Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Walden: a Game





The Interactive Media Lab at USC is developing Walden, a game that simulates the experiment in living made by Thoreau at Walden Pond in 1845-47, allowing players to walk in his virtual footsteps, attend to the tasks of living a self-reliant existence, discover in the beauty of a virtual landscape the ideas and writings of this unique philosopher, and cultivate through the gameplay their own thoughts and responses to the concepts discovered there.  [read rest of article]

In the Class of Nonviolence we read Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" in lesson 7, and such a game would, of course, fit in well there. It would also complement lesson 8, where we discuss nonviolence and animals, but also usually talk about caring for the earth. His message of living simple and close to nature fits in well here. Can't wait until it's released!

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