I play therefore I learn: good point

Showing posts with label good point. Show all posts

Thursday, 15 August 2013

Summer Spam Harvest (from my bookmark folders)

While still working on the posts that would feature my current setting and adventures, I found my bookmark folders flooded with bits and pieces saved with the earnest intention to add a witty (of course!) comment or two on my part, linking them into some proverbial bigger picture I'm presumably piling together around a bunch of Weirdo Attractors. Oh well, at least I managed to line them up into somewhat neat-looking stacks.

Friday, 8 March 2013

Winterlude (2). Prague, psycho puzzles and preferences.

[semi-standard copy-paste intro]
Between hibernation and game-testing responsibilities, I have still managed to involve myself in some other games to provide the change-of scenery and offer a road-stop for the mind's retreat. More than that, these games have given me the itch to share some stories again and let the commentary sprawl. Let's see if I can carve that itch into a somewhat readable series - here goes, in no particular order. (Cyber Ninjas landed in the first slot.)

At quite young age, when I still had very limited access to the world of "electronic games", I made a curious discovery about myself. While being very enthusiastic about all games in general and taking great joy in watching others play whatever, I found it difficult to delve into just any game myself. Partly it was due to controls mechanics - mashing a correct sequence of correct keys in exact correct combination while running against time was the synonym of "utterly stressful", for example. Still, the elusive to-play-or-not-sense extended beyond that. And so, growing into a gamer meant a sort of ever-active quest to find those select "my games" that I would dare to dig thoroughly into. Over the years I developed some semi-articulate preferences to guide my what-to-play-next choices. They function as a sort of mental flowchart or safety net to prevent investing my time and resources into games I'd probably not enjoy. In other words, steering the way to familiarity and comfort, they can also act as unnecessarily rigid standards and thus lead to stagnation. Then Good old Games came along and remedied the situation: the ease of access and affordability effectively eliminate such "wrong choice anxiety". As a result I have accumulated a number of titles to "try out, out of curiosity, and it would be okay if I didn't like them".

So, Still life. I was looking for something different (and not too time-consuming) to try out inbetween my "usual universes". After drudging through the inevitable how-the-fuck-do-I-get-this-thingie-to-do-that-thing-I-need-it-to-do-phase, I found myself quite hooked. The story grew more compelling with each step further in. The scenery was stylish. I wasn't overly keen on the navigation logic (nor the shifting 3rd person view) but with some practice I was able to work with it. And the soundtrack was pretty cool.

I also learned that apparently I've been carrying some great loathing towards certain kinds of mechanical puzzles. (That idea itself puzzled me - after all, I had quite thoroughly enjoyed Myst ... perhaps not every last bit of it but still.)

Anyway, there was this chest in the attic - the gateway to the game's next stage. Once you roll those cylinders into the correct position, that is. After wiggling them a little, I (proverbially) stomped my foot: "I'm not going along with this! Oh, I know that with a wee bit of effort I'd be able to move these things into the required configuration. But you know what, Game? I'm not willing to give you that effort! Family fetish or not, I don't care for this puzzle, all I want is to go on with the game!"

As I was looking up the right amount and order of clicks and applying them ingame with no remorse or hesitation, it occurred to me that I had either heard or read a similar sentiment somewhere.

You apathetically poke the sliders around, knowing you could solve this, but this is like overly complicated math, it -
Wait a minute.
This is a wooden door, and you have an axe in your inventory. It ought to be possible ... if this was real, it would be absolutely possible.

Yes, that was it! I found it buried deep in my "good point" bookmarks (no mystical symbol combination required for access). It was an Escapist article where game designer Jonas Kyratzes passionately explains why puzzles-within-another-game do anything but improve the user experience. (And I passionately agreed.) The part that interested me the most (and that had stuck to my brain) was the fundamental difference he points out between puzzles (boo!) and obstacles (yay!).

The difference is in integration: A puzzle is a purpose unto itself and follows its own rules, but an obstacle is part of the game world and the gameplay. An obstacle, while still created by a designer as a gameplay element, is organically derived from the world that the game presents. A slider puzzle on the kitchen door is just a puzzle; needing to get the key from the cook is an obstacle.

In my terms, what he's discussing is the difference between "getting the answer right" and "solving the situation". Or - to go even more abstract - the divide between "accumulating knowledge" and "learning". I'm also connecting many dots related to instructional design here. The puzzle vs. obstacle situation is very similar to what Cathy Moore explains in terms of "what they must know" vs. "what they need to do" (a point I've taken to heart and tried to keep mindful of ever since).

Speaking of my "gamer sense" and preferences, I have no clue how to define the border between "challenging" and "frustrating" - though I can always tell which end of that continuum I'm dealing with. In Still Life, I found it curious how some puzzle-things would come off as pleasantly stimulating while others (virtually identical in function and form) would become a blatant chore. Furthermore, often the "frustrating chore" kind of situations would seem very "organic to the given world" - in theory at least. A few examples.

Fitting the symbolic objects to statues in sequence taught in a poem was more time-consuming than solving many other ... er situations. However, those trips to the other end of town were filled with suspense and purpose; and when the silent ladies finally snapped into their places, it felt genuinely rewarding.

In contrast, figuring out which numbered buttons to press based on artwork clues in the kinky-house was theoretically fitting but felt just kind of tedious.

For some reason I found "lockpicking" task the most frustrating of them all. (Even more frustrating than the slide-around-an-image-of-the-key-to-make-it-a-real-key just before Prague finale. There I simply didn't give a crap.) It seemed so natural and sensible at first - until I found myself grumbling into the noise of excessive Alt+Tabbing and the Sequence of Correct Clicks.

At the same time, maneuvering the crane levers into their designated positions earlier in the game didn't bother me at all. Go figure.

To sum up. Lining up symbols in mechanical combination lock - "Boo!" Navigating a brave little bomb robot across the laser field - "Wheeeee!"

Sliding puzzle to "open" secret-covering paintings? Oh no, you didn't! Where is that axe! (And where did I put that article link again?)

Thursday, 7 February 2013

"I want to believe" vs. "I want to learn more"

The other day Extra Credits posted this wonderful piece contemplating the relation between beliefs, knowledge, learning - and how they don't actually contradict each other. I could relate to what they were saying a lot - for me personally, these have always been aspects of the same process.

Indeed, many a times when my conclusions finally land on the the "hmmmmh, that's a bunch of bullshit alright" spot, the starting point has not been "this must be wrong and I shall vocalize it over and over to demonstrate how wrong it is," but rather: "what a curious construct/ ingenious idea/ mind-blowing theory/ elegant explanation this is! I want to believe! I wish to know it better, learn more about it, understand how it works".

Among other things I've observed my attitude shift that way (from fascination to "...eh ...") about various horoscope-y categorization systems (like "personality measuring"or clear-cut learning styles), technologies and practices with "earth-friendly intentions" (like bike generators or a bunch of other stuff) and - last but not least - various motivation'n'productivity theories (like how creative process should work and what self esteem means).

I haven't figured out how to embed videos from Penny Arcade (if they allow it at all), so I'll spam a pretty picture instead.

Friday, 25 January 2013

From the hibernation chamber

As the winter was settling in, I took a hard blow to my creativity, ability to focus, ability write or do ... well, anything really. Dedicating all my remaining shards of strength into performing the simple tasks like getting out of bed, going for walks and bringing in firewood to heat the woodstove, there wasn't much left for developing the writing habit. Now that the days are once again getting longer, I am discovering how my intense focus on managing the mundane has been secretly awarded by improved anxiety-coping skills, better deliberate attention-directing ability and increased resilience. I am also discovering that the bookmark folder for stuff that I've meant to spam on is overflowing with links. Since I've mostly forgotten the smartass comments or insightful generalizations intended to accompany these, I'm just going to dump the links themselves. (The advances in gaming front deserve their own post - or a few. I'm working on it.)

So, here goes. The random info-dump organized in somewhat topical bunches.

On work habits, productivity and the importance of allowing the idle time to happen.

http://positivesharing.com/2006/03/my-lazy-life/
http://lifehacker.com/5901013/in-defense-of-procrastination-when-to-prioritize-doing-nothing
http://lifehacker.com/5943923/living-without-time
http://lifehacker.com/5927330/the-holy-trinity-of-inactivity-how-boredom-distraction-and-procrastination-are-vital-to-healthy-living
http://lifehacker.com/5949900/wonderful-things-happen-when-your-brain-is-empty
http://io9.com/5933423/the-right-way-and-wrong-way-to-let-your-mind-wander
http://lifehacker.com/5965826/seven-productivity-myths-debunked-by-science-and-common-sense

See also:

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On the ease of accepting stuff as "real" and "norm" and "traditional" when it's just arbitrary.

(I have a special fondness for origin stories that demonstrate how and when random things and beliefs have come to be - and how their "marketing" as something inherent or self-evident is being debunked in the process.)

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-ways-to-get-anyone-to-believe-clearly-fake-news-story/
http://www.cracked.com/article_19780_5-gender-stereotypes-that-used-to-be-exact-opposite.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_18510_6-supposedly-ancient-traditions-that-totally-arent_p2.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_19283_7-ancient-forms-mysticism-that-are-recent-inventions.html
http://www.historynet.com/the-fox-sisters-spiritualisms-unlikely-founders.htm

http://lifehacker.com/5867049/nine-stubborn-brain-myths-that-just-wont-die-debunked-by-science
http://io9.com/5959058/further-evidence-that-iq-does-not-measure-intelligence

See also: Faux Symbolism

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On work habits, tinkering and skill improvement

http://lifehacker.com/5974442/dont-be-an-expert-diy-is-all-about-the-end-product
http://lifehacker.com/5957937/give-yourself-permission-to-suck-its-the-only-way-to-learn
http://lifehacker.com/5946883/five-realizations-that-helped-me-write-regularly

http://positivesharing.com/2007/06/find-your-quitting-point/
http://sugru.com/manifesto?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=manifesto

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On the ever-important player-game-world relations.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/08/op-ed-why-photorealism-isnt-the-key-to-emotional-gaming-experiences/
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/mechanics-as-metaphor-part-2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6117-Photorealistic-Sociopathy
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6718-Only-The-Lonely

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On the learning process in general, how the mind works and develops, how education works and how it doesn't - and the elusive overlaps of all this.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-ways-high-school-makes-you-hate-reading/
http://www.cracked.com/article_18611_the-10-most-important-things-they-didnt-teach-you-in-school.html
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/09/if-you-spank-dont-console/
http://io9.com/5974256/overlyhonestmethods-is-the-postsecret-of-the-science-world-and-it-is-amazing
http://lifehacker.com/5943362/the-secret-to-being-self+taught-curiosity
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/08/at-what-point-can-i-say-ive-learned-a-language/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/virginmobilelive/20-students-that-totally-nailed-it-5l87?b=1?=crack

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The miscellaneous interesting stuff.

http://lifehacker.com/5953755/what-exactly-is-freedom-of-speech-and-how-does-it-apply-to-the-internet
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-b.html#5
http://io9.com/5971342/the-uncomfortably-common-practice-of-medicinal-cannibalism
http://io9.com/5966703/how-genitals-got-their-names-or-why-a-penis-is-called-a-prick
http://io9.com/5947818/the-power-of-armadillo-penises-why-more-scientists-should-tell-stories
http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/05-the-death-of-snkrs/falseequivalence/
http://io9.com/5975489/a-chart-of-emotions-that-have-no-name-in-the-english-language

Thursday, 11 October 2012

What were they supposed to be measuring again?

I have always found certain guilty pleasure in the experiments on human behaviour. So much so that I have gleefully had fun in the various virtual test chambers ranging from moral dilemmas to measuring facial attraction to optical illusions. (Incidentally, it was taking the BBC's "brain sex" quiz repeatedly that made me notice how picking up my first first-person-view computer game and playing it extensively had "unlocked the ability" to do well in those imaginary 3D rotation tasks.) In my excitement to have more and more experiment exposure I also developed the grumbl-y little voice inside my mind that pouted at the "for fun" and at the "serious" testing alike. "Oh, puh-lease, they've posed the problem completely wrong," it said. And: "how can you pick a course of action from outside the situation". And: "none of these options describes how I'd choose to act and yet they assess me based on that choice?" And: "come on, it's so obvious from these answers what you're after; if I'd be biased in favour of a certain outcome - which I am - I'd immediately know which to stick to!"

I was becoming just as disgruntled about the behavioural testing as I had already become towards "testing knowledge" (and the people who did well in those tests). So, taking cues from that little voice, I've developed an even stronger taste for other kind of studies. The ones that demonstrate how things aren't quite as simple as you'd assume. (Or that things don't even work quite the way you assume.) The ones that demonstrate that your answers depend just as much from how you set up the test as they do from the subject's reaction. Which brings me to The Marshmallow Study Revisited. My favorite point from the authors is this:

"Being able to delay gratification—in this case to wait 15 difficult minutes to earn a second marshmallow—not only reflects a child's capacity for self-control, it also reflects their belief about the practicality of waiting," says Kidd. "Delaying gratification is only the rational choice if the child believes a second marshmallow is likely to be delivered after a reasonably short delay."

I wish I could project the ability to quote studies and meta-studies to my toddler self who often knew very well the background of her choices (and sensed when countering adult argument wouldn't add up or hold up) but somehow couldn't get most of those pesky grown ups to see reason. Though, come to think of it, some of those pesky grownups became only more motivated to enforce their flawed stance once presented with evidence to the contrary.

Here's a word to IO9 rounding up a few more cases of mismeasuring: http://io9.com/5893107/the-many-ways-science-has-incorrectly-assessed-your-personality.

And here's a photo of me, pretending to play with sand. There was a photographer at the kindergarten that day. He was moving around, proably trying to catch the little ones in their most natural and at some point he threw a general request in the air: "would you be so kind and play a little?" At which point I promptly quit my exploration attempts, sat in the sanbox (filled with stranger-kids, away from my group), picked up a little sand and rolled it from one palm to another while maintaining this tense, focused (or so I thought) gaze. All natural!

Thursday, 6 September 2012

Girl power meets (kicks) whiny reviews

Here's the thing: I absolutely loved the movie "Sucker Punch". I would also like to think that I'm one of those who "got it" the moment i saw it. (Let's just say, the multi-layered puzzle-y, metaphor-y stuff kinda is my thing. And I tend to not dismiss a rising-from-the-ashes heroine just because I can see her panties when she kicks.)
Here's another thing: I semi-regularly check out Movie Bob's reviews and weekly Big Picture musings at the Escapist. And it was his "don't-miss-this-movie-folks" review that got me interested in Sucker Punch in the first place. So, when I saw that this week's (and the next) episode is addressing just that, I felt that I'd like to do my part spreading the word. (Here's his original review as well.)

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Information stepping stones (2)

I'm going to make this a semi-recurrent intro to the posts like this:
In so many fields I am not nearly literate enough to dig into their "raw information ore" and make sense of it (or, indeed, first make sense of what needs to be made sense of) all on my own. So I rely heavily on competent folks communicating their craft.

I rely on IO9 almost daily to deliver the obscure art, the previously-unknown webcomics, the filth and guts of human history, its physical remains and so much more. And when it comes to scienc-y stuff, especially asking important questions, pointing at plot holes, displaying sheer beauty, and indeed, sparking curiosity, I dig right in.

The latest stepping-stone article is this:
http://io9.com/5934549/how-to-distinguish-crap-denialism-from-legitimate-scientific-debate

Saturday, 11 August 2012

Power of remix meets TED

The idea of remixing as means of creativity, learning and information in general, is an ever-fascinating for me. (As seen in this post and this post.) So I was really delighted to find a video notification about Kirby taking his remix-talk to TED.

"Copy, transform, combine."

A great sum-up that is and I've got only one thought to add to this: "if life spreads through modification by descent then information spreads through remixing."
I'm sure someone must have had said something of the sort before. I might have heard it at some point, then forgot about it and now the thing "bubbles back up to my brain". (See what I did there. Ha.)

Monday, 6 August 2012

The courage to step outside the comfort zone

Once again I have stumbled upon a TED talk that requires an update in a "mental folder" I've jokingly labelled as "my heroes".

"The fact is that most of the biggest catastrophies that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and out there but that we are willfully blind to because we can't handle, don't want to handle the conflict that it provokes. But when we dare to break that silence and when we dare to see and we create conflict, we enable ourselves and the people around us to do our very best thinking."

One important idea that she doesn't explicitly say but that I feel belongs to the related mental territories is that in order to "do your very best of thinking" and in order to have the courage to stand up for your ideas, you don't necessarily have to be right. Quite contrary, in order to do your very best of thinking [here starts the new thought that I'm adding to hers], you also need to have the courage to be wrong, the courage to make mistakes.

Saturday, 21 July 2012

Sign me up: the fifth class (actual fifth class, that is)

The adventures in the Google's Power Searching course continue. Here's the link to the previous part. And here are the random thoughts.

Random thought #1. "Huh. But I haven't seen the topics of class 5 before - why would I think I'd already taken it?" So yeah, it just so happened that Class 4 had 5 lessons in it and after completing those I congratulated myself on completing the fifth class. Thank you, brain.

Random thought #2. "These latter classes do require a whole lot more attention than the first ones!" The second part of the course is no longer about just the nifty tools you can use but the ways to put them in use. So, even though the lessons are similar in length, the world of information each bit of instruction drags along into the learner's attention is far larger. At this point I am no longer using the text and the slides; at this point the actual person explaining how he does what he does helps to grasp the ideas better.

Random thought #3. "These lessons are primarily about overcoming the confirmation bias, aren't they? Yup, they said the magic word too!" I can't even count the times I've searched for the "fact I wanted to find". I don't feel totally crappy about that because oftentimes I was attempting to locate a "proper" source for something I "knew"/ knew I'd learned beforehand. But I've also tried to find the statistics to match my preconceived ideas so there's that.

Random thought #4. They're emphasising the importance of context. (And the relation between vocabulary and context.) Now they're speaking my language again :)

Random thought #5. "Whenever someone says something of substance and impact, other people will go to great lengths to attribute those words to someone famous." A lot of this class's focus was on quotes - identifying quotes origins, the anatomy of quotes that came from other places than thought, quotes that weren't quotes at all, and so on. I gotta admit: I like me some good quotes - oftentimes someone else has already found the perfect words to say what I mean. I also gotta admit: I like me some good origin story - as in, I like finding out the actual origin point of things, ideas, custom , words, etc. (as opposed to their popularized stories). So all this kept my interest up.

Random thought #6. "Search result relevance does not equal source credibility." I think they could make it a weekly class just to remind that one idea and never run out of learners. I know I need the reminder every now and then.

I know the perfect pretty picture I'd like to add to the end here, but I can't seem to find it just at the moment. It features a stick figure sitting on toilet, reading off the toilet wall and saying s/he is looking for inspiration from wrong places sometimes. I know I've got the file itself saved somewhere so I'm going to try out that search by image trick from class 4.

ED: Apparently I'd deleted it but finally the quote (on the booth wall) did the trick. Here we go:

(It is one of my very favourite images, ever.)

Sunday, 15 July 2012

The Power of Remix

It just so happens that some of my most favourite things out in the Wild Web are the result of remixing/ mix'n'matching/ interpreting other things. It also happens that sometimes they get removed from the circulation. Better watch quickly then!

For me, these three are the prime example fo how a good remix is far, far more than the sum of its parts.

And finally: Kirby's "Everything is a Remix" (pt4).

"Our system of law doesn't acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren't so tidy. They're layered, they're interwoven, they're tangled. And when the system conflicts with the reality... the system starts to fail."

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Aviation meets Estrade

Today's nugget of random wisdom comes from Youtube and goes like this:
"Soviet cinema so owns the slow clap."

Case point:

I haven't watched the movie itself yet, so here's a bit of wild speculation - that blonde dude on the right looks very suspicious. Don't know what's his deal, but I bet there is something up with him.

In fact, let's watch the movie itself and find out. (It has English subtitles and everything.)

(ED: bonus learning point at 6:46 - "if the wireless signal is weak, just yell some more")

Monday, 9 July 2012

Folktale Wisdom Meets Ethnobotany

Todays nugget of wisdom comes from the Irish folktale of a boy called Guleesh and goes like this:

"cannabis saves the princess".

Here's the crucial botanical moment of recognition:

And, indeed, he was not long searching till he observed a large strange herb that was growing up just by the gable of the house. He went over to it, and observed it closely, and saw that there were seven little branches coming out of the stalk, and seven leaves growing on every brancheen of them and that there was a white sap in the leaves.

And here's the pharmacological experiment in detail:

It was not bitter, and, indeed, had a sweet, agreeable taste. He grew bolder then, and drank the full of a thimble of it, and then as much again, and he never stopped till he had half the cup drunk. He fell asleep after that, and did not wake till it was night, and there was great hunger and great thirst on him.

I found that story via Librivox - listen all about Guleesh's adventures over here. (ED: Or check out the text version - this is where I copied the quotes from.)

(And check out the rest of that story collection over here.)

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Within a system, without a system (2nd ed.)

Lifehacker just posted this article where they emphasise the importance of "knowing what you show up for".

Here's what they conclude:

"If you're working hard and not being recognized it's a good idea to look at what you're working hard on. /.../ If 90% of success in life is showing up, the other 10% depends on what you're showing up for."

I am currently at the point in my work where I called "FOUL!" towards the system and am now working my way out of there - and I'm trying to invent my own universe in the process.

Among other things they say this:

"The scary part about it is that it's very easy to feel like you're wasting your time. This is because if you're pursuing opportunities where your success is uncapped, you're going to have to start from scratch. There's no system, so you have to build one. Your 1000th blog post may be read by a million people, but your first one will only be read by your mom (if you're lucky)."

It's like they're talking about me! Yay! (Except my mom doesn't read my blog right now. I haven't told anybody about it yet.)

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