Games are an extension of the human condition; a macrocosm of attitudes and underlying values of the society from which it is born. Ritualistic in nature, gamers participate in an event and allow themselves to be governed by the rules therein, giving them a release from the rules they are forced to obey in the real world. The game then becomes a form of limited self-expression, in which the person chooses what event he wants to participate in, and plays in this set role accordingly.
The game of poker, where all players are entirely individually focused, are playing an exagerrated version of someone they [may or may not be] in the real world; to attain "success", one must perhaps be much more ruthless than the mannerisms of everyday life. However, everyone at the table is willingly there, and allowing this behaviour for the duration of the game - an acceptance that this event is a deviation from the rest of the world.
Comments (1)
Did you mean to write "microcosm" rather than "macrocosm"?
Poker has had a resurgence recently. I wonder why that is? Ease of playing online? A sense that a lot is at stake in the world? A sudden realization that the rules of the stockmarket are in fact unknowable?
Posted by Andy Cox | September 21, 2006 11:28 PM
Posted on September 21, 2006 23:28