This article relates to a game, being developed by Shiny Ogre Games, based on "The Twelves Virtues of Rationality" by Eliezer Yudkowsky.

The sixth virtue is empiricism. The roots of knowledge are in observation and its fruit is prediction. What tree grows without roots? What tree nourishes us without fruit? If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? One says, “Yes it does, for it makes vibrations in the air.” Another says, “No it does not, for there is no auditory processing in any brain.” Though they argue, one saying “Yes”, and one saying “No”, the two do not anticipate any different experience of the forest. Do not ask which beliefs to profess, but which experiences to anticipate. Always know which difference of experience you argue about. Do not let the argument wander and become about something else, such as someone’s virtue as a rationalist. Jerry Cleaver said: “What does you in is not failure to apply some high-level, intricate, complicated technique. It’s overlooking the basics. Not keeping your eye on the ball.” Do not be blinded by words. When words are subtracted, anticipation remains. --The Twelve Virtues of Rationality, EliezerYudkowsky

 

Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. --Wikipedia

We can write whole books about empiricism, describing what it is, why it's useful, and how it works.  We can use an innumerable amount of words to describe the nuanced techniques involved in thinking empirically about a problem.  Words are certainly valuable for describing things, but can gameplay describe a thing more effectively?

Our brains are pattern-seeking machines.  We like figuring things out, it's a survival mechanism.  Our brains release endorphins when we decode the noise of our environment.

Games more or less consist of a series  of interesting challenges (or patterns), with mechanics that allow the player to figure out the challenges (or decode the noise).   Decoding noise is what our brains do all the time, when we find patterns in the noise, we cache those for later reference.  We do this because it is fun.

As Raph Koster famously said in his book, A Theory of Fun:  "Fun is just another word for learning",  because of this, gameplay can be expressive.   By designing the challenges so that they evoke your various modes of thinking, and then setting those challenges into a narrative where the player assumes a role and is allowed to explore the system within the constraints of that role, a game can allow the player to experience the application of a concept.

In the Empiricism level, we are trying to create a puzzle that requires empirical thinking to solve.   That is, the player can only solve the puzzle if they are able to draw on their experiences and observations both within the game and without to make accurate predictions about how the puzzle elements should behave.  In this puzzle, we do not try to trick or mislead the player, we do not require the player to react quickly, there is no violence, and the player cannot die.  We give the player the freedom to experiment with the puzzle, and all we ask is that the player think empirically about the world presented by the puzzle.

If all goes as planned, the player will solve the puzzle not through logical-deduction, process of elimination, or wild guessing, but by empiricism.  They will do this without a single word of instruction or narrative, and they will grasp the concept on a deeper level because of it.  Hopefully.

Here's some art:

This post is about the development of our game based on Eliezer Yudkowsky's "The Twelve Virtues of Rationality".

Are games art?

It's an interesting question, but it seems that most people who answer that question in the affirmative are--intentionally or not--subscribing to the "hybrid art" view.  That is, that games are art because they combine story-telling, music, and visual style; interaction with the system of the game is in service to the storyline, music, and visual style.

I don't like that.  Here is why:

"Art" in general is creative expression through a medium. The hybrid-art view treats gameplay as the icing on the narrative-musical-visual cake.  When it should be that gameplay is the cake, and everything else is the icing.

Gameplay, or interaction with the system of the game, is a  medium for artistic expression, just like paint is for paintings.  I don't think anyone can deny that interaction with a gun during a hostile situation reeks havoc on our emotions, or that interaction with a loved one can run the emotional gamut.  Interaction is powerful.

Games can take advantage of the power of interaction to be expressive.  The art of the storyline, music, and visuals ought to be secondary to the art of the gameplay.

Twelve Virtues

I believe that gameplay is a very powerful way to learn, and so the single most important design principle for our current project is expression through gameplay.  We want to convey the meaning of each virtue through gameplay. The player should be able examine the method by which they interact with the game to learn the meaning behind the virtue.

For example:

In our Curiosity level which is where the game starts, the player must follow a mysterious cat that appears.  Very early in the level, the player is faced with a "point of no return".  If they jump down to the ground, they can't ever go back to the starting area.  They must choose to follow the cat, or stay in their "comfort zone" so to speak.  They must embrace their curiosity, or ignore it.  If they choose to follow the cat, they will eventually discover a much larger area full of mysteries to be solved.

Hello Less Wrong, this is my first post (kind of).  I belong to a small game development company called Shiny Ogre Games.  We have a vested interest in making games that, as Johnathan Blow puts it, "speak to the human condition."  I am here to announce our next project for you.

In this announcement for Shiny Ogre's next project, There are two points to address.  Firstly:

Thought is a process like any other. The methods by which we think can be identified, specified, defined, categorized and even predicted.  One method of thinking that has been thoroughly defined is rationality.  Many would consider rationality (i.e. the careful exercise of reason), to be an essential path toward enlightenment (hence this).

Secondly: The objective, logical, and mechanical approach to reason that rationality takes, meshes nicely with game development, because any well-defined system can be turn into a game.  A game is a system composed of players making decisions while considering objectives, governed by a rule set.

Where there is no decision there can be no game.  Where decisions matter, a game can make them matter more.

Therefore, rationality is a core component of game playing.

Games are learning tools.  They are perhaps the best learning tool available to humans, because they invoke our biological tendency to play.

With that said, our announcement:

We're making a video game about rationality.

The game will explore rationality in the context of Eliezer Yudkowsky's "Twelve Virtues of Rationality" (which we have permission for).  From a narrative perspective the game takes place inside a mind on the brink of epiphany and will heavily feature themes from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave".

Yudkowsky's twelve virtues are the basis of the twelve levels in the game, and will feature each virtue in metaphorical form.  The underlying message here is that if you master all of the twelve virtues (by completing all of the twelve levels), you will achieve 'epiphany'.

The game is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle-platformer.  The player assumes the role of a figure that represents his/her own conscious mind while it constructs machines (ala "Incredible Machine") that are a metaphor for the thoughts and concepts that one would create while meditating on a complex problem.

We will update our progress and share development information on our website here, as well as with posts on Less Wrong, our twitter account, and the game's website.

You can expect discussions of design decisions for this project to be written frequently from the angle of game design theory.  We may also release a small documentary film of the development process after the release of the game.

A release date has been set (and its not too long from now), but I don't want to announce it just yet.

Here is some concept art for our Curiosity metaphor (you can view more art at our website linked above):

If you're interested, just upvote and/or comment.  If you have any specific queries related to this project or about game design in general, it would be cool if you went here.

We will be sharing our progress as we make this game over the next few months.  So pay attention to Less Wrong and/or shinyogre.com for updates.

Thanks!