What a great post. It’s strange how much that experience is both universal and private. This is maybe hair off topic but I had just told this story an hour ago and then read this post so the coincidence compels me:

This is a story about Civilization. And in a way, I guess it’s also a story about the difference between reality and fantasy, or the lack thereof.

One night, when I was in high school, I woke up around 3am to this clicking sound. Realizing someone is in my room, I bolt upright and see my father. He’s sitting at my desk using my computer. He had a computer in his office but my computer was the only in the house one with Civilization on it. And my father was deep in the throes of a just-one-more-turn addiction.

Groggy, I say to him, “Dad. It’s 3AM.” His eyes never leave the screen as he says, “Just a few more turns and I get space flight!”

Now, I should mention that my father had a cool job. He was an NASA astronaut. And on this particular night, his first shuttle mission was scheduled to launch in about two weeks.

So, I stared at him playing Civilization for a moment or two and then said, “Dude. Aren’t you actually going to go to space in like two weeks?’

He thinks about that for a second and then says, “Yeah, but who wants to wait two weeks?”

So, I went to back to sleep and he, presumably, travelled to the stars. And, of course, two weeks later, he did it again.

My usual take-away is that play is inextricably tied to real-world success. But Marcin’s article makes me also wonder that gap between the reality of the game of the reality of our world. Is it really as big as it appears to be?