tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post1852700522943546060..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Drop the Invisible Sword, and Back Away Slowly!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-44001122899169605302010-07-31T16:21:17.786-04:002010-07-31T16:21:17.786-04:00@ Froderick Frankenstien
Syd Barrett was possibly...@ Froderick Frankenstien<br /><br />Syd Barrett was possibly schizophrenic or manic depressive and David Gilmour has gone on record saying that Barrett's breakdown was "inevitable"; however LSD and other psychoactive drugs "might have been a catalyst" but really that success was too much of a strain. Moving away from the "Reefer Madness" territory I would say Strelnikovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660962615198939441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67798829407879043292010-07-28T19:37:24.801-04:002010-07-28T19:37:24.801-04:00The video game is a mass medium. It is a specific...The video game is a mass medium. It is a specific means of storing and transferring information. Some scholars are still debating this definitional stance, but if a book is a mass medium then it seems clear to that so is a video game.<br /><br />Like the web-site is also a mass medium. (But "the internet" is not -- discuss!)<br /><br />Frod, if you want to discuss addictive substancesThe_Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621186404597424842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-10958178506714272292010-07-28T08:21:42.676-04:002010-07-28T08:21:42.676-04:00OK then, how about LSD? It may not be a communica...OK then, how about LSD? It may not be a communications medium, but neither are video games: and it its day, it was thought to revolutionize human perception. It drove a lot of people crazy: Syd Barrett was a well-documented case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-25912294079001571162010-07-27T21:59:07.629-04:002010-07-27T21:59:07.629-04:00@ The_Myth
A good book on one of the side element...@ The_Myth<br /><br />A good book on one of the side elements of Yellow Journalism, war reportage, is "The First Casualty" by Philip Knightley....he critically looked at how that changed from the Crimean War until Vietnam. The chapter on the Civil War is a good guide on how that model later caught hold because Northern newspaper editors were unwilling to pay their correspondents more Strelnikovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660962615198939441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67985853348787850532010-07-27T19:35:47.933-04:002010-07-27T19:35:47.933-04:00Hmmm...was there a popular critic of yellow journa...Hmmm...was there a popular critic of yellow journalism in its time? I cannot recall one... Most of what I recall was that the preponderance of journalism was often framed as a "good thing" (thanks, Martha!) by historians, with the viciousness of Hearst and Pulitzer likewise framed as necessary to help promote mass literacy, craft news-reporting as a public good, etc.<br /><br />It The_Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621186404597424842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34184709851628947932010-07-27T14:19:37.234-04:002010-07-27T14:19:37.234-04:00> And, as Wylodmayer and Marcia Brady note,
&g...> And, as Wylodmayer and Marcia Brady note, <br />> these worries have occurred every time <br />> a new medium has been invented and <br />> became popular. "It's rotting children's <br />> brains!" is an old, old lament.<br /><br />Yes, I know. Sometimes, this complaint has been right. Remember yellow journalism?<br /><br />(The refrain, "The Ancient Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-33166969486568115272010-07-27T12:29:33.941-04:002010-07-27T12:29:33.941-04:00Frod, most scholars of communication think Amusing...Frod, most scholars of communication think <i>Amusing Ourselves to Death</i> is just one big self-indulgent Luddite whine. Not that there aren't relevant points there, but most people who spend a lot of time on the subject do not give Postman much thought nowadays because many of his predictions about TV hadn't happened (ok, some of them are now, but I'd place that blame on the idiotThe_Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621186404597424842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9530174786140772622010-07-27T12:26:56.620-04:002010-07-27T12:26:56.620-04:00"Video games don't foster literacy, or im..."Video games don't foster literacy, or imagination. Even the trashiest novels require the ability to read, and exercise reading skills when read. Who knows, maybe every so often one might introduce a new word, from which the reader might learn some vocabulary. Video games have no such benefits. They certainly don't develop other computer skills, such as programming!" <br />- Strelnikovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660962615198939441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-33085936212526375962010-07-27T11:38:13.326-04:002010-07-27T11:38:13.326-04:00Froderick, reading is supreme of course and video ...Froderick, reading is supreme of course and video games don't deliver that. Having played some of the newer first person shooter video games myself, I can say the one skill they promote is problem solving, albeit in the form of combat strategy. They do make you think. At their best, they encourage team work to accomplish a goal/mission/quest.<br /><br />That's not to say that there Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-39768560144624232982010-07-27T11:30:21.299-04:002010-07-27T11:30:21.299-04:00Paddington's got a good point about video game...Paddington's got a good point about video games being "compelling to the compulsive types who will make the best engineers and scientists." There's not much distance between the single-minded focus on an online video game versus conducting research. I can speak from personal experience, during my student days I could go without sleep for 2-3 days due to gaming. I'm now a Prof Poopieheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00997969128824319914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-32582915130770763412010-07-27T09:50:24.903-04:002010-07-27T09:50:24.903-04:00Y'know, Wylodmayer is right. If you read 18th...Y'know, Wylodmayer is right. If you read 18th century commentary on the novel some of it looks like this. There was even a diagnosis for it: bibliomania. Frequently coupled with excessive masturbation, withering of the body, pale and greasy complexion, and so on.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-84159720654744727022010-07-27T09:17:10.651-04:002010-07-27T09:17:10.651-04:00There's an important caveat here. Video games...There's an important caveat here. Video games don't foster literacy, or imagination. Even the trashiest novels require the ability to read, and exercise reading skills when read. Who knows, maybe every so often one might introduce a new word, from which the reader might learn some vocabulary. Video games have no such benefits. They certainly don't develop other computer skills, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14280969810672180572010-07-27T04:24:36.053-04:002010-07-27T04:24:36.053-04:00Maybe so Paddington. However, let's take a pa...Maybe so Paddington. However, let's take a paragraph out of No Cookies' original post:<br /><br />"These games are a substitute for social contact, but a substitute that can never satisfy human instincts. And every second, every miserable hour, that they spend looking at these fucking flickering lights on a screen, they will never get back. They are gone forever, and were spent in aAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-36975393981154509982010-07-26T23:34:53.792-04:002010-07-26T23:34:53.792-04:00The problem is that video and online games are ava...The problem is that video and online games are available all of the time, and are very compelling to the compulsive types who will make the best engineers and scientists.Paddingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07952088638231881617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-74480023955984991942010-07-26T18:25:30.982-04:002010-07-26T18:25:30.982-04:00Nobody gets "lost to" World of Warcraft,...Nobody gets "lost to" World of Warcraft, just like nobody gets "lost to" sleeping in rather than going to class or not studying because they'd rather party.<br /><br />Many, many students will screw off rather than do what they need to do to get through, and fail.<br /><br />Some drink.<br />Some party.<br />Some play video games.<br /><br />The individual choices reflect Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-78728879805479288722010-07-26T14:29:58.504-04:002010-07-26T14:29:58.504-04:00I think you paint the gamers with too broad a brus...I think you paint the gamers with too broad a brush. Sure, people get addicted to video games, the same way they get addicted to porn, gambling, the Internet, weed, alcohol, casual sex, sugary snacks... the list goes on. Yet plenty of people play video games, consume porn, wager occassionally, smoke weed, have sex, drink alcohol, and eat sugary snacks without getting addicted. Should you reach Programming Pattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03838328277067778125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89461780718759756562010-07-26T10:50:39.808-04:002010-07-26T10:50:39.808-04:00Shorter version of a long post that just gotten ea...Shorter version of a long post that just gotten eaten by blogger:<br /><br />Dear No Cookies,<br />Get your heat out of your ass.<br /><br />Did you just make fun of a student for living with his parents? REALLY? Did you make fun of a student for play-acting in public? Really? Did you complain that a sophomore was acting sophomoric?<br /><br />And did you just make fun of nerds? Because some Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19310587785975357692010-07-26T10:41:27.835-04:002010-07-26T10:41:27.835-04:00My daughter went to UMBC. In her year, they lost 1...My daughter went to UMBC. In her year, they lost 1/3 of the Honors male students due to playing too much 'World of Warcraft', and thus not studying. I personally know another 5 or more very bright technical students who didn't finish a degree for the same reason. Most are living at home in their mid-20's, with no real job.Paddingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07952088638231881617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-37610860535219091162010-07-26T06:34:09.971-04:002010-07-26T06:34:09.971-04:00In my own experience, there are always certain &qu...In my own experience, there are always certain "types" of snowflakes that proffies get bent about. For some it's the athlete. For some it's the stoner. For this poster I'd guess it's the nerd. We all have our trigger students, the ones that get under our skin. Whether or not some nerds are wonderful is beside the point, I think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15346995454089327982010-07-26T05:49:54.460-04:002010-07-26T05:49:54.460-04:00Now I see why RYS never allowed comments.Now I see why RYS never allowed comments.W.T. Pfefferlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07522687306482305195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-20377228082520837922010-07-25T23:12:40.143-04:002010-07-25T23:12:40.143-04:00Froderick,
Who knows what the point of the game is...Froderick,<br />Who knows what the point of the game is? Perhaps the winner is the first player to create an avatar capable of developing a video game that is capable of recreating the actual universe, like the original alien gamers did.<br /><br />I first read about this theory of the universe on Scott Adam's (Dilbert) blog. So yeah, it must be pretty profound and stuff.<br /><br />What Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-73855076229121504882010-07-25T22:03:45.194-04:002010-07-25T22:03:45.194-04:00So Ben, what are the smelly, annoying video game a...So Ben, what are the smelly, annoying video game addicts who are all too common in our classes? Bugs in the program?<br /><br />I had one in my Intro Astronomy class who was much like the one with the invisible sword, described by No Cookies. He just had to challenge me on -everything-, even well-understood issues, such as how an observer in Fresno can't see the Magellanic Clouds, because Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89747916710331589212010-07-25T22:03:00.897-04:002010-07-25T22:03:00.897-04:00Um...wow.
Thanks for the evidence that I was, ind...Um...wow.<br /><br />Thanks for the evidence that I was, indeed, wrong about you in the comments to your last post.<br /><br />You're dangerous, if only because of the fact that you seem to believe the obnoxiously facile psychosociological analyses you're making. And really, in this post you went from description & revulsion to description & revulsion plus analysis with sketchy Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68535537800266578012010-07-25T21:27:23.866-04:002010-07-25T21:27:23.866-04:00Froderick, intelligent life has existed long befor...Froderick, intelligent life has existed long before us and they have found us, so to speak. We are the avatars in their video game. It's a pretty impressive game, no?<br /><br />The face on Mars, near death experiences, etc., are all easter eggs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-90486531885482840682010-07-25T21:10:22.965-04:002010-07-25T21:10:22.965-04:00I agree that video game addiction should be recogn...I agree that video game addiction should be recognized as a form of mental illness, and that the psychology community should give some thought to how to treat it. Remember the science-fiction concept of the person "with a hole in her head," or in other words, someone who is addicted to direct stimulation of the pleasure centers of the brain? It was supposed to create particularly Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com