Gaming and Culture
Nowadays, we view the internet as a tool the same way the ancient Greeks saw writing as a tool. It had the power to exploit and give power since it’s a communicatory tool, so we see a lot of the same language sprouting up so we can understand the effect the internet has on knowledge consumption. Now when we apply the same thought process to gaming – to see gaming as a tool instead of entertainment – what happens?
Some of you have seen Jane McGonigal's take on this question.
Here, too, are some ideas from Daphne Bavelier about video games and your brain.
Once we've begun a discussion about video games and cultural changes, we need to think carefully about the ethics of that development. The Gamergate scandal of a couple of years ago revealed the often seamy underside of gaming communities--and of the technologies we all use to form and develop our online communities.
These tools may not be inherently misogynistic or racist, but the power structures they are built in almost always leads to this being a problem because the individuals in a position of power will always refuse to give it up.
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