, it is an assumption I am quite content to make uncritically. Not that it is <i>always</i> the case or <i>should</i> be the case but that communicating "you pressed A and the character punched that dude's head off" is much easier than communicating "you pressed A and formulated an equation on counting the number of bubbles in a glass of lemonade" or "you pressed A and now you feel sad".<br /><br />Certainly, videogames <i>can</i> communicate other abilities and actions other than physical ones, but physical ones are easier and thus what most games allow the playable character to do.Brendan Keoghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3402915042780490574.post-48563589603127677612011-09-21T00:58:37.310-07:002011-09-21T00:58:37.310-07:00Should we really be uncritically accepting the ide...Should we really be uncritically accepting the idea that "it is easier to put the player in control of a character whose strength lies in physical abilities than intellectual ones"?Adrian Foresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664282573320076824noreply@blogger.com