Games, play, and political life

Robin Mehta

In lecture, we were taught of three propositions:
1. Games and play are political
2. Political life is playful/gameful
3. Games are important texts for understanding political life

We were taught of Aesop's fable (precisely the title of this blog) "The Grasshopper and the Ant," which "moralizes the value of work and preparation," as the grasshopper enjoys life all summer while the ant works hard, and by the time winter comes around, the ant has saved enough food, unlike the grasshopper who ultimately starves.

When considering political life, one should take into account how our lives are often comprise of relations that are not affected by rational, strategic, or interest-based concerns. Both games and play engage with rules and imagination, which corresponds to a society with strict regulations vs. one with loose regulations, respectively. Games such as Telephone Pictionary incorporates the pop culture aspect, while games like Scrabble (iPhone or Android: Words with Friends) relate to the idea of a meritocracy (in that each player has equal opportunities towards the cumulative goal of societal advancement [of filling the board with words] based on individual intellect and competition). Chess is especially an excellent example, as players must minimize their opponent's opportunities while maximizing their own.



My take on this course's point system is that the GradeCraft for Intro to Political Theory is something to the effect of a game, with the objective being to accumulate as many points possible through assignments and badges. I feel that the instructors of this course are doing a great job of engaging the students and keeping the course enlightening. I was reminded of this Ted Talk by Jane McGonigal, a game designer. In the talk, McGonigal discusses the qualities of gamers as they are engaged in the virtual world: urgent optimism, social fabric, blissful productivity, and epic meaning. She talks about how gamers are "super empowered, hopeful individuals." In her world-saving game ideas, she discusses the games she has created to tackle issues such as peak oil, or inspire creative-problem solving. Another Ted Talk by McGonigal encourages people to spend more time playing games, as it supposedly will increase your lifespan. Now, whether or not I believe this, she states that "a recent study from Michigan University [University of Michigan?] showed that these games are incredibly powerful relationship management tools." Anyway, these videos are really thought-provoking, and I found it interesting that this course uses some of the gaming ideology in the point-system, while teaching us about the relationships between gaming and political life.