Welcome to another episode of Armchair Gaming. The goal for this show is simple: I want to help you learn more about philosophy, and I’ll be using video games as an instrument to help teach it.
Today, while playing the PvP side of Fortnite (Battle Royale) We’ll begin to decipher what it is about the Battle Royale Genre that drives so many players? Why did this genre take off so suddenly? Is there something about these games that drives an innate human quality that so many players tap into?
Games are able to tell us a lot about the human condition. While many games tell us a story with a lesson to be learned about being a human, such as hubris, or courage etc., the Battle Royale Genre has no real story to tell. The compulsion to reign supreme as the last man standing gives us a look into the competitive spirit that seemingly drives us all. It also provides us with an interesting look at private privilege, and allows us to explore how the inability to see something from another person’s perspective (and more importantly their sensory experience) allows absurdists to argue for a reality different than what we all collectively agree on.
About Armchair Gaming
I had the chance to explore philosophy in high school and I loved it so much that I went on to study it at Trent University, where I obtained a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in philosophy. I feel so strongly about the subject that I often find myself going through the books I had purchased over my university career, as well as adding to the collection regularly.
Philosophy is an amazingly exciting subject that can teach us not just what to think, but how to think. Unfortunately, a lot of people see philosophy as some intimidating monster, with difficult concepts and theories to grasp. Conversely, some see it as a waste of someone’s time and intellect. As someone who has dedicated their life to the subject, this Scholarly Gamer wants to bring philosophy to you in a way that is approachable, sometimes funny, and presented through a medium of great importance to himself and millions of other people around the world: Games.
I hope you’ll join us on this journey. And remember, you never go a day in your life without living some philosophy.
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