The document discusses harnessing the potential of memes to change society by linking them to mobile games. It proposes shifting the gaming paradigm to one inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's principles of expressing genuine ideas studied from nature to create thoroughly good games. Digital social networking manifests old behaviors like accumulating social capital through relationships and grooming/gossiping, which could support this paradigm shift.

1. Whilst
Susan
Blackmore
provided
an
over
view
of
the
concepts
of
memes
my
aim
in
this
talk
is
is
to
consider
how
we
can
possibly
harness
the
poten:al
of
memes
to
change
society
rather
that
take
on
her
matrix
like
vision
whereby
we
all
take
the
red
pill.
My
proposi:on
is
we
do
this
by
linking
them
with
mobile
and
games
Why
Mobile?
Susan’s
view
of
the
us
becoming
Cyborg
is
already
here
we
are
already
augmented
by
our
mobile
phones.
There
are
currently
over
4
billion
phones
on
the
planet
and
whilst
four
babies
are
born
every
second
there
are
27
new
phones
manufactured
Why
games?
Although
the
economic
significance
games
has
been
acknowledged
many
of
discourses
which
s:ll
surround
them
rests
of
addic:on
and
violence
prevalent
in
certain
genres
whereas
games
have
always
embraced
a
wide
range
of
ac:vi:es
and
play
has
always
been
acknowledged
as
playing
a
significant
role
in
society.
Part
of
the
problem
appears
to
me
as
the
disassocia:on
of
games
and
play.
All
of
us
within
the
games
industry
must
bare
part
of
the
responsibility
for
this
as
we
have
failed
to
engage
effec:vely
in
these
debates
oJen
reveling
in
our
poli:cal
incorrectness
and
have
been
too
insular
and
failed
to
accept
a
broadening
of
games
and
in
some
cases
aKaching
such
ideas
To
this
end
I
have
decided
call
for
a
shiJ
in
the
paradigm
through
an
age
of
Pre-­‐
Raphaelite
gaming
1

2. Just
to
be
clear
I
was
thinking
of
the
Ar:s:c
Brotherhood
founded
in
1848
rather
than
some
veiled
reference
to
one
of
the
Teenage
Mutant
Ninja
Turtles.
Its
not
that
games
has
always
be
seen
as
separate
from
its
importance
was
realized
through
the
work
of
Huizinga
and
Callois
before
the
advent
of
computer
games.
Indeed
this
representa:on
of
the
mo:va:ons
within
a
Magic
circle
draws
directly
from
this
work.
The
Brotherhood's
early
doctrines
were
expressed
in
four
declara:ons:
1.
To
have
genuine
ideas
to
express;
2.
To
study
Nature
(LIFE)
aKen:vely,
so
as
to
know
how
to
express
them;
3.
To
sympathize
with
what
is
direct
and
serious
and
hear`elt
in
previous
art,
to
the
exclusion
of
what
is
conven:onal
and
self-­‐parodying
and
learned
by
rote;
4.
And,
most
indispensable
of
all,
to
produce
thoroughly
good
pictures
and
statues
(GAMES)
These
doctrines
would
seem
a
good
place
to
start
if
we
are
to
allow
games
and
gaming
to
evolve
to
realize
their
full
poten:al
2

3. These
images
represent
examples
of
the
changing
face
of
gaming
and
each
provides
an
alterna:ve
to
the
cliqued
view
of
the
gamer
on
my
previous
slide.
Persuasive
Games
(Ian
Bogust)
Persuasive
games
influence
players
to
take
ac:on
through
game-­‐play.
Games
communicate
differently
than
other
media;
they
not
only
deliver
messages,
but
also
simulate
experiences
and
rather
than
beingjust
a
leisure
ac:vity,
games
can
also
become
powerful
rhetorical
tools.
Alternate
Reality
Games
An
alternate
reality
game
(ARG),
is
an
interac:ve
narra:ve
that
uses
the
real
world
as
a
pla`orm,
oJen
involving
mul:ple
media
and
game
elements,
to
tell
a
story
that
may
be
affected
by
par:cipants'
ideas
or
ac:ons.
Within
these
examples
I
have
purposefully
avoided
using
the
terms
‘serious
games’
or
‘meaningful
game’s
as
I
believe
these
terms
do
nothing
to
broaden
the
debate
and
generally
seem
to
silo
certain
genres
as
being
‘worthy’
of
academic
study
whereas
I
believe
all
games
should
be
treated
seriously
including
the
likes
of
Call
of
Duty
or
Gears
of
War
3

4. Whilst
digital
social
networking
is
really
just
a
different
manifesta:on
of
old
behaviour
I
think
its
useful
in
rela:on
my
proposal
to
consider
it
in
terms
of
Social
Capital,
Grooming
and
Gossip
Although
discussions
of
social
capital
are
complex
and
many
defini:ons
exist
here
I
would
simply
describe
it
as
the
resources
accumulated
through
the
rela/onships
among
people.
Researchers
oJen
divide
social
capital
into
between
bridging
and
bonding
social
capital.
The
former
is
linked
"weak
:es,"
which
are
loose
connec:ons
between
individuals
who
may
provide
useful
informa:on
or
new
perspec:ves
for
one
another.
Alterna:vely,
bonding
social
capital
is
found
between
individuals
in
:ghtly-­‐knit,
emo:onally
close
rela:onships,
such
as
family
and
close
friends.
Grooming
and
Gossip
I
would
argue
go
hand
in
hand
with
these
online
rela:onships.
In
social
animals
such
as
humans
social
grooming
is
an
ac:vity
in
which
individuals
in
a
group
clean
or
maintain
each
other's
body
or
appearance.
We
seen
similar
social
ac:vi:es
in
online.
Gossip
is
not
a
trivial
pas:me:
it
is
essen:al
to
human
social,
psychological
and
even
physical
well-­‐being
and
is
oJen
regarded
as
form
of
social
grooming.
4

5. Mobile
phones
are
already
a
great
social
device
and
to
get
the
best
out
of
them
for
games
we
must
exploit
the
uniquely
mobile
experience
Ambient
Play
Ambient
play
can
be
considered
as
games
whereby
players
can
act
asynchronously
stepping
in
and
out
of
the
magic
circle
to
engage
in
other
ac:vi:es
without
detriment
to
the
game
itself.
Example
TxtBook
Emergence
An
emergent
behavior
or
emergent
property
can
appear
when
a
number
of
simple
en::es
(agents)
operate
in
an
environment,
forming
more
complex
behaviors
as
a
collec:ve.
If
emergence
happens
over
disparate
size
scales,
then
the
reason
is
usually
a
causal
rela:on
across
different
scales.
Example
Four
in
a
Row
5

6. Playces
The
big
advantage
with
mobile
is
that
players
we
can
define
new
magic
circles
in
allsorts
of
loca:ons
or
what
my
friend
and
game
designer
Steffen
Walz
calls
playces
Examples
FAM,
PAC-­‐LAN
Tilt
Racer
Intamacy
The
power
of
physical
intamcy
I
would
link
back
to
the
phsycal
grooming
previously
discused
and
whilst
mobile
may
not
immediately
appear
to
support
such
ac:vity
NFC
could
change
this.
Example
Pass
the
Bomb
6

7. Collec:ve
Intelligence
Collec:ve
intelligence
is
a
shared
or
group
intelligence
that
emerges
from
the
collabora:on
and
compe::on
of
many
individuals.
Collec:ve
intelligence
appears
in
a
wide
variety
of
forms
of
consensus
decision
making
in
bacteria,
animals,
humans,
and
computer
networks.
As
yet
we
haven't
seen
a
good
example
of
this
on
mobile
but
one
can
imagine
TwiKer
could
be
u:lized
to
create
such
a
phenomenon
if
carefully
designed
to
allow
asynchronous
play.
LOLAPPs
and
NANO
LOLAPPS
are
what
I
would
consider
as
an
evolved
form
of
the
internet
LOLCAT
whereby
people
dressed
their
cats
up
in
strange
costumes
and
took
pictures
of
them.
They
main
purpose
would
be
to
make
you
LOL
or
smile
and
are
generally
very
short
lived
pieces
of
entertainment
or
NANOFUN.
The
Apple
App
store
is
heavily
propagated
by
such
applica:ons
which
judging
by
the
volume
seem
to
be
the
most
popular.
7

8. Serendipity
Serendipity
is
the
effect
by
which
one
accidentally
discovers
something
fortunate,
especially
while
looking
for
something
en:rely
unrelated.
Mobile
phones
offer
a
unique
opportunity
for
crea:ng
serendipity.
Example
Mobslingers
Physicality
Here
I
am
using
the
concept
of
Physicality
to
describe
the
no:on
of
using
a
physical
ar:fact
to
represent
your
par:cipa:on
in
a
digital
ac:vity.
Examples
DS
BuKons,
Wii
BuKons,
3D
Glasses,
Gedda
Headz
8

9. Whilst
I
have
discussed
many
aspects
of
sociability
both
in
and
out
of
gaming
environments
I
am
conscious
that
as
yet
I
have
not
offered
a
solu:on
so
here
its
is!
Games
as
social
informa:on
appliances
capable
of
suppor:ng
or
genera:ng
memes
which
can
be
harnessed
to
produce
social
change
The
term
informa(on
appliance
(IA)
was
coined
by
Jef
Raskin
around
but
really
came
to
the
fore
in
the
work
of
Don
Norman
through
his
book
The
Invisible
Computer.
The
book
relates
to
the
increasing
complexity
and
bad
usability
of
computers
and
proposes
a
more
user
centred
design
approach
the
main
characteris:cs
of
IAs
should
be:
Simplicity:
The
complexity
of
the
appliance
is
the
task
not
the
tool.
The
technology
is
invisible
Versa:lity:
Appliances
are
designed
to
allow
and
encourage
novel,
crea:ve
interac:on.
Pleasurability:
Products
should
be
pleasurable,
fun,
and
enjoyable.
A
joy
to
use
a
pleasure
to
own.
9

10. If
rather
than
consider
games
as
isolated
services
where
we
must
supply
or
contain
all
the
social
ac:vity
and
outcomes
within
the
constraints
of
the
game
world
or
games
service
we
should
treat
them
as
social
informa:on
appliances
is
social
capital
which
can
be
fed
into
exis:ng
social
networks
to
generates
memes.
If
the
game
is
designed
cleverly
then
this
can
be
used
to
aid
social
change
In
short
if
we
can
harness
the
:me
and
emo:on
of
people
playing
games
through
mobile
and
feed
it
into
Tim
Burners-­‐Lees
primordial
internet
soup
they
maybe
we
can
change
the
world!
10

11. SCATTER!
11