To understand fanpersonism is to understand choice-supportive bias. This is the idea that once you've made a choice about something, you'll naturally look favorably upon things that support your choice and will downplay or ignore things that don't. Said another way, it's trying to avoid buyer's remorse.
Posts By Caleb J. Ross
Caleb began writing his sophomore year of undergrad study when, tired of the formal art education then being taught, he abandoned the pursuit in the middle of a compositional drawing class. Major-less and fearful of losing his financial aid, he signed up to seek a degree in English Literature for no other reason than his lengthy history with the language. Coincidentally, this decision not only introduced him to writing but to reading as well. Prior this transition he had read three books. One of which he understood.
Deindividuation is what causes a generally rational and non-confrontational person to become a terrible, rude, reference point for when parents and lawmakers tell us online multiplayer video games like League of Legends and Call of Duty are turning our good kids bad. This happens in two ways:
- Reduced social accountability, or the “you can’t see me” effect
- Reduced self-monitoring, or the “I can’t see me” effect
[su_button icon="icon: gamepad" background="#e52d27" size="10" animate delay="3" inline="yes" url="https://www.youtube.com/user/calebjross?sub_confirmation=1"] Subscribe on YouTube [/su_button]
Imagine a world without spoken language. No words. No thoughts expressed as a series of interpretable sounds. And instead, people communicated in the language of game logic. A sunset wouldn't be beautiful. Rather, it would be a numerical advantage over a lesser sun position. The pride you feel when watching your son take his first step, that’s not pride anymore. That’s just a couple of digits increased on a mobility stat. This is the world that Michael W. Clune inhabits in his memoir, Gamelife. As he says early in the book: “When I was eleven, computer games taught me how to imagine something so it lasts, so it feels real. The secret is numbers. Imagination fumbles outside reality like a child at a locked door…[numbers are] the secret to making imaginary worlds real.” (pg 29)These are 5 games that took the fun out of Christmas. Some might say, 5 of the worst Christmas-themed video games.
Trav (from the Polykill podcast) and I have a conversation about Fallout 76 and how cool it would be to nuke his dumb face.
Spelunky by Derek Yu is, I think, my new favorite Boss Fight Books release. I highly recommend you read it. And, I highly recommend you watch the rest of my Boss Fight Books reviews.
I love video game books. Books about video games are more common than you might think. In hopes of spreading the good word about video game books, I list half of my collection (part 1 can be viewed here). In this video I talk about criticism & analysis, interviews, and reference video game books that I own, including: 0:51 How To Do Things With Videogames by Ian Bogost 2:16 What Video Games Have to Teach us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee 2:35 A Profound Waste of Time 3:00 Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games are Made by Jason Schreier 3:35 The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Video Game Developers by Patrick Hickey Jr. 4:05 The Ultimate History of Video Games: the Story Behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World by Steven L. Kent…