Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Why don't people allow themselves to just do it, even badly, in the same way that
they talk or ride a bicycle? Why isn't it open for exploration and enjoyment in the
same way that conversation is open for exploration and enjoyment? Why is it that
it has to be presented in a context in which G. H. Hardy's observation is com-
pletely forgotten?
These are not intended as criticisms. Many math teachers do, indeed, seem to
agree with Professor Hardy. On the other hand, many clearly do not. As one
student reported after failing introductory calculus, ''The teacher told us that the
purpose of first-year calculus is to determine who cannot do math.''
Most People
To pursue Professor Hardy's notion a step further, consider that many people
cannot tell you the difference between a participle and an infinitive. Still, they
carry on endless conversations. Such conversations go in many directions and
ultimately end up leading to beneficial results.
The student who contended that college calculus is a way that college professors
determine who cannot do math lacked the perspective afforded by a trade school
teacher who once remarked, ''Not everyone can do all the math that there is to
do, but almost everyone can do some.''
This perspective could probably cause something on the order of a revolution if
extended to encompass college classrooms and other arenas in which people set
about trying to learn math. This perspective ultimately leads to the idea that
math can become a medium of conversation.
When something is a medium of conversation, it becomes a language itself rather
than a topic you address using a language. You just do it. You do not question
whether you can do it, have the genetic capacity to do it, or have earned the right
to do it.
Professor Hardy's notion was that math is a medium of conversation, something
you just do. When you do it, you do not need to make the first question one of
whether you do it well. You do not need to judge yourself or be judged.
Places for Games
Some games are matters of play. Others are matters of rules. Most are mixtures of
both. A game that is wholly defined by play might not have goals or ways of
Search WWH ::




Custom Search