So over the past couple of weeks, a whole slew of events at work and in my community has furthered demonstrated to me the culturally-based stigma towards video gaming. Thanks to mass media, the stereotypical gamer is reduced to a pimply-faced, pale-skinned male who lives in his parent’s basement. He is anti-social, wears only black clothes, and will end up being a mindless or violent drain on society because of these “evil” video games. Having lived in Taiwan for two years, I am amazed by how much societal pressures and norms impact individual personalities and behavior. It is more clear to me because of my exposure to other cultures how extreme Americans tend to be on many seemingly odd issues. I imagine every society has their quirks, but that doesn’t make me appreciate America’s antagonism towards gaming any more. I think it’s time to tell the other side of this story…
Hai Tech Eric
eclectic musings
Tag Archives: soapbox
Ironic this quote comes from the very man scorned for his disagreements with popular opinion, and yet it is incredibly appropriate for the situation.
“America’s intellectual community has never been very bright. Or honest. They’re all sheep, following whatever the intellectual fashion of the decade happens to be. Demanding that everyone follow their dicta in lockstep. Everyone has to be open-minded and tolerant of the things they believe, but God forbid they should ever concede, even for a moment, that someone who disagrees with them might have some fingerhold on truth.”
—Card, Orson Scott (2009-11-30). Shadow of the Hegemon (The Shadow Series) (p. 176). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.
I say long live the first amendment! Long live the true free exchange of ideas, opinions, and thought!
What frustrates me most about the religion of popular intellectualism
Responsible Journalism
The unfortunate state of collusion within American journalism astounds me. I never realized how bad the situation really was until I saw this raw video feed captured prior to a press conference with Mitt Romney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N53WpOUf94s
Stop SOPA and PIPA now!
The Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect-IP Act being proposed in both the House and the Senate has been fast-tracked. Why?
UPDATE: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up on protest day. PIPA and SOPA are tabled for now.
A short thought on the clashes between science and religion
I personally think scientific discovery and religious revelation aren’t mutually exclusive. Both have incredible merits when examined in the context of their own paradigms. Difficulties only seem to arise when religion attempts to perceive science in context of its own paradigm and vice versa. Continue reading