Rethinking Schools Online has a great piece about social justice, modeled via a Lego® brick economy. It’s a great read that really led me to think about how children develop their thinking. In times like this I’m happy I’m not a parent yet, but in any community sense similar mental mores are passed along and subconsciously created, modified and replaced constantly.
One of my “passions” would be playing board games. I especially enjoy games with a deeper level of economy and politics. I’m fascinated by what comes out of playing a game with friends: feelings of frustration at not getting your way, the joy of winning, the experience of helping someone else, etc. I think games really teach us a lot about ourselves, if we’re willing to pay attention.
Through my experience I’ve learned about my beliefs by playing games (both board games and physical competition). I used to put a lot of stock about myself as a person in how well I played games. That’s changed a bit, and I’m happy to say that I am in a position to teach some of the vague lessons I’ve learned to others in the same context. Gaming to me is an enjoyable time of self-discovery through an abstraction.
Of course, it’s not always this way, sometimes I just like playing Carcassonne.