Teaching philosophy through games

Torakx · 18-01-2014 01:36AM #1

Hey folks,
I wanted to ask a few questions and also get peoples opinions and maybe even ideas if I'm lucky

I'l explain my ideas first of all. Whic may be a lot of text, sorry!

I am game developer but more a student still in my view.
Before getting into this I wanted to study psychology and try to help people overcome themselves basically. Learn about themselves and/or create skills and tools to make their lives more fullfilling.
However the actual day to day work would not suit me as an introvert who needs less social contact.
So I went into game dev as this was my hobby on the side and I figured at a later stage I can use what I have learned in psychology to create games.
Since reading really only one Nietzsche book and a bit of browsing online , I have fallen in love with philosophy at least for now.
It has really helped me to see the negatives in my life as positive things and learning experiences, that make me a better person.

I am considering new game ideas right now and would like to use a game to preferably teach children or young teens to learn what I have about these negatives and positives. I think this is known as duality.

I would like the player to be driven to make mistakes and gain some kind of positive based on that mistake. As a way to teach them skills to see the negatives in their lives as learnign experiences and turn them into positive events. This has helped me deal with so many issues. Those issues I know embrace and Nothing seems to be able to hurt me emotionally when I think like this.

So some questions.
Is there any type of framework/protocol anyone knows of for teaching duality or philosophy, that I could use to create my game idea or game mechanics?

Am I running the risk of advertising suicide? if the character is rewarded for "dying", if so how about getting hurt?

Does anyone have any ideas for a different slant I could take so I step around that risk and still help people learn philosophy?

Does anyone have any links to information that could help me with any part of this process?
Or links to other games on philosophy or educational games/ideas that might be related?

Is there anything wrong with this overall idea I might have missed?

Is this post ok for the Mods?

Thats all I got in my head question wise I think for now.
I would like to make a game and possibly get it into schools, although that is probably a big dream to accomplish.

I might settle also just for a story based adventure that has pertinent philosophy quotes and story arcs and situations that will teach certain life lessons. So would appreciate philosophy based stories that would apply.
But the player interacting with philosophy related game mechanics I feel would be more effective.

Thanks

Black Swan · 18-01-2014 02:57AM

Torakx wrote: »

Is this post ok for the Mods?

Certainly, if your focus is on the learning of philosophy through games. Psychology and education have their own forums.

Torakx wrote: »

Is there any type of framework/protocol anyone knows of for teaching duality or philosophy, that I could use to create my game idea or game mechanics?

Note that "duality" is not all philosophy. It has its place.

University of Washington's Center for Philosophy for Children uses games for learning different perspectives.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a Philosophy Resource site with several links.

How do we know if serious computer games can enhance learning (of philosophy)? Richard E. Clark at Institute for Creative Technologies, University of Southern California, has suggested three important evaluation strategies for serious games: 1) Use reliable and valid tests of learning and motivation before, during and after games; 2) Build in robust pedagogical and motivational strategies (avoid minimally guided pedagogy); and 3) Offer a viable, robust non-game alternative way to teach the same knowledge that uses the same or similar pedagogical strategy (compare game and non-game instruction and avoid “straw man” comparisons).

Torakx · 18-01-2014 11:03PM

Thanks for the detailed response!
I don't know what pedagogy means, but will do some research on all you wrote as soon as I get a chance and may update this thread with anything interesting I come across relating to philosophy or teaching it.
Open to more ideas also

Edit* Pedagogy is kind of like the frameworks you create to strategize educating people? Seperate for the actual context or content?
never mind lol here for anyone who isn't sure like myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkoRR670fj8

Torakx · 19-01-2014 06:08PM

http://depts.washington.edu/nwcenter/lessonsclassroom.html

What is art?
An activity to help students think about what makes something art
Different Perspectives Game
A game to encourage students to think about perspectives that are different from their own
“What’s Your Reason?” Game
A game to help students better articulate the reasons for their views
“Moral Spectrum” Exploration Exercise
An exercise to introduce students to the "moral spectrum," seven different perspectives on how to decide the right thing to do
“How Did You Feel?” Exercise
A game to encourage experiencing empathy
One Rule Game
A game that allows students to determine what rules by which they would choose to be governed
Blind Painter Activity
Helps students communicate clearly and listen actively
Egg Drop Game
Is it reasonable to predict future events based on past experience?
Good News, Bad News
A reasoning exercise
How Many of These Do You Think You Know?
What do we know and how do we think we know it?
Keep the Question Going
The importance of questions in philosophical inquiry
A Little Logic
Some logic puzzles

This is very helpful thank you Black Swan.
I think I could go through these and find either the most inspiring/suitable for a game or even better if I can pinpoint the most usefull life skill from these or a combination to teach children and adults alike.
The problem is there is so much to learn and so little time and space to fit it in with the rare opportunities I have to express and share this stuff with others.
I would like as wide a scope and area of effect as possible.

Torakx · 19-01-2014 06:23PM

Sorry if my repeated posts are annoying, have a lot I would like to share and bounce off people and nobody around me interested in this stuff so far.

I hope some people find this interesting or thought provoking anyway.
Really appreciate all comments.

This simple exercise encourages students to look at the world in ways they usually don’t. It’s also an excellent ice-breaker and an effective way to begin a class. I often use it as a way to illustrate to students the way in which philosophy encourages us to examine the world from a variety of perspectives. I break the class up into groups of three or four. At each group, one student is designated to be the “scribe;” he or she will write down the answer that the group as a whole comes up with.
I then hold up some common everyday household item. (My favorite item to use is a rotary cheese grater, but I have also used things like an eyeglasses case, a blackboard eraser, a pencil sharpener, and even a shoe.)
The groups are then given 3 minutes to think up and write down everything they can imagine using the item for—besides its originally intended function. I encourage them to imagine themselves in different settings: For instance, what could they use the item for if they were out in the wood? If they were 3 feet tall? If they were an ant? If they lived in prehistoric times? If they were with their siblings?
At the conclusion of the three minutes, we go around the room and students discuss a selection of their favorite answers. Typically, if appropriate, I will ask them to demonstrate how they would use the item in the way they have indicated.

For example, with the cheese grater, it’s not uncommon for kids to answer that it would make a good fishing rod. I ask them to show how they’d do this and to say a bit about how effective they think it would be. Another common answer is that the cheese grater could be used to grind up bugs. This often leads to an interesting discussion of whether—just because we could use it for that—we should use it for that.

Do bugs, in other words, have some sort of qualities that make it wrong for us to wantonly grind them up.
Depending on how students answer, the discussion may move into an opportunity to wonder whether we could or should use the grater to grind higher animals, primates, for instance, even little brothers and sisters. (This last option is, not surprisingly, given serious consideration by many students.)
What tends to happen, in the ensuring discussion, is that the exercise enables us to overiew the traditional sub-disciplines of philosophy.

What comes to mind instantly is a dark and light duality based mechanic, where the player can invert reality to see a new perspective and change the world around them from said different perspective. Which might have different consequences on the outcome of the game or how the character looks/develops.
This has been done before, but I am positive nobody has stepped back from the overall "framework" of this and considered a more indepth goal to these mechanics.
So I'm now looking for a wider scope and way to plan this overall framework with a mechinic like the above, as only a portion and not what the whole game is about.

How to I sum up the parts of the main skills I would like to teach into an overall end goal though?
I want to make a road map of sorts before devloping mechanics.
A philosophical journey with all the lessons as mechanics that can all be used as your character progresses. A reflection of life and learning from experience and seeing things differently.
And personally my favourite right now is the idea of taking the negatives (dark) and "inverting" them creatively to turn them into positives (light).

Gary L · 21-01-2014 04:33PM

I like the idea of a character using philosophy and logic to realize they are in a video game. Even if its just one asshole in the back of a temple somewhere giving out about characters with only one line or being blocked by invisible walls.

Akrasia · 23-01-2014 02:41PM

It's a very interesting proposition.

I'm trying to think of a game scenario that would teach philosophy

There are countless logic games out there so you probably aren't interested in that

A game that explores ethics could be very interesting
Perhaps a game where you approach the a selection of ethical problems from a number of different philosophical positions and explore what the outcomes are

ie: Pick out a load of interesting moral dilemmas and introduce decision trees where the character could choose to be one of several characters, a Kantian, or a Utilitarian, or a Virtue Ethicist or a Divine command ethicist

The same scenario could be played multiple times using different choices and the fun would be in seeing what the consequences are, do things turn out the way the player would like them to?

18AD · 30-01-2014 01:45AM

These are just the two most "philosophical" games that I can think of. I'm not sure what exactly you could take from them.

The board game Go is laden with ancient philosophical ideas. The game itself is glorious nad I highly recommend it. Simple and elegant. (See the film Pi for a breif intro)

Also, check out the game Nomic. It's a game that is played by changing the rules of the game.

Torakx · 30-01-2014 02:19AM

Awesome thanks!
I have seen The Life of Pi, was very good.
I'l check out those games for sure.
Currently gettign a team together and will be brainstorming game mechanics soon, however the philosophy for schools idea needs a lot of research still.
I think I want to find out more in the area of neuro science so the game actually causes philosophical thinking in a proven manor as well as has philosophical thinking or themes/ideas that go along with it.

I am already aware that peoples brains develop quite a lot between the ages of 5 and 12 and continue to grow/mature at least up till 17/18.
So the earlier people are thinking philosophically the more likely their brains will grow neuro paths to those areas and hopefully change the world

Well I can dream!

Teaching philosophy through games

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