Videogames do not have to be sterile sanctuaries, but I have practiced the lusory attitude as if their magic circle is a pristine space unsullied by reality. As I think about and study the art form further, and experience other elements of life at the same time, I think that this attitude has at its core a fundamental conflict: life always goes on.

For a time, I dreamt of MMORPGs which afforded all players equal access, as opposed to demanding devotion (whether expressed financially or in time played). I explored games without win-states (Playables) in order to escape this idea that a game might gate access depending on its players' devotion.

But all games are pay to win; the only difference is what currency they value.

The Lusory attitude involves "the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles".

An attitude towards game design can take an immaculate stance, which overlaps with certain philosophical stances -- that a game and its players should not overstep certain bounds (see, for example, the negativity inherent to the terms pay to win and unbalanced), and that a person should aim to have no [negative] impact on the world around them.

I'm not there yet, but playing around with real-world art forms -- fashion in this case? cooking? etc -- has been slowly opening the gate. Is it still a game if we play with things that are important? Is it still play? I think the most important lusory attitude is to play with whatever material comprises our lives, and I think the life well-lived is comprised of only things that matter, that are real.

When I turn off my shower, the shower-mode toggle (a little metal plunger thing) either stays lifted up (in shower mode), or drops down (reverting to faucet mode). I wanted to make sure that every time I turned off my shower, I left the toggle down. Since sometimes the toggle was already down, I didn't have to do anything, so I didn't do anything -- meaning the habit never took root. I tried making a habit of looking at the toggle each time I turned off the shower, but it wasn't enough.

I have no problem with turning off the shower; I do that by habit. So why not this?

My solution was to build a stronger habit: Lifting the toggle up, and then down. This has so far been successful. So what are the requirements for a habit which can be built? It's subjective, of course, but...

• A habit takes the form IF X, THEN Y.
• Both the trigger "X" and the action "Y" must be discrete (i.e. non-ambiguous) and tangible (i.e. have strong sensory evidence).

Anyway, this is definitely a game design pattern. I think any kind of pattern regarding human activity is a game design pattern.

When I was going to do my driver's test, I told my dad I was nervous. He asked, was I nervous because I might fail, and have to go through all this again? (E.g. driving to the testing facility.)

I said no, I was nervous because I thought I might let the pressure get to me and not enjoy the process.


I have to remind myself to feel this way, to fear only a failure to perceive the beauty of the moment, to fear only lack of presentness.

Explicit, inexplicit, and unconscious ideas.

I think David makes an error here though.

QuoteAs soon as you are instructing your legs to move in one direction rather than another [..] as soon as you've deliberated and caused your legs to do one thing rather than another, you have an explicit theory.

Lulie: You can do deliberation by intuition.

Okay, well, at the very least it's very close to the borderline of explicit, because if someone asks you, what have you decided to do, you'll say "I've decided to turn round."

Because earlier (close to the beginning of the video, starting at 1:25) he says...

Quoteinexplicit ideas [..] can't be expressed in language like, for example, when you're playing tennis and the ball is heading towards you and you're thinking "oh, it's going to go out now, no it isn't, I'd better run for it," that kind of thing. The words "it's going to go out now" do not appear anywhere in your mind while you're doing that, and yet, it is knowledge that you're creating. You're creating a theory about where the ball's going to strike.

Perhaps this is just a bad-ish example, because I do understand what he's talking about. I'm just not so sure about the legs thing being particularly more explicit than the tennis thing. If the turning around thing is borderline explicit, the tennis thing seems like a bad example of what an inexplicit idea is (though it may be a good example of what a borderline explicit inexplicit ideas is).

QuoteA common criterion is to try to disregard everything but your explicit theories.

[..] "This is beginning to feel bad, but I have worked out, or my self-help book says [..] NO PAIN, NO GAIN, and so ignore the [psychological pain], just do the [..] thing designated by your explicit theory.

[..] And that's just a mechanical criterion for choosing between theories, and therefore is irrational. Theories have to be judged by content, not where they came from or any attributes of theirs that aren't content.

QuoteAnother theory, kind of opposite of that theory, is what you might call the 'romantic stance' which is to say, explicit ideas are just conventional decoration, they're not really human, they don't really mean anything, what's really important is feelings. And so what you do if you adopt that idea is you try to reach into your feelings and follow them. Now [..] first of all, it's irrational, because it's just like the other theory of following your explicit theories. It's just choosing between theories according to an irrelevant criterion.

Lulie Tannett: Why is it irrelevant?

[..] It doesn't look at the content. It only looks at the type of theory.

Quote[Inexplicit ideas] affect you via your feelings [..] your mood [..] things that can't be easily stated in words.

[..] You think you want to go down to the post office, and your unconscious theory knows very well that it's a long way away, but your conscious theory thinks it's just round the corner, and you feel a reluctance to go. And that reluctance is one of these things. It's a feeling, it's a mood [..] So there's a conflict. How do you know there's a conflict? Well, you have a mood.

[..] Suppose [..] you're going to the post office, and suddenly a nameless dread comes over you.

David describes some inexplicit ideas and how they feel.

David Deutsch discusses explicit and inexplicit [ideas/theories/thoughts/feelings]. (We'll call them ideas.)

Regarding What is the 'Fun Criterion'?

Uncertainty and potential go hand in hand. For a time, the unresolved cat is both dead and alive not in a literal sense, but in a very important psychological sense. When we do not know, we are capable of entertaining many possible futures in our minds at once.

It's not hubs, it's also... these places that are easily accessible. When I start a game, I relive certain areas more than others.