This post is based on a presentation by Robin Arnott Video Games as Meditation[1]. I would like to reflect on a topic of using video games as a meditative experience.
First of all, I would like to show that almost any experience we have can be reduced to a trance. What is a trance in a wide sense of that word? Trance is an altered state of consciousness characterized by single-pointed concentration on particular stimuli forming a system and reduced awareness concerning other stimuli not related to that system.
Driving a car is a good simple example of a trance. There are rules on which the driver is concentrated and other non-related to the driving stimuli are being ignored. We operate in many such systems during the day: shopping, brushing teeth, going to a toilet, and so on. It may be said that we switch between trances of varying strength all the time.
Trances can be destructive and constructive. The examples of destructive trances are pain and suffering. When we are in pain or suffering we are concentrated on it to the exclusion of every other stimuli whether we like it or not. And the examples of constructive trances are our everyday rituals from shopping to playing video games.
Stronger trances overwrite weaker ones. In that sense any ritual that is designed to overwrite destructive trance can be called constructive healing trance. Most religions and therapies are based on that premise. They attempt to design a trance that will overwrite destructive trances of self-rumination, pain and suffering. The thing is that they are not so good at it as game designers!
Belief is a trance. A system of beliefs usually forms self-referential internal narrative (SRIN) that supports our view of life. By default it represents ignorance concerning our nature and leads us to a trance of suffering (that's Buddhism 101, the first noble truth[2]). That is, by default a system of beliefs inherited from the environment leads us to suffering.
What is a game? A game is a designed trance to grab and hold our attention by means of immersion. By default it is neutral. But in its neutrality it represents a constructive trance as when we play a game we as a rule switch from the network of self-rumination (DMN) to the network of tasking (TPN) and reach flow states (which are actually healing trances).
In that sense a game may be a healing trance, as it may interrupt the trance of suffering. Most games give us a sense of temporary agency to affect the game world to good results. It overwrites our despondency and the feeling that everything is out of our control. Albeit temporarily. But that temporary interruption of suffering trance may have healing effects that may help us to look at suffering from a fresh perspective.
Meditation is another form of a healing trance. It works directly with self-referential internal narrative and switches the brain from the self-ruminating network to the tasking network. It is a tool to interrupt other trances, including suffering. And used as a way to dissolve agency. Something that games are not primarily designed to do. But games can be designed with the dissolution of agency in mind as Robin suggests in his talk (and his game SoundSelf[3]). In this way they bridge the gap between simple entertainment and tools for healing.
What are the good examples of games designed for healing. Jane McGonigal in her book SuperBetter[4] explores the ways to gamify everyday suffering experiences into a healing trance. She introduces the rules how to turn despondency into a challenge and designs the steps to overcome it.
In this way, games may be a powerful tool to turn suffering into a challenge and shift the perspective from the suffering agent into the hero on a journey. What's more, they can even be designed to temporarily dissolve the sense of agency and despondency characteristic for it. That is, they may be used as a kind of meditation (not unlike tantric approach to meditation on different aspects of deities).
This post is based on a presentation by Robin Arnott Video Games as Meditation[1]. I would like to reflect on a topic of using video games as a meditative experience.
First of all, I would like to show that almost any experience we have can be reduced to a trance. What is a trance in a wide sense of that word? Trance is an altered state of consciousness characterized by single-pointed concentration on particular stimuli forming a system and reduced awareness concerning other stimuli not related to that system.
Driving a car is a good simple example of a trance. There are rules on which the driver is concentrated and other non-related to the driving stimuli are being ignored. We operate in many such systems during the day: shopping, brushing teeth, going to a toilet, and so on. It may be said that we switch between trances of varying strength all the time.
Trances can be destructive and constructive. The examples of destructive trances are pain and suffering. When we are in pain or suffering we are concentrated on it to the exclusion of every other stimuli whether we like it or not. And the examples of constructive trances are our everyday rituals from shopping to playing video games.
Stronger trances overwrite weaker ones. In that sense any ritual that is designed to overwrite destructive trance can be called constructive healing trance. Most religions and therapies are based on that premise. They attempt to design a trance that will overwrite destructive trances of self-rumination, pain and suffering. The thing is that they are not so good at it as game designers!
Belief is a trance. A system of beliefs usually forms self-referential internal narrative (SRIN) that supports our view of life. By default it represents ignorance concerning our nature and leads us to a trance of suffering (that's Buddhism 101, the first noble truth[2]). That is, by default a system of beliefs inherited from the environment leads us to suffering.
What is a game? A game is a designed trance to grab and hold our attention by means of immersion. By default it is neutral. But in its neutrality it represents a constructive trance as when we play a game we as a rule switch from the network of self-rumination (DMN) to the network of tasking (TPN) and reach flow states (which are actually healing trances).
In that sense a game may be a healing trance, as it may interrupt the trance of suffering. Most games give us a sense of temporary agency to affect the game world to good results. It overwrites our despondency and the feeling that everything is out of our control. Albeit temporarily. But that temporary interruption of suffering trance may have healing effects that may help us to look at suffering from a fresh perspective.
Meditation is another form of a healing trance. It works directly with self-referential internal narrative and switches the brain from the self-ruminating network to the tasking network. It is a tool to interrupt other trances, including suffering. And used as a way to dissolve agency. Something that games are not primarily designed to do. But games can be designed with the dissolution of agency in mind as Robin suggests in his talk (and his game SoundSelf[3]). In this way they bridge the gap between simple entertainment and tools for healing.
What are the good examples of games designed for healing. Jane McGonigal in her book SuperBetter[4] explores the ways to gamify everyday suffering experiences into a healing trance. She introduces the rules how to turn despondency into a challenge and designs the steps to overcome it.
In this way, games may be a powerful tool to turn suffering into a challenge and shift the perspective from the suffering agent into the hero on a journey. What's more, they can even be designed to temporarily dissolve the sense of agency and despondency characteristic for it. That is, they may be used as a kind of meditation (not unlike tantric approach to meditation on different aspects of deities).
Robin Arnott, Video Games as Meditation.
The First Noble Truth.
Robin Arnott, SoundSelf.
Jane McGonigal, SuperBetter.