Mining online games for a better future

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Minecraft and permaculture.  Poles apart you think?  Playing one to prepare you for the other?  Minecraft is a sandpit for the software developers of the future, but it’s also a safe learning space with low risks for children to play in.  No killing humans like in Fortnite.

At home I talk about composting and so does my daughter – but she does it in Minecraft.  I talk about adding nitrogen to my compost pile with dead animals she talks about being able to trade zombie flesh on the open market for her compost pile.

I mentioned that I felt a Blog coming on after she read this article and our ensuing discussion.  Oh no it’s a Blogcastrophe – things crashing together, online, and in words.

Us humans will be defined ultimately by how we organize ourselves.  With games like Minecraft that have an innate ability to evolve, grow and give feedback, that have a strong developmental community and an engagement that goes beyond the block building and digging of an 8 year-old.

Are our children learning the skills they will need to gather, take risks and learn through online play?  And how does this translate into real life.  How do schools, TAFE and Universities take this knowledge of game-playing and build it into learning.

How do employers take the community and infrastructure of Minecraft and map it to their worlds.  Micro grids? Community Gardens use a plot for a season? Farmers markets - popup stalls or guest stalls, experimental or ideas stall. Already food trading is happening through produce swaps and skills trading – will it be a matter of time before health care is made into a game – learning to exercise and eat healthy, grow food, meditate, rest and relax, balances work and play to gain points – the person who builds the best balanced human wins?  Or who lives the longest and lives with zero carbon zero waste.  Now there is a game to create!  Learn the skills needed to live a sustainable life without risking the Earth.

People need to be able to explore options on how to grow, develop and learn without the commitment and risk of failure - personally and to the Earth.  And to do so in a supportive environment.

Community gathering and ideas support.  Micro investing and idea generation.  Think GoFundMe but on a micro level.  Low risk with high community and individual reward.

Getting back to growing food.  Learning yard craft online or in games and transporting this to the real world.  Games are already sprouting up.  Forest started with KickStarter, GameCrafter allows you to create your own game cards and where there are permaculture cards for Element Design or Learning Patterns.  Adapt is being beta tested - It's a Permaculture game that explores the power & possibility of design to provide caring solutions for the challenges in life. 

Learning to design a life system using cards before diving in and making simple mistakes in real life.  Incorporating the knowledge learned into life is our challenge. This all sounds like Minecraft to me.

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