Hi Bob,

As someone who greatly enjoys playing video games, I think this is a great idea. Jane was spot on with why I love to game, and I think that global initiatives structured like a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) would get immense support and involvement. I've seen a few great blog posts and websites describing how to structure your life goals like a video game (I haven't done this myself, because I tend to prefer less rigidity).

Here's an example blog post:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/03/03/game-of-life/

Cheers,

Trish

I think this idea has so much potential. In addition to that, she brings up indirectly, this idea of numbers of people and numbers of hours exponentially increasing the opportunities for genuine creative novelty to occur, with real solutions and real ideas. Is it just me or could you call this collective learning? This gets me really excited, when I think of all the potential.

I just thought of another thing, Can we take what she's talking about, take ourselves and the world we live in, and imagine ourselves in one of these games, somehow, having forgotten that we were gaming? Maybe in the future of gaming, you actually immerse your consciousness or soul or what ever, into the game itself instead of the camera, microphone, keyboard, mouse and monitor.

WOW!

One thing does come to mind and I almost wish it hadn't. How is the theme of any particular game determined? This would involve many possibilities. Let's see, maybe "what problem do we need to solve?", or "what idea, what concept do we wish to consider, examine, investigate, explore, further develop or advance?".  Is this a Pandora's Box? In addition, there's the inevitable question of, "Who" or maybe "What is the Game Maker?".

This is the same gal, and another game, I think it gives some specific perspective that's very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfBpsV1Hwqs

I like your idea of the world-sized video game and its implications, Gary, very Matrix-y... maybe it should be called Maya? :-P

Perhaps, like the best kind of immersion-style RPGs, it should allow for unlimited possibilities of side questing, and to keep things interesting, every time you play, your main quest line changes. And in case you get too distracted, perhaps the game should be programmed to give you clues as to your next step in the main quest line, by making the same challenges appear over and over until you solve the puzzle and gain a level? I'm having too much fun with this... :-D

From what I've heard and read over the years, it's the gamers themselves who decide on what lessons they want to learn before they start playing, but then agree to forget about the planning process so it's more fun. And my best guess is that the game maker is the game itself, the players, and the setting it is played in - all of it working in unison and not truly separate except by thought and forgetfulness.

Cheers, Trish

I just watched the second video, that was great! I love how we're building up our emotional and social resiliency here at the Gathering Spot; I just need to attach my laptop to a  treadmill while I reply to blog posts and that would take care of physical resiliency as well :-)

My daughter plays a lot of Minecraft, it's a building-block world not strucutred like your typical game - it's a creative space where the possibilities are almost limitless. I just came across this article, and I was surprised to find out that the game was designed with the intention of fostering creative exploration in people, in the hope that they will use that awakened creative potential in the outer world as well.

http://thespiritscience.net/2014/06/19/the-spiritual-implications-that-m...

Of special note is the end text that is displayed when the player "wins" the game in survival mode (if the payer chooses to do so, there are goals that can be worked towards, which eventually leads to defeating the Ender Dragon).

http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/End_Poem

THE SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS THAT MINECRAFT BRINGS TO THE TABLE

If you’re between the ages of 8 and 40, you’ve probably heard of Minecraft in one way or another. You might even be a bonafied expert at the game, and if that’s true then right on Mr. Creator!

A quick insight for those who don’t know what it is – Minecraft is an open world environment where You – The Creator – Have the opportunity to build virtually anything. Let your imagination run wild as you dig out tunnels, build castles, floating cloud cities, or whatever your heart desires. It’s a whole new type of game from what most of us are used to growing up.

You see, Minecraft isn’t just a “Game”, it’s something new entirely. It puts you in the seat of the “Author”, and gives you the key of ability to decide what happens next. Most games have a storyline built into the game, but Minecraft invites YOU to make the story happen, it invites creativity and inspiration to flow through you into the game, which is absolutely magnificent. Perhaps even more exciting, is the appeal it has to kids.

Kids around the world ages 6 to 20 are spending hundreds of hours pouring into this game, learning how to build things, how to make things look right, how to craft and build incredible if not JAW DROPPING environments and landscapes with only a few clicks of the mouse and a whole lot of patience. That’s pretty incredible.

Now, obviously and simultaneously we can be aware of the degree to which we sink into the game. There’s a sweet spot between “learning” and “avoiding responsibility” which takes some practice to learn when to transition. And that’s part of the key here…. What happens when you stop playing the game, but with the new awareness of the powers you had IN the game?

The Ability to be a real creator. There is a bridge we can make in our awareness between creating in the 2nd dimension, and creating in the 3rd. Because nothing would be more awesome than having the ability to do what you can do in minecraft in real life!

What’s going to happen when those kids grow up? Those kids who spent so many hours of their childhood living in a world where they could build and create whatever they wanted? If given the opportunity, those skills will translate over. Those kids will be the ones who continue their love of building but when that time comes they won’t necessarily be doing all of their building in the 2nd dimension (in the computer). They’ll be doing it in the 3rd dimension, our physical world, and the implications could be incredible.

Now let me share a video with you that is really awesome, and was a big reason why I’m writing this article to you in the first place! These  are the Extra Credits guys, it was their series that got me started doing Spirit Science in the first place! It was just that good 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K8G6BFg1Wk

This video speaks to that core idea in a magnificent way, and how it relates to the gaming industry and the evolution of games. It’s a magnificent thing, and what I’m suggesting here is that it won’t just apply to games, but to many different areas of our lives 

The Spiritual implications of Minecraft is immense. An open world game where you are the builder of anything and everything that happens? Sounds like a sweet deal to me! Just don’t forget to bring it back to 3D after a while with your ideas that you thought of while playing… we could certainly use some more castles and utopias in our modern world!