Ahhhh, James Paul Gee!
So he writes how in video games
stories are embodied in the player’s own choices and actions in a way they cannot be in books and movies. Let’s just call them, for short, “embodied stories.” When I use the term “embodied,” I mean to include the mind as a part of the body. So “embodied” means for me, “in the body” and/or “in the mind.” It is too bad there is no word “emminded” to go alongside “embodied.” When I talk about a person’s embodied experiences in the world (virtual or real), I mean to cover all the perceptions, actions, choices, and mental stimulations of action or dialogue (Gee, 2003, p. 82).
As the mind becomes engaged, as we become “emminded,” so do other aspects of ourselves. With familiarity comes a lowering of the affective filter and we begin to do more than embody or emmind, we become engaged participants. I was talking to a group of Ph.D. students last week about gaming and simulators. Being that most of them were neither actively involved with either formats, they could not readily comprehend the phenomenon of embodiment. What do you mean? How can you do that? Isn’t that just playing/pretending? Most had never heard of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and they could certainly not understand the role of embodiment as becomes necessary to inhabit a virtual environment such as SL. But to my surprise, amidst the occasional laughs, they learned something new and intriguing. I would not be surprised to run into some inworld.
To be continued…..
See. Most people don't get the embodied (i really like 'enminded') thing unless they experience it. Like most thing. Then there are the ones like my kids who grew up with it so it is not even a separate concept to them. They just accept it as a normal part of the way they experience the world.
ReplyDeleteSheeesh, how can anybody not understand this? Other phrases might be "in the zone" or "experiencing flow" Games are not the only place we experience this. A good book capture us too, and movies -- maybe not quite the level of a great game --- but enough that a person should know it. How about 'out of body' experiences? Anyway, not getting this seems as though the person is not recognizing things that do happen to so many of us.
ReplyDeleteI have wondered how many people try SL and don't like it because they cannot open themselves to this immersive alternate reality
Surprising, isn't it Osh? But I have witnessed it on many occasions. My RL partner will not partake of immersive virtual realities. That's the way things flow for some people.
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