Mendel Tour and Civilization V

The scale here doesn't show it, but
what struck me about this armour was
 how small the actual body size of it
 was, like pygmy size, compared to how
 large people are here today.
The samurai may have been little folks,
but they were tough and disciplined.
 (Photos from Mendel Art Gallery)

My comment about the samurai warriors in my last entry was somewhat coincidental. The day after, just for a hoot, as I was walking around the river trails, I went to the Mendel art gallery to check things out there. To my surprise there was an amazing exhibit there with arts and artifacts from feudal Japan, of the era between the 1600s to the late 1800s when European explorers and traders started to infiltrate this society that was isolated and closed itself off to foreigners for centuries. There were many splendid watercolours and woodblock prints that depicted life and culture of ancient Japan. If you are in Saskatoon and interested in historical art pieces from Asia, I highly recommend viewing the Edo exhibit at the Mendel Art Gallery while it’s still there.

It was a rest day for me yesterday from my running schedule, and not too soon either. My knees and feet have been getting a little too fatigued and joint pain and cramping is resulting. Even though it was a perfect day to be outdoors, I was relegated to chill out at home and occupy myself with more sit still activities. I had a restless mind though, and the afterthoughts of theme of the long Japanese isolation at the Mendel Art Gallery prompted me to I dig out a PC game that I haven’t touched in ages, which I became totally enthralled with as I played it, which is the reason my eyes are so sore today. It is the ultimate game for people, especially adults, who have a freak on for history/anthropology. The game is Civilization V (V as in Roman numeral five).

An authentic samurai sword, its scabbard, and tsuba (hand guards)
circa 1600. Perhaps this thing actually did have a soul.

For those who never heard of the Sid Meier’s Civilization series, created by Firaxis, the concept of the game is basically that of a “god game”: where you start out being given a tribe of Stone Age era hunter-gatherers, and through trial and error, using the environment they are subsisting in, you try to create a more evolved and advanced form of their civilization by means of discovered resources, trade and commerce, and variable degrees of war and peace with the other neighbouring tribes which are competing against you. The most dominant civilizations that have existed, or still do, in our history (e.g. the Egyptians, the Greeks, the English, the Americans, etc.) are the ones that are used as archetypes for opponents in the game. The first version of this game was the one which changed my attitude about video games not being educational, or just for kids. It came to my understanding that some teachers were actually using this game in their history classes as part of their curriculum. The wild thing about the game for me is that it always primes my head with questions as to what the world today would look like if there were courses of alternative history that consequently followed if someone in a leadership position zigged instead of zagged. Such questions include things like “what if. . .

·         The Japanese weren’t an isolated nation and actively explored the world?

·         Neither the Soviet Union, nor the United States was involved with the space race, but it was taken over by the Chinese instead?”

·         The Earth’s landmass wasn’t composed of mainly continents, but rather scattered little islands and archipelagos?”

·         The Aztecs or Incas had first contact with the Arabs instead of the Spanish?”

·         The Russians never adopted communism?”

·         Neither Judaism, nor Christianity, nor Islam existed as any one of the world’s major religions?”

·         The Zulus first discovered electricity and were the ones to create an Industrial Revolution?”

·         The world was drier and covered with more ice (like the previous Ice Age)?”

·         The Iroquois totally exterminated the European colonists in what is/was Canada?”

·         The Vikings continued to rule the British Isles?”

·         Only one giant continent (Pangaea) spanned across the face of the planet?”

·         The Romans became dominated by the Greeks, instead of vice versa?”

·         Australia was colonized by settlers from India?”

·         The Persians conquered all of Eastern Asia?”

All those examples of such scenarios, and countless others with their respective timelines could be theoretically played out and explored through the course of the game. The ultimate object of the game is to establish your own civilization’s presence within a given time span by means of scientific, cultural, economic achievements, and/or military force if necessary. There is an expansion pack available for it which I don’t have yet: Civilization V: Gods and Kings, which involves creation of religious factions and influence, and more political skullduggery in the course of the game play. I want to deal with religious and political matters as little as possible, so I think I’ll leave this one on the shelf.  

 I can hardly see this as being a game for children, it’s too educational! The nice thing about the game is that it in it is provided a built in civilopedia to help the players learn about actual historical facts and progressions in society. I don’t usually use more than an hour to fiddle around with console or PC games, but this one hooked me in for at least five. I was involved with creating an alternate history and empire for the obscure kingdom of Siam. I managed to discover electricity at the same time when some other civilizations were in their medieval period. My biggest problem is an enemy called the Songhai, an African tribe with an attitude of Attila the Hun, but I’m keeping them at bay so far with some good diplomacy.

Parents, if you are looking for a PC game that won’t warp your kids’ minds too much with senseless violence, will give them some savvy about the otherwise boring subjects of history and economics, and one which you could enjoy along with them, this would be the one to get. I believe parents have to be more involved with the interests of their children; many aren’t because they are far too estranged from the technology that their kids are using for entertainment and too damn foolishly stubborn to say so. Parents/adult guardians have to sit down and learn to play video games with their kids and enjoy the experience: to monitor the content and activity, to learn how to get comfortable themselves with new technology* and information/social media innovations that are going to be a major part of their children’s future.

Some video games are now developed such that they may be beneficial to your mental health. More and more studies are showing that brains actively involved in exercises of monitoring kinetic motion, using logic, playing music, creative problem solving and language skills, are less likely to be afflicted by geriatric mental disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. All of those aforementioned activities can be engaged with and exercised in playing video games (in moderation of course).

If you were ever worried that video games were dangerous things, I’d like to share a thought from a man who is one of my modern day heroes. He is a fellow Canadian by the name of Frank Ogden, who markets himself and his consulting services as Dr. Tomorrow. Frank is definitely not a candidate for dementia or Alzheimer’s. Frank is a futurologist: a person who specializes in observing trends and studying what their possible impact may be in the future. Frank is well into his 90’s and still being an active pundit and keeping tabs on the latest in technology, resource management, and trends in education and media in the real game of civilization**. One of his quotes is "A bulldozer of change is charging over the planet, and if you're not part of the bulldozer, you'll become part of the road."

 From what I learned at the Mendel, Japan may have been a cultured, yet isolationist nation but in the real world game of civilization, it is winning with video games, thanks to their corporations like Nintendo and Sony. I hope that our government and industries in this nation gain this kind of spirit of adaptive prowess soon.

*- Are you listening Mom?

**- Interesting note: Frank was involved with the first clinical studies of experimentation with LSD here in Saskatchewan in the 50’s and 60’s, which occurred here first before it ever hit the scene in a place like San Francisco.