Mind games and MMORPGs

For a long time, I played the hugely successful World of Warcraft. Eventually it got boring, but it has a huge player base still.

Watching this video and reading this article certain links between threat/response and the addictiveness of certain things become clear - I had "known" them but not had the right language for them.

If you look at the "five social qualities" that Rock talks about - status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness ("scarf") - I can see how WoW certainly pushes a lot of feel-good buttons.

Status: As the game goes on, your character gains levels, skills, better weapons and armour; you will gain experience of the dungeons and encounters in the game, and if you play well be someone that others will want to play with. If you prefer to play player vs player, kills will allow you to get better (and better looking!) equipment, titles, and so on.

Certainty: One of the biggest complaints with MMORPGs is that they can become "grind-fests" - you get a quest to go somewhere, kill a certain number of enemies, and return. But the brain likes this certainty - it doesn't have to think too hard about what to do.

Autonomy: I'm not quite sure that this correlates exactly, but you are free to quest alone, pvp alone, etc, if being part of a guild becomes too much..

Relatedness: Perhaps this is the least developed in WoW... This is "friend or foe". It's pretty easy to tell, I guess - green name floating above a character is friendly, red is hostile! A big skull in the character portrait means "this thing is much higher level than you; it will kill you in a couple of seconds!"

Fairness: This is perhaps the area that has been worked on most. Initially with WoW at least, bosses in dungeons dropped "loot" from a loot table - so you, as a healer, might do the same dungeon 20 times, and never have the piece of loot best suited to your character drop (for a rogue, a good dagger; for a healer, a nice staff, etc). Lately, though, all characters might get a token for completing a dungeon, which can then be traded in when enough have been acquired.

In short, WoW creates a comfortable, familliar world in which some rules of normality are removed, but others are skewed in order to create a reward-response (and hence keep players playing and paying!)

Much as with Money Saving Expert's Martin Lewis, it's not that what is happening in the world is of-itself bad, it's just that people don't realise that... banks are there to make money FROM you, not FOR you; supermarkets are trying to encourage you to buy more than you intended to; and so on. The object of commercial TV is to sell advertising time, not primarily to create quality programming - that is the vehicle by which they sell the advertising time.

They really, really should teach this stuff in school. Because currently, everyone is at a disadvantage by not knowning - people are enslaved by money, to buy the things that make them think they keep their status, to all these things that wouldn't matter if we became aware en masse that our evolution has left us with these triggers that are entirely unsuited to "modern life".

Well, that has little to do with MMORPGs, except that clever people have designed games that give us feelings of security, certainty etc, pushing all those neuro-buttons to make us feel warm and fuzzy (Hammer of Smiting +3! YEAH!).

Happy gaming!

Life in Sweden

It's great being here in Sweden. Except the snow. I'm bored of winter, roll on spring!

What do I get up to? Well, a couple of times I have gone out to Skarva ecofarm and shop, to help out painting a room that will house some merchandise but also a place for fika, which is a tea or coffee break but usually with food and a bit of a chat too... the room is mostly done, we are on the second coat of possibly three; then a floor can go in, etc etc. It's good to be out, doing something physical!!

Today I made pancakes, collected twigs and leaves and catkins for a ceremonial altar that will be the centerpiece of a workshop that's being held over the next few days.. I chatted about farming, listened to people's stories, and talked about sustainability. I also ran down to the train station to collect a couple of the hosts of the aforementioned workshop - too much chatting, oops!

Life is good, but I still find it hard getting up in the mornings, and am tired early at night (i.e., now!) - I wonder if something is amiss in my diet, or that my body is simply so addicted to the stimulants caffeine and sugar that I am unable to function for long days without them.

So here I am, for another month, perhaps. Then it all changes again. But, there is only now. Worry not about the past, think not on the future, just be aware of the present.

The present is pretty good, all told.

1 year ago today....

It's been a whole year of reduction: on the 11th of February last year, Kara and I left our place in South Normanton, and embarked on a journey of discovery and change.

How am I doing? In terms of reduction? Well, I currently only have the stuff with me I can carry on my back, plus a desk I bought second hand last week. True, at Kara's place here in Sweden there is more stuff I'm able to use like cups and spoons and chairs and a bed, but the apartment is pretty sparse; most of the stuff will go back to the charity shops it came from when she leaves, anyway.

I don't have a car, but I'm most likely to get one as soon as I get to Canada. And I'll be reunited with a load of my stuff - that we sent to Canada from the UK, last year.

I've been listening to Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" and it is wonderful, a great story telling of the beauty of simplicity. It is plain to me, now, how little I need. Having lots of clothing only means less frequent clothes washing. Having, as HDT puts it, lumps of limestone on one's desk only leads to more dusting...!

Tonight I have been to pottery class, which is lovely. Making the feet on three pieces I started last week, plus making one other from scratch. Part of me is saying I'm crazy making these things here, that will be so hard to take with me, but it's fun doing the making, even if the things get broken or lost.

During the day, I have been doing a little work for my old company, which I am of course enjoying - learning new bits of programming, solving problems. But tomorrow I'm going to paint walls. Hurrah!

There is so much to know, if you choose to, but after a point it's just clutter. Waking up to the birds singing, watching the stars, dreaming - these things are magical. Every child knows it.

1 year ago today, was I wiser or more foolish? Was I younger at heart or older? Happier or sadder? Better or worse? It doesn't matter - I can't travel back, become who I was. I can't even remember most of the day, though I do remember walking out, carrying our heavy packs, taking the bus and being outraged at paying £1 for less than a minute's ride to the station...

I don't even think it was the start. There is no true beginning, just a clearing haze of awareness. I wonder if death will be different, but I suppose it depends on how and when you die.

And one year from now? Well!

The Joy of a Warm House

Here in Sweden I'm staying in an apartment; two bedrooms, kitchen, lounge. The place is always warm - you can't turn the heating off, just down. It's always warm - such a difference compared to the house I was living in in Ireland.

I think I may have mentioned it before, but they have municipal composting (not as good as composting your own, but then this is an apartment - there is nowhere for a compost heap), good recycling so little goes to landfill.

It's snowy outside. I live about 20 minutes walk from town, and maybe 10 from the supermarket. There is an eco-farm a half-hour bus ride away, but this costs about £4 for a return trip which is a shame. Many of the students here help out there, planting and harvesting, and I might be involved with some things going on there in the following weeks...

And the internet. Oh, man the internet is good here. Like, fast.

If I wanted to live in a town, this one would be a pretty good choice - amenities close by, good community, eco projects happening. I bought what seems at the moment to be the perfect desk at a charity shop yesterday for... 30 Krona. Which is £2.57. Amazing. And a nice hat, to replace the one I lost on my trip over here, for 10 Krona - 86p.

Wow.

So now I'm cooking up some beans for tea, in the lovely warm, doing a bit of knitting, a bit of reading.

Mmm!

Preachiness and Geekiness

Everyone hates preachiness, right? I know I do. But I'm also aware that I come across as very judgemental, often.

I enjoyed this piece on the BBC - especially the bit about Gore and Bush - basically saying that, while the Democrats often have the correct statistics and ideas on their side, they don't have the ability to connect with voters.

So for my own inane example:

"I don't eat fast food or supermarket hamburgers, or any other beef product, because of the amount of hormones, antibiotics and such pumped into the cattle, as well as the deplorable conditions many beef cattle are kept in."

"Yeah, but I like hamburgers... they taste good."

What's the alternative? If the science is right, and that we are on the brink of a massive, unprecedented ecosystem failure along with peak oil, changing seasons, and so on, how do we get this across to the majority of people who are worried about day-to-day matters?

"Listen, there is a 17.3% chance that, if we don't reduce our Carbon emissions to below 1990 levels in the next 10 years, 20% or more of the species alive on earth today might not make it through."

Or..

"Yah listen to all those climate deniers. They wouldn't know what it's like living in the real world, they don't care - they've got armed guards to protect them when the world all goes to hell. They don't care about us - we gotta take care of ourselves! Yeah! Free the cattle! Free the chickens!"

Er. I don't know. Perhaps Avatar is having a good effect. Perhaps nothing is likely to happen society-wise until something (big) environment-wise happens (and we have to hope it'll not be too late). Perhaps the current system will adapt itself fast enough, and it'll all blow over...

Who knows! But, it's lovely today, and that's something to be grateful for!

Vegetarianism

I've been a veggie for a long time now, since about 2001. I think it's time to shift my self-definition, perhaps stop grouping myself at all (though it's useful in some situations, I suppose).

What has changed? It depends on which way you look at it. But the crux of the matter is this: today I bought a can of sardines.

I plan on eating them later.

Why? Sardines are listed as one of the most sustainable fish: going by this link, I will most likely not be affecting biodiversity, the environment and so on by eating the occasional sardine. One person eating less or no beef will itself not make much impact, but the total impact of current beef production is huge. As shown in Food, Inc., much food in supermarkets will have been raised or grown "unnaturally" or unsustainably in one way or another - be it antibiotics, perpetual light or darkness (to encourage more eating and faster growth), being fed on crops not eaten by that animal in nature, herbicides and pesticides, patenting of seeds.. the list goes on.

So. I feel I can, in good conscience, eat the occasional sardine, thus improving my health. I will be buying organic veg from farmers markets (and growing my own, as much as I can, when the growing season begins). But perhaps I will also be eating road kill once in a while.

It's a minefield. I wish to make a positive impact on the planet - for the world to end up better after my life than it would have been had I never lived. If I was to live on a normal, western, supermarket diet I feel this would be impossible.

Of course, if every vegetarian in the world suddenly started eating a can or two of sardines a day, I'd probably have to change my tune - the problem is when everyone does the same thing at once, leading to booms and busts, the collapse of fish stocks, the dustbowl, the housing bubble... well, you get the idea.

So.. anyone for pilchards on toast?

How does the world work?

There are an awful lot of businesses out there, doing an awful lot of different things. My understanding is that almost all of these end up being supported by individuals.

For example, a company makes computer chips, which are used to make servers, which are used to sell things to individuals. Or, if not to individuals, then to another company, that manufactures wash room supplies. Whatever that company does, whoever it serves, at the end of the chain must come a product or service that individuals outside a work environment buys.

The only exception I can think of to this would be something like preservation and reforestation charities - they "produce" nothing to sell to people, though of course what they are "producing" is "valuable".

What does this mean? Firstly, I suppose, that there is a lot of "make-work" - so much is done for no good reason. The entire business world could be streamlined, simplified, and designed.. of course this would lead to mass loss of jobs. But, perhaps many roles could be shifted from unhealthy office ones, to food growing without the use of chemicals, and so on.

Secondly, how fragile the whole system is - it makes perfect sense that, in a recession, things look grim. Individuals spend less, meaning companies have less to spend, meaning... it's not a resilient, supporting circle, but a tall tower ready to topple and crash (or a bubble ready to burst, if you prefer).

If you want to think of a pyramid, with the basics necessary for life at the bottom - ie, food production - then think of this. If you look at it as the number of people working in food production, it's a very oddly shaped pyramid indeed. In the UK, the average age of a farmer is 60.

If you haven't seen it, Food, Inc. is well worth a watch - who controls food? Well, if you choose to - you do. There are farmer's markets (even if many close down for a month in January - crazy!!), organic food shops, and so on.

The world works by people being ignorant of (whether by choice or not) a whole range of things. Choosing awareness might not exactly make you happy (because you can see what a mess things are in), but it's liberating. And it's true - real - not shirking your responsibilities as a beautiful powerful human being!