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<blockquote data-quote="Pielorinho" data-source="post: 93295" data-attributes="member: 259">Okay, blow by blow:Cite please?&nbsp; I didn't realize that Gygax was part of the personal computer movement in the 1970's and 1980's.Well, sure, some of them do.&nbsp; Others, like Doom or Civilization or Deus Ex or The Sims, don't.&nbsp; Does she claim that all these games have a binary worldview?Oh, please.&nbsp; Another online contributor theorizes that the Rings are actually SUVs.&nbsp; Another online contributor theorizes that George Bush wears a ring.&nbsp; Another online contributor theorizes that the entire fellowship were gay hobbit-fetishists.&nbsp; What conclusions does she draw from these online contributions?This is the one that really got me.&nbsp; There's plenty of room for psychological ambivalence and complex motivations in such a personality, as long as you don't think the numbers equal the personality.Nuh uh.&nbsp; A fellowship is a bunch of fellows.&nbsp; Perfectly proper terminology.Nuh uh.&nbsp; Plenty of women use computers.&nbsp; Does she really think we're buying this?Look, it's not our fault that she's not raising her daughter right.&nbsp; My 8-year-old triplet cousins love Dungeons and Dragons; Jennifer and Maria are as into it as Patrick is.&nbsp; Is Ms. Turkell giving her daughter Barbie dolls and videos and play-makeup sets and junior baker ovens, and then not expecting the poor girl to pick up on social gender roles?Um, in literature, we call &quot;sport death&quot; &quot;conflict.&quot;&nbsp; All stories have to have conflict, goes the traditional wisdom.&nbsp; Life in much literature is danger and triumph, chapter by chapter.Interesting -- but again, it's wrong.&nbsp; Tolkien's Manichean (sp?) duality between good and evil may be really appealing right now, but it's bizarre to credit this duality to computers.&nbsp; Surely Tolkien isn't as big an influence in our popular culture and rhetoric as, oh, say, the Bible; is she writing an article about how computer culture embraced the Bible for its binary world view, and how computer culture is now infecting presidential speeches through the guise of the Bible?The thing is, I love this kind of essay, in which the writer uses science or literature as a metaphor for society.&nbsp; It can be done really well.Which is why it annoys me when someone does it so poorly.Daniel(PS:&nbsp; Redmage, the NYT has a fantastic editorial page, whose contributors regularly include such luminaries as Bhoutros Bhoutros Ghali, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Margaret Thatcher, and Bill Clinton.&nbsp; Even the letters column tends to be pretty high-powered.&nbsp; Unfortunately, unless you're a big name somewhere, you're not likely to be printed.&nbsp; If Col_Pladoh wrote a response, OTOH....)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pielorinho, post: 93295, member: 259"] Okay, blow by blow: Cite please? I didn't realize that Gygax was part of the personal computer movement in the 1970's and 1980's. Well, sure, some of them do. Others, like Doom or Civilization or Deus Ex or The Sims, don't. Does she claim that all these games have a binary worldview? Oh, please. Another online contributor theorizes that the Rings are actually SUVs. Another online contributor theorizes that George Bush wears a ring. Another online contributor theorizes that the entire fellowship were gay hobbit-fetishists. What conclusions does she draw from these online contributions? This is the one that really got me. There's plenty of room for psychological ambivalence and complex motivations in such a personality, as long as you don't think the numbers equal the personality. Nuh uh. A fellowship is a bunch of fellows. Perfectly proper terminology. Nuh uh. Plenty of women use computers. Does she really think we're buying this? Look, it's not our fault that she's not raising her daughter right. My 8-year-old triplet cousins love Dungeons and Dragons; Jennifer and Maria are as into it as Patrick is. Is Ms. Turkell giving her daughter Barbie dolls and videos and play-makeup sets and junior baker ovens, and then not expecting the poor girl to pick up on social gender roles? Um, in literature, we call "sport death" "conflict." All stories have to have conflict, goes the traditional wisdom. Life in much literature is danger and triumph, chapter by chapter. Interesting -- but again, it's wrong. Tolkien's Manichean (sp?) duality between good and evil may be really appealing right now, but it's bizarre to credit this duality to computers. Surely Tolkien isn't as big an influence in our popular culture and rhetoric as, oh, say, the Bible; is she writing an article about how computer culture embraced the Bible for its binary world view, and how computer culture is now infecting presidential speeches through the guise of the Bible? The thing is, I love this kind of essay, in which the writer uses science or literature as a metaphor for society. It can be done really well. Which is why it annoys me when someone does it so poorly. Daniel (PS: Redmage, the NYT has a fantastic editorial page, whose contributors regularly include such luminaries as Bhoutros Bhoutros Ghali, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Margaret Thatcher, and Bill Clinton. Even the letters column tends to be pretty high-powered. Unfortunately, unless you're a big name somewhere, you're not likely to be printed. If Col_Pladoh wrote a response, OTOH....) [/QUOTE]

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