Minecrafted

This post is going to be a little... different. Not in style - I will still be using 20 words when 3 would do - but in content.

Because I'm going to talk about Minecraft.

If you've never heard of it then you clearly don't travel in nerdy enough circles. The internet can help get you up to speed. Basically, it's a computer game where you collect resources and build things.

What kind of things? Just about anything you can imagine...

What do you want to build today?

Minecraft falls under the category of "sandbox" game - usually referring to world-building mechanics - but I don't really think of Minecraft as a game. It's a toy. A really really awesome toy. Sure, there are some game mechanics thrown in (zombies, weapons, hunger, etc.) but it's pretty easy to "survive" the game elements. No, the real thrill of Minecraft is running loose in a giant world and building things.

I firmly believe that the single best toy a young child can receive is a really good set of blocks. When they get a little older, Legos, Construx, Erector Sets, Linkin Logs, etc. fill in. Toys like these teach children vitally important concepts: structural integrity & support, problem solving, and perhaps most critical, the ability to take an abstract plan and turn it into tangible reality. Blocks teach kids to be tinkerers. Tinkerers experiment. They iterate ideas. They explore the possible. They make mistakes and learn from them. In short, tinkerers learn how to have ideas - ideas that can lead to innovations for everyone.

Minecraft is like an infinite set of really neat blocks. The graphics themselves are pleasingly block-like. Different blocks have different properties and allow you to build different things. Collect enough resources and you can craft items that will help you make even more stuff. Soon you'll find yourself building elaborate homes and terriforming areas to better suit your visions.

My home. I built it into a cliff. Please note the awesome waterfall. I think it looks like Minas Tirith, right? Riiight??Actions sometime have surprising consequences in Minecraft. After bringing water to the top of my (awesome) castle to create the waterfall, I decided I wanted to expand my bedroom. I was happily picking away at the ceiling when I hit a block that was (apparently) underneath the water stream. Before I knew it, by bedroom was flooded and I had a giant mess on my hands. Or, take the time I tried to create a devious lava trap for any monsters who tried to attack my (awesome) castle in the night. I carefully transported the lava, dug a hole to contain it, poured it in the hole, then looked on in horror as all of the vegetation nearby burst into flames (I guess lava throws off a lot of heat... duh). The fire quickly jumped from tree to tree and the night was lit up by an enormous forest fire. I felt really guilty.

There's even more. Redstone, a resource in the game, can be used to create electricity and wiring. Other resources can be used to create switches and repeaters. What can you do with that? Make logic gates. What can you do with logic gates? Make advanced circuits. What can you do with circuits? EVERYTHING.

Ever stop and think about how much we rely on electricity? To say it's had a big impact on our lives is the understatement of the millennium. Yet how much do you know about electrical engineering? I'm guessing not a whole lot. How about computer science? I'm not talking about programming, but the theoretical underpinnings of how computation is performed. Spend a little time messing around with redstone in Minecraft and you will learn a TON. And it's fun. Did anyone else here play Rocky's Boots as a child? That game taught me more than entire grades in school.

We spend a lot of time talking up how good exercise, especially skill-based exercise is for the brain. We talk about neurogenesis, LTP, all that good stuff. It's all true, but in order for all that great learning to take place you need to actually use your brain. That doesn't mean going through your daily routine of answering emails and gossiping with your co-workers. It means geeking out over something. Andrew Badenoch over at Evolvify recently wrote a fantastic article where he states we should all, "think like a geek, eat like a hunter, train like a fighter, look like a model." I really like that. Give Minecraft a try - you can play the old version for free through your web browser - and flex your creative powers. I'm guessing you'll like it. Roll with that - get some basic tools and try building something in the real world. Life gets much more interesting when you get excited and make things.

Have fun!