Slashdot Mirror
Learning the Scientific Method From Games
Wired is running a story about a research paper out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison which discusses how some games get players to do scientific research without them explicitly realizing it. The paper itself is also available. Quoting:
"... we examine the scientific habits of mind and dispositions that characterize online discussion forums of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Eighty-six percent of the forum discussions were posts engaged in 'social knowledge construction' rather than social banter. Over half of the posts evidenced systems based on reason, one in ten evidenced model-based reasoning, and 65% displayed an evaluative epistemology in which knowledge is treated as an open-ended process of evaluation and argument."
Nerds are smart.
The WoW forum scientific method
Define the question
Gather information and resources (observe)
Form hypothesis
Perform experiment and collect dat.... Post to the forum with junk data (personal anecdotes)
Analyze dat.... get flamed by trolls incessantly to 5 pages
Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothe.... Blizzard buffs rogues (no matter what the subject was).
Publish resu.... You have wasted your time, just like when you play the game.
Rinse and repeat.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
"... we examine the scientific habits of mind and dispositions that characterize online discussion forums of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Eighty-six percent of the forum discussions were posts engaged in 'social knowledge construction' rather than social banter. Over half of the posts evidenced systems based on reason, one in ten evidenced model-based reasoning, and 65% displayed an evaluative epistemology in which knowledge is treated as an open-ended process of evaluation and argument."
Try this with YouTube comments on the other hand...