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I had been thinking recently about an avenue to help promote eco-friendly (green-consciousness) in the mainstream. I'd be interested in seeing a video game where a gamer can earn points by recycling, choosing green products, etc. Maybe, it already exists, I don't know.
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I think the technology already exists, but maybe the market has to be developed more. Or perhaps needs to be integrated more. What I see being the challenge is getting away from the shooter type stories that create addiction to the hormones being produced and the brainwaves produced, to a more meditative, self reflective scenario. I don't have any idea what could cause that shift. Maturity? A focus on peace in our world instead of competitiveness? Acceptance instead of struggle?
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I can't see a video game succeeding in growth beyond a cognitive level without an outside medium through which to exercise. In other words, the video game might succeed in relaying information about a topic (personal growth or spiritual), but without a medium (real life application in the laboratory of life) it would be pointless. Much in the same way, one can read about techniques of successful interpersonal communication, but without the opportunity to interact with a person using these techniques in a real-life (non-contrived) situation, there is no means for growth.
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Interesting survey - made me think more about the possibilities of video games. I have practically zero experience and knowledge of video games, what is out in the market and what is not, making it harder to answer some questions... I am now curious to read some article on the subject of the survey!
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interesting!
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I don't think that video games alone can produce all these effects. I do think that perhaps video games with other forms of real-time interacting with mentors or teachers, facilitators or trainers, could be very effective.
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Like I said, it's not just the game but the context. You could probably use Mortal Kombat to facilitate spiritual growth (like anything else) if you knew what you were doing. Videogames can be honed to specifically accomplish this, but we don't necessarily require specifically-honed games to accomplish this.
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Because I am not aware of many of the current video games on the market today I cannot make an accurate assessment as to what/how they can/cannot impact the person playing the game. Maybe if I was familiar with some examples of games on the market I could make better predictions about how they are impacting humans today and in the future. Otherwise, I think this is a very interesting topic.
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Moses, I am a little lost since I haven't played video games in a long long time. But, I think it could be possible (and is likely starting to occur) for enhancing personal growth, particularly on perspective taking. There is no inherent reason why video games couldn't carry a deeper content and a more complex meaning-making structure; the limitations are more in the market and demand. As the designer's center of gravity shifts, and the players centers of gravity shift, then I think we could expect to see some astounding games for personal growth out there! But for spiritual development I am less sure. It may be my own lack of familiarity with games these days... But, it seems to me that spiritual development at some point involves states of consciousness from gross to subtle, to causal to non-dual. If engaged in a video game, a practitioner could perhaps enter subtle states, (since images and imagination are subtle forms), but a causal state would be harder to access, since in playing the video game, how could one de-center from form and drop into the formless? Once stablized in a non-dual state, sure, why not play video games!?! And so, perhaps in this regard, games could be used to practice subtle states, to which additional practice for stabilizing the causal state would be required to supplement the gaming. Again, I think my limited knowledge of games might be more the issue here. I hope this helps! Great project!!
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Sorry Moses - I am not a video game person so can't give you much
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As a delivery medium, video games may appeal to a limited segment of the population. factors might include age, upbringing, income and access to video games, culture, psychological type and level of psychological development. It's hard to generalize about how vg's could affect personal and spiritual growth without knowing more contextual and individual parameters. Technologically, however, there are infinite possibilities. Let me know when you get a game that delivers Enlightenment. I'll play THAT one :-)
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I think this a great move towards integrated higher values into spirituality. The process of doing so should involve a gradual development towards high spiritual values, being able to connect both worlds of the lower values being immitated now in games and the higher values possible.
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Hi Moses! You should talk to my friend Sarah who is getting her PHD from Stanford on cognitive learning through video gaming. I will introduce you guys. The use of video games beyond entertainment is definitely a hot subject and of course the military is the leading developer of these types of games. Good luck and congrats on the phone call with Ken Wilber that is awesome!
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Fascinating area .
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These ideas are all very interesting. I get scared because children are opting for video game experience instead of personal experience with others or being outside.
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I fucking love this stuff, my friends. If you'd like more in-depth explanations for my answers (i.e. the games I cited, etc..) you've got my e-mail address. I'm also interested in your own answers to this survey. It is my (future) hope to design a game PURPOSEFULLY facilitative of personal growth and spiritual excitement (using an integral platform, of course). Gotta be the future, right?
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As far as video games, I don't really know what is out there or what is needed to make them oriented toward growth. The idea is interesting though and I'm sure there would be a market.
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Great idea!
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I love technology and I have no doubt that it can be used to facilitate the growth you're talking about. And because video games are becoming a new form of "language" it seems important to have these themes represented in this new media.
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Sounds like you're on to something here Moses. Great topic!
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Almost any game, put into the proper context, could be used for teaching various aspects of personal or spiritual growth, even if simply to act as a counter-point. Taoist or Buddhist philosophies would likely be easier to integrate into a game/simulation framework compared to an Abrahamic religion - the koan riddles and meditation practices would fall readily into the sort of practices already in use in many games, and many gamers already seek a sort of centered state while they play.
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Even if video games were designed to help development and spiritual growth, I'm not sure I would play them all that much. I feel like the more I play video games, the less I am out in the real world, connecting with real, human people. So I prefer interact with real human being versus virtual ones.
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When you ask "how many days have you played," Do you mean played for 24 hours, or just played at least once that day?
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you rock
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The rapidly expanding market is multiplayer, connecting people to people, which is moving from PC to consoles and thus from niche to mainstream access. As games evolve to meet divergent markets, and their demands, combined with interconnectivity with other people (look at Facebook for example) good bad and otherwise, can become a great learning ground (and safer one as well) for creativity, objectivity, and hopefully eventually maturity. Not an answer so much as a means, a range of as yet barely explored potentials for opening people's minds, expanding their reasoning facilities, and connecting them to diverse multitudes, good bad and otherwise.
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Good Luck!
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I think video games could impart information on religion/spirituality/personal growth, but to make any progress in these areas they must be applied to life experience. I know there is already a board game called Shift for facilitating spiritual growth so I assume something could be worked out as a video game but I think the secret would be making it multi-player and generating conversations.
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Trying to engineer a video game to 'facilitate growth' is going to feel forced, artificial and irrelevant, like those Bible Blasters for Jesus type games Christians love to make. Video games are, for the most part, pointless escapism. It is what the developers and the consumers expect of them. That said, I think now that video games are easier to develop and individuals can make games without profit-driven businesses behind them we will see more heart in them. What matters is the intent with which the game is developed. If you truly want to share something with the world that will help them grow, then that's what you will do, and maybe a video game is the medium you will use. Trying to engineer personal growth into games like this survey seems to suggest will probably be a laughable failure. The developer needs to truly feel it, like they have something important to express, that the audience is open to. No survey is going to give you this answer. If you want to talk about it more, my email is...
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I would play these spiritual / personal growth games if they were well-designed and fun, not because they were growth games. A good game has all of these qualities because of well-designed narratives that build upon themes of conflict and resolution. A game where one religion wipes out another would not be spiritual--games where there was hard decisions and growth because of it might fit that genre.
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See above.
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These are the goals and dreams of our company, PathWorks, Inc. SPiritual growth, personal growth and recovery, relationship skills - we do other interactive media projects including serious games but this is where our hearts and souls lie - so in a way, we probably skew the data. Hope you are able to do something towards this goal with this survey. Thanks for inviting participation.
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You probably know that already but, this is really complex subject with so many different factors, it was kind of hard doing this survey because of that. The survey is not bad, but the subject is complex. :)
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This is a fascinating area and I believe that there is a hunger for this in our culture.
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A game designed to facilitate spiritual values is a very risky idea. 'Left Behind' tried this in 2007, and succeeded only in bringing out the very worst stereotypes of the religion they were trying to portray, and brought only ridicule and disgust down upon the development studio. In the end, they could not even give the title away. Saying that, a non-game interactive medium could do quite well. 'Church of fools' proved that with its online church project - until their funding ran out. Another such example 'Agape online fellowship' It uses game technology, but is in no way a game itself - they try to foster community values through a MMO interface, and works quite well.
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I like the theme of this survey but I don't think you are asking questions that will be very informative.
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Best of luck with your survey and your degree!
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I grew up playing games of all types, platform games on nintendo & sega, as well as deeper games on the PC. I firmly believe the LucasARTS adventure games of the late 80's and early 90's were instrumental in my cognitive growth. Through them I learned how to learn, ie they strengthened my creative problem solving skills.
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I do believe games have the potential to offer more to people than visceral entertainment. In spite of this promise, however, I'd say that there are few examples of this extant in the current market. I'd say the issue isn't so much the capacity of the medium, but rather consumer desires. Current examples of games which offer a more intentionally constructive experience tend to be hokey, gimmicky, and smacking of new-age pseudoscience. For any project with the ambition of providing avenues to personal/spiritual growth, I think success hinges largely on creating an experience commensurate with the quality inherent in commercially-successful mainstream games.
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I think it's a difficult balance to achieve. While I believe computer games (well intentioned or not) improve intelligence and reactions, any intended improved morality or religious observance has to be tempered against the absorbption of the individual into the game. From personal experience, I find that sustained computer use does not improve social skills and can narrow their perspectives. On the other hand, everything in moderation. Generally I find many educational games quite dull, but most of them are aimed at a younger age range.
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One word: Japan. Look at all the games specifically targeted at women, for instance, or the "brain gym" type games. I think they even have a yoga game at this point. Also, PLEASE read Stephen Berlin Johnson's book Everything Bad is Good For You, if you haven't already.
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I look forward to the evolution of gaming to play a greater role in advancing people and their growth rather than hindering it. Thanks for your work
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I would be interested in (self-centered) spirituality games to gain inner peace and flow. Everything that looks slightly religious would make me highly suspicious.
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Heh this is great. I thinkalong the same lines. If you need a sound designer who is similar thinking to your organisation, comminicate with me.
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The market already wants this - but doesn't know how to express it. I feel this is especially true for parents wanting to buy something different for their children. There is a real need for good stories - stories where the characters do good and therefore win (without it being preachy!). Overall, games have to be fun, or they won't be successful.
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I think all depend on the way that the game is presented. With goals such as personal and spiritual growth I think the game designer has to be careful with the way they engage their audience.
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Religion should not be associated with GROWTH...it is a deeply problematic topic for humams...Mythological and mystic sensitivity is more the target and an acceptance that logos (logical world of text and calculation etc) and mythos need to be brought into harmony. However harmony cannot be achieved in one area independently, all areas of balance (gender, economics, ecology, equity, creative growth & human resources) need to be addressed in unison
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While I agree with your stated goals for 'personal growth', I believe that 'religious growth' as you stated above would be at best a waste of time, and at worst directly harmful. Games that encourage personal growth should be recommended. Games that encourage religious growth should be avoided. I would prefer to see games that promote a respect for reason and learning.
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Some questions are misleading. For example, #12 & #13. I would play the games if they are good games in their own right. If they also communicate addition value - great. So, the criteria by which I would choose to play the game would only minimally be influence by it's design purpose.
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The key to answering the last two questions, for me, is that most games purposefully designed to facilitate growth tend to be boring and lame compared to the ones designed to entertain. The right blend of meaning and entertainment will create games that are enjoyable and enlightening (eg., Metal Gear Solid), much the same as this balance is required in other media.
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Simply considering the topic has stimulated my belief that video games can be a positive force for psycho-spiritual development. Previously, I had always thought video games were absurd. Regardless, nothing can beat real-life experience. However, technology can indeed help us in this regard... Also, I Love Moses and believe in him!
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This is a heavily biased survey, with large gaps and preconceptions in your understanding of games. For example you include 'Emotions of Chararcters' and 'Deeper Storytelling' in your lists above. The most profoundly affecting games involve other real people, not AI characters, and use particularised semiotic structures in place of pre-scripted narratives.
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I think video games are an important teaching mechanism. We use video games for this purpose, and design video games for this purpose. If they are to be used for personal growth/spiritual growth, I believe you'd have to stress the social interaction (out of game) social networking aspects of MMORG's.
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Great topic, dig deeper next time into the motivations behind gameplay and the interactive nature of these emerging media for programming new patterns and reinforcing existing patterns.<
;/p>
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I work in the industry, so my responses may be a bit biased, but I know for a fact that companies are developing games for purposes other than entertainment. Will they become mainstream? Probably not. But there's no other form of media that can reach someone like a video game can reach someone, and I think more and more people are realizing this.
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For Q12 & Q13, I almost answerd "never". You don't play games for growth. You play them for fun. (Perhaps an exception is "Rock Band", which I play to improve my musical skills, but it is fun.)
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thanks for asking about interest in spiritual games, when I do searches, it is very evident that the market has not provided these for the public.
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now you've got me wondering if a video game could facilitate spiritual growth. the link below might contain a gem of implication. http://www.drkermalli.com/NFBnasa.html
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I think videogames can change the world of education. They create interest, immersion, and unique, otherwise unaccessable environments for learning. That is why I want to make educational/instructional/helpful games when I get a job.
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A fascinating topic of study that appears to examine the complex relationships of socioeconomic factors, behavioral cognition and video game technology.
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I think that an eventual growth (personal or spiritual) must be a "collateral effect" of a game designed for entertainment, not purposefully designed to facilitate it.
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I wonder how you define video games. Do you define Second Life as a video game? It seems to me that the use of games that use avatars put the gamer in a position of taking a 3rd person perspective, because s/he is always watching himself (of course, I suppose they could take a 1st person perspective if they "become" the avatar, and some gaming supports this. But on the whole this taking of third person perspectives has potential for development.
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