Show, Don't Tell

In Aarseth's work, Genre Trouble: Narrativism and the Art of Simulation, the author says, "You don't see dogs or cats tell each other stories, but they will play. And games are interspecies communication: you can't tell your your dog a story, but the two of you can play together." This one quote held a lot of power for me. Games seem to have untapped potential as tools. Anything, from human emotion to other intangible concepts could potentially be solidified if they were simulated. When a game requires interactivity, concepts are not contained as simply words on a page. They're conveyed by agency, motion, and visualization. A dog can't be told how to play a game of fetch, he has to be shown. He experiences the simple narrative in this game by action. He figures out the rules and concepts by interaction.

Since the discovery of mirror neurons, scientist are seeing how humans learn through mimicry. These neurons associate the action performed by the self to an identical action that the self witnesses. Research continues on this subject, but it may be an explanation for human empathy. It's also possible that this field of study could add more pieces to puzzles such as autism. Understanding these connections is a first step in any type of cure or prevention. If another person slips and falls on the floor, neurons fire and cause a temporary break in the barrier between the self and the other. The person who witnesses the fall recognizes on an intuitive level the distress and impact.

Studies in mirror neurons supports Aarseths notion that games and their subsequent simulations are powerful. Simulation follows the old adage of Show, don't tell. Many writers, film makers, and artists hold on to this as their guiding force. They do this because showing allows others to see concepts in action. It usually makes a bigger impact than telling. In other studies involving mirror neurons tests are also performed to discover why some people are incapable of empathy. Their theory involves human expression and states that some are incapable of empathy because they don't recognize how another person's facial expressions can convey happiness, contentment, distress, or fear. This study has been done with convicted serial killers in an attempt to explain how mirror neurons relate to emotions. Some convicted killers don't recognize an emotion translated into a facial expression or even body language.

This experiment was performed as a matching game. Participants had two decks of cards. The first deck contained pictures of human facial expressions. The second deck simply had one word printed on each card. Cards were imprinted with words like scared, angry, happy, and sad. Participants were asked to match the word with the correct simulated human expression. While this research is still in its early stages, this same game could be used as a learning tool. If there is ever a way to correct the misfiring or lack of these neurons,then there could also be a way to teach and demonstrate what empathy is. With simulation, people have the opportunity to observe. If the element of game is introduced, they will also experience agency and the impact that is involved. In some ways, life experience and chance have guided our understanding of emotion. Simulation could be an ample supplement to this. It could be the visual representation that people may learn from in the absence of life experience. It could be used in early stages of development as fail safe in the event that one has a poor life experience and very little interaction.