Get the feedRe: In Praise of Gaming
Friday, Oct 16th 2009
Michael adds:
David, This is fantastic. It mirrors one of the greatest letters that CS Lewis ever wrote on the subject. Here is part of it:
Those who say that children must not be frightened may mean two things. They may mean (1) that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless: in fact, phobias. His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can't bear to think of.Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil. If they mean the first I agree with them: but not if they mean the second. The second would indeed be to give children a false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense. There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to the…atomic bomb. Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.
I riffed on the subject a lot more in a speech I gave at dear old Hillsdale. For those of you stuck in an airport with nothing left to read, or for those of you rushing a fraternity who are being forced to do something mind numbingly boring, here is the link.
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by Vianca #