Comments on: Quote: Nethack

By: Dan Frasier

Dan Frasier — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:07:13 +0000

In reply to johnsonmx. Or any combination. It could be "my best vs your weighted average". It sort of pits your ability to A. decide what attributes are valuable and usefule and B. what attributes you HAVE and how strong they are. Like I said, it's almost monte carlo simulation of real life. You know what I mean?

By: D

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:57:21 +0000

I’ve played Nethack. ‘Forgiving learning curve’ is not a phrase I would use to describe it. Ever.

I’m not saying his Point #2 doesn’t have some merit to it, but Nethack is not the poster child I would choose.

By: johnsonmx

johnsonmx — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:11:38 +0000

Interesting… so video games would test multiple cognitive attributes, but it could be “my best attribute vs your best attribute”, “a weighted average of my attributes vs a weighted average of yours”, or “my worst attribute vs your worst”. Depending on the type of game.

By: Dan Frasier

Dan Frasier — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 02:30:06 +0000

You are so clearly onto something here. When we play complex video games, it allows us to pit OUR best attributes against others best attributes, or the machine. For example, if creativity is your strength it will certainly be an asset in a complex game. Methodical thought may be my asset. In effect I can pit the strength of my asset against the strength of your asset, even if we aren’t competing one on one. If my methodical nature allows me to more easily beat a game than you.. then I win. So in effect these very complex games that allow for very different skills set to be tested and be possibly successful would be a far better test of a person’s abilities than an IQ test. Additionally, it would allow for varying degrees of each strength to be tested. A jack of all trades type person may far better than someone that is EXTREMELY logical but lacks an ounce of creativity. The Jack of all trades would be able to draw from his (limited) abilities as the situation required. It’s an interesting thought. I suppose, in a way it is like letting someone live a life in a compressed amount of time to see how they will be at real life. Immerse them in a situation where they are asked repeatedly to succeed or fail using whatever skills or strengths they possess. It’s like a Life monte carlo simulation.