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A good game--whether it's a pro football playoff, or a family showdown on the kitchen table--can make you feel, at least for a little while, like your whole life hangs in the balance. This hour of Radiolab, Jad and Robert wonder why we get so invested in something so trivial. What is it about games that make them feel so pivotal?
Podcasts More We hear how a recurring dream about football turned into a real-life lesson for Stephen Dubner, we watch a chessboard turn into a playground where by-the-book moves give way to totally unpredictable possibilities, and we relive a moment where rooting for the underdog makes us rethink what a truly happy ending is.
Writer Eric Simons gets the ball rolling this episode with an embarrassing admission about a beautiful night, a hockey game, and an overwhelming, outsized feeling of rage that overtook his senses. What is it about being a fan that causes such intense reactions? How can the outcome of a game ...
Play is something we all do--it seems so natural, it feels a little bit ridiculous to ask why we need it. But psychology professor Alison Gopnik explains some profound benefits, and tells us about a noticeable shift that happens somewhere between age 3 and 6--a shift that causes ...
In movies and daydreams, winning changes everything. But in real life, it's not always so easy to pin down which ending is the happiest, or who deserves the glory. Dan Engber, senior editor for Slate Magazine, tells Producer Soren Wheeler about his self-defeating habit of always ...
I'll try to get a better link to the audio of it. This is a podcast so it is over an hour long.
I will try to write up the compilation of ideas that were shared in this. But I would like to hear peoples opinions on this and on games in general. I thought I might share a very interesting podcast.
Got any stories about rooting for the losing team? Any special games that you have played? (Both board games and video games, sports etc)
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/23 17:48:07
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
Go and watch the Extra Credits Videos on Youtube. They talk a lot about game theory and the community.
You shouldn't be worried about the one bullet with your name on it, Boldric. You should be worried about the ones labelled "to whom it may concern"-from Blackadder goes Forth!
Asherian Command wrote: So for a class assignment I was sent off to listen to a podcast about games.
I thought this might peak pique some peoples interest on here, to see why people like games so much and why people root for the under dog.
Normally I don't get on people for typos and grammar because this is a wargaming forum not an language skills one, but since you said you were a student it seemed perhaps appropriate to help you out with this commonly confused homophone.
So far as the OP goes, I think people like to root for an underdog because in a way, all people see themselves as sometimes striving against impossible odds, and it's a little glimmer of the possibility that we too can triumph against them.
I personally like games - in this case, tabletop and board games - because it helps me foster a sense of community with my family and friends.
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
Asherian Command wrote: So for a class assignment I was sent off to listen to a podcast about games.
I thought this might peak pique some peoples interest on here, to see why people like games so much and why people root for the under dog.
Normally I don't get on people for typos and grammar because this is a wargaming forum not an language skills one, but since you said you were a student it seemed perhaps appropriate to help you out with this commonly confused homophone.
So far as the OP goes, I think people like to root for an underdog because in a way, all people see themselves as sometimes striving against impossible odds, and it's a little glimmer of the possibility that we too can triumph against them.
I personally like games - in this case, tabletop and board games - because it helps me foster a sense of community with my family and friends.
Funny how people have never told me that XD
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
Also, people like tension in stories (including stories about games), and "the party favoured to win did so", does not make for a very compelling tale.
For, me, the mental exercise good games require gives me pleasure, too.
I personally like games - in this case, tabletop and board games - because it helps me foster a sense of community with my family and friends.
This right here.... I will add though, that I also play and watch sports.
While I don't get nearly as hyped watching sports as when I'm on the sidelines, as a reserve player, or having just come off, there's still an excitement.
This past fall, my rugby club hosted a rather big match that, in many ways could end up defining our season. If we had lost, we lost our "driver's seat" into the playoffs, and went into the winter break on a bit of a "low" which could follow into the spring half of the season. If we won, we're still in the drivers seat for playoff contention, riding a high into the break. It didn't hurt any that the side we were facing is widely regarded as one of the top sides in our union. The game was a very tense (for spectators) and intense match the scores staying tight and flip-flopping often. At the end, with around 2 minutes left in the game, we score to tie the game, and hit the conversion to go up by 2. The ensuing kickoff goes wrong and Snake got the ball, putting us on our heals and on defense, but... inside our own 22 the boys held the line, and just after full time Snake, IIRC, knocked on into touch, or had a penalty called against them and the game was over.
I wouldn't say we went into that game as underdogs, but I don't think we were really favored either (if there were any "experts" looking at our clubs, I think they'd say they were pretty evenly matched and the game could have gone either way)
