History and Philosophy of Gaming Technology & Education
Choose two of the three philosophers below, and use Level 5 (resources) and Level 6 (references) for more information to help you answer the questions:
- Plato's Meno, 380 BC: A guy named Meno is asking the wise philosopher Socrates ("wise", because he admits he doesn't know much, and proves that others who think they know a lot don't know much either) how he can learn about virtue. For a long time, they talk about what virtue is, and whether or not it can be taught. At one point, Socrates says "I do not retract the assertion that if virtue is knowledge it may be taught; but I fear that I have some reason in doubting whether virtue is knowledge: for consider now, and say whether virtue, and not only virtue but anything that is taught, must not have teachers and disciples?".
- With regard to the Plato's quote, do you think that video games can teach virtue, even though there are no teachers or and they don't usally fit into a particular subject area or discipline?
- Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, 1953: Based on a speech Heidegger did at Bremen University in 1949, this philosopher put forward some heavy ideas about technology and what it does for people. He says "Technology is no mere means. Technology is a way of revealing. If we give heed to this, then another whole realm for the essence of technology will open itself up to us. It is the realm of revealing, i.e. of truth". They say that today there is no one person in the world who can explain everything that a computer does. Programmers know specific aspects and functions of computers, but while almost everyone has a computer no one can explain exactly how a computer does everything it does. While humans invented computers, they've come to be built up on a way that they are also building upon themselves, programs within programs within programs, "revealing" something new.
- When you play a video game, is it possible that you are getting something out of it that the person who invented the game never intended or even imagined? How might video game addiction be related to this? Give a specific example.
- Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken, 2010: According to McGonigal, her two TED talks (see "How Gaming can make a Better World" on Level 1), and her book, we humans play video games because they fulfill our needs and by fulfilling our needs, we become better and happier people. If the whole world played more games, we would all be better and happier, and that would make the world a better place. Under the book section of janemcgonigal.com it says "Videogames consistently provide the exhilarating rewards, stimulating challenges, and epic victories that are so often lacking in the real world."
- Do you agree with Jane McGonigal when she says that video games can make us happier? If so, how can that be used to help us learn?