Two Opportunities for Video Game Developers
more realistic and useful knowledge, information, and learning resources.
I mention this in the review for Starfield, but it is buried beneath a rant and want to reiterate it here without all the ranting. Science fiction games like that should include more useful research materials involving the applicable sciences they deal with.
Consider the feature of mining minerals for crafting, resources, and trade. What is it about those minerals that makes them useful for that particular application? Having studied chemistry briefly and being familiar enough with technology manufacturing to understand basic applications of rare earth minerals, I am aware that there is a realistic order to the selection of elements that are included as features in the game.
However, it does not provide data as to why those inorganic materials are useful in certain applications, such as their volatility, polarity, radioactivity, use as an acid, oxidization, and all that valuable scientific research that we want children to know about as they grow up so they can be better prepared to innovate technological solutions with their own ingenuity. The earlier they are able to conceptualize and understand those concepts the earlier their minds can start formulating solutions in the subconscious in alignment with their dreams, desires, and chosen purpose in life.
Best to consult reputable professionals in these fields for this information. They don’t need to provide formal research documents with citations that are peer reviewed for research and development purposes, but they could probably provide a few paragraphs that explain the basic concept with the important facts. Those research standards are necessary for research because of how important it is to respect scientific power because of its potential danger during experimentation and potential ethical abuse, but in a video game science fiction setting, you can just convey the knowledge.
Knowledge and information such as that is an infinitely abundant resource for human progress. It does not decay, it does not run out, it does not damage the environment to harvest, and its benefits are infinitely worth the costs of acquiring it. Such knowledge needs to be made available as much as possible to everyone.
In the professional world, college education and higher learning are still applicable because that often involves understanding the total depth of the knowledge and its applications with practical exercises, experiments, and requirements for meeting standards before advancing to levels with more responsibility and access to resources that can be used in experimentation.
Naturally you don’t want volatile materials in the hands of people who do not truly understand and respect what they are because they are dangerous and need to be controlled with safeguards that protect those who work them. Then there is the highly advanced laboratory equipment that is needed to conduct experiments. Most people cannot afford acquiring stuff like that for personal use, which is why it is accessible in collegiate environments in addition to private companies, both of which require a minimum qualification to access.
Private companies are less inclined to allow the freedom of curiosity for learning purposes because they are generally business oriented and need to maintain profits to stay in operation, but collegiate environments are not limited in that way. That equipment is often also delicate and expensive and although mistakes happen and it breaks by accident from time to time, generally you want people with a professional interest operating it. There is nothing wrong with accidents like that as long as people are honest about what happens because of the danger of it being operated with unintended consequences if it is damaged without the people using it being aware of what that damage is. From what I understand, standard scientific and engineering practices are well aware of this mindset and why it is important.
The government politicians could learn from that way of doing things as applicable to their jobs as well if they think of legislation and bureaucratic systems as machines and equipment of conceptual reality. If someone makes a mistake and is hiding it in the government, that could cause a lot more damage to other people indirectly involved when that mistake is revealed by a failure in operations as a result of the mistake.
Do not discipline people for making a mistake and owning up to it right away, however upset people may be because of the importance of the situation. If they hide it and do not inform their supervisors or report it as appropriate if they are the supervisor, then they need to be disciplined severely. That encourages reporting and discourages hiding, which makes for a more efficient process with higher quality results. It’s as simple as that and has nothing to do with punishment or personal issues. An added benefit is that it encourages good character by reinforcing trustworthiness.
As my elementary school taught me: character counts. Now put that between two slices of buttered bread and grill it on both sides to a crispy golden brown.
Also, these applications of adding knowledge could be applicable with historical examples, social sciences, or anything else. If you are conveying wisdom in such a way, it is best to do it with story and examples, but if you intend to convey knowledge it is best to just state it as plainly and clearly as possible. Do not occlude it to try and teach something subversively. It may work, but it is inefficient and unnecessary.
Wisdom is more complex of a topic than knowledge, which is not so easily conveyed directly in clear terms. Nor are all people as receptive to such forms of learning which can be dry and heavy like this document, and that’s fine. Wisdom is vital to our survival though, which is why it needs to be taught regardless, and why storytelling is important for doing so. Stories make it flavorful and easy to receive and are generally a good use of one’s time because that time is enjoyed.
Wisdom is what cultivates good judgment, and good judgment can save a person’s life or the entire world and you never know when it will be called upon or why. Best to teach it, not force it, but do your best to ensure people learn what is most important: good is always true, evil is always false. As simple and trite as that appears, the truth is often not clearly definable, has subjective context, and can in fact appear as totally opposite.
That is why adults and elders are typically respected because they have had more opportunities for gaining experience and wisdom to learn subtle and gross qualities with deeper understanding than what a situation appears to have. That’s not always the case though, because elders can prove themselves entirely foolish in judgment, just as a child can prove themselves incredibly wise. Consider the gospel account of Jesus’ childhood when he goes missing, his family can’t find him, and he is found at the temple teaching the elders. Then, consider the song “Old Man’s Rubble” by Amy Grant.
…Are you walking with unnecessary burdens,
are you trying to take them upon yourself?
If you are then you are living in bondage…
And are you trying to live by your emotions,
are you putting your faith in what you feel and see
then you’re living just to satisfy your passions,
and you’d better be careful because you’re being deceived.
It is okay to listen to and trust your emotions and your perceptions, but that cannot be the determining factor of a person’s judgement because those senses alone are inadequate. The higher truth of conceptual reality requires gaining an understanding which is detached from emotion and perception. It is an understanding which religious laity accept on faith and know as true through practice in daily life.
Religious scholars gain that understanding through the link of logical understanding created through study and contemplation that ascends beyond emotion and perception and arrives at a solid foundation that is the truth of divine reality. That truth of divine reality can be realized with knowledge alone. It does not stop there though, because that is the base level. Faith can take a person’s understanding and wisdom to heights infinitely beyond that, but the knowledge is sufficient to justify the truth and factual existence of the highest divine.
With that certainty as a known fact, it can be applied in all situations of judgment to determine good and evil. Proficiency doing so is wisdom. Mastery doing so is great wisdom. In either case, gaining that wisdom requires honesty with oneself and a keen awareness of one’s emotions and perceptions because those provide indications of conscience. Although conscience may seem irrational at the time, it proves itself justified when a situation can be considered in retrospect.
Gaining proficiency in wisdom requires being aware of what sensations the conscience has, and then applying knowledge and experience to understand why those sensations occur and correctly judge a situation as good or evil with an understanding from higher conceptual reality. Why is it correct to say stealing is wrong (i.e. evil, but that is too strong word now)? You would need to understand social systems, government, legal justice, human psychology, and all manner of aspects of civilization to really understand the moral implications of why it is wrong. Most people find it sufficient to trust their conscience in addition to obeying the people who are trusted to know the full understanding. That is another reason why public officials must be held to the highest standard of a community and no corruption among them tolerated whatsoever, and why the USA government has lost all trust by demonstrating brazen corruption and evil with their actions.
We got a little sidetracked here into the difference between knowledge and wisdom and why one is better conveyed with story and the other better conveying in the simplest clarity possible. That simple clarity tends to be without entertaining diversions and minimal possibilities of subjective interpretation. Knowledge is easier expressed with direct words, while wisdom is easier expressed with abstract concepts, images, and relatable characterization woven together in a plot. It is one thing to state a proverb, another thing to teach it.
Teaching should never be made more difficult than necessary. Practice is one thing, teaching is another. Practice can be as difficult as possible for great benefit, but that is only effective if the teaching has been obtained to do the practice correctly. To make use of practice, no matter how difficult it may be designed, is why the teaching needs to be first and done without unnecessary difficulty.
2. I would prefer to keep this as brief as possible, so that is what I am going to do.
There needs to be more adult romance fantasy in games. That doesn’t mean it needs to be pornographic, but video game characters should have more options to freely explore romance in all kinds of ways and have tremedous fun doing what is probably not going to happen in real life for most people. The same way violence can be explored in video games without worry about it happening in real life (and in fact helps reduce unsanctioned violence; sports and military exercises being sanctioned), having a lot more freedom for romantic fantasy in video games will help reduce sexual perversions in real life.
Reduce perversions, not reduce sexuality. Social expressions of romance and sexuality will be less toxic and more of what people of a community are comfortable with, without that needing to be defined. I write it as without needing definition, because often times throughout life and all time, there have been, are now, and will always be new situations that defy expectations for love among a human population. When that happens, you want it to be something you can be comfortable with, not something that will put you into a murderous rage.