Are games the knowledge-producers of the future?
Imagine if new knowledge and insights came not just from research
centers, think tanks, and universities but also from games, of all
things. Video games have been viewed as causing social problems, but
what if they actually helped solve them? This question drives Karen
Schrier's Knowledge Games, which seeks to uncover the potentials and
pitfalls of using games to make discoveries, solve real-world problems,
and better understand our world. For example, so-called knowledge
games--such as Foldit, a protein-folding puzzle game, SchoolLife,
which crowdsources bullying interventions, and Reverse the Odds, in
which mobile game players analyze breast cancer data--are already being
used by researchers to gain scientific, psychological, and humanistic
insights.
Schrier argues that knowledge games are potentially powerful because of
their ability to motivate a crowd of problem solvers within a dynamic
system while also tapping into the innovative data processing and
computational abilities of games. In the near future, Schrier asserts,
knowledge games may be created to understand and predict voting
behavior, climate concerns, historical perspectives, online harassment,
susceptibility to depression, or optimal advertising strategies, among
other things.
In addition to investigating the intersection of games, problem solving,
and crowdsourcing, Schrier examines what happens when knowledge emerges
from games and game players rather than scientists, professionals, and
researchers. This accessible book also critiques the limits and
implications of games and considers how they may redefine what it means
to produce knowledge, to play, to educate, and to be a citizen.
