Aug 11

Jung on Art, Games, and Fantasy

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Games and Jung, Playstates
“One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves.” – C.G. Jung   What does Jung mean in this quote? Why would other despise the invention of a good game? Is it that games require instincts and ‘men’ are in denial of said instincts? Is it because it is one of the hardest things to do? I can only imagine that Artists will resent this quote. I will agree with Jung. I think that good games are very hard to create. They are hard to create in large part because they requires that the designer understand that instinctive something about themselves. Its fascinating that Jung did not say that good games required good rules or mechanics. Instead he said it was about self-knowledge, and not just any kind of self-knowledge – instinctive self-knowledge. But isn’t Art also about self-knowledge? A way to explore one’s self? Jung had this to say:   “Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person […]

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Aug 06

Games Are Primarily About Transformation

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Games and Jung
Note: This is an open letter to Daniel Cook at LostGarden.com. All replies are welcome. Dear Dan, I am responding to your article ‘Shadow Emotions and Primary Emotions‘ which was shared in response to my Twitter inquiry: @danctheduck Hmm… I’m fascinated. I will write you a blog-letter with my own understanding of what you wrote. I think Jung can help. — Chris Billows (@Doc_Surge) July 6, 2015 In your blog post, you state that there are two kinds of emotions: Primary and Shadow. Primary emotions come from Games, while Shadow emotions derive from Art. I am not enthusiastic about these labels since you are clearly stating that Primary emotions possesses greater depth than Shadow emotions. Because emotions are not objectively measurable, I am not convinced that its possible to say that one set of emotions is deeper than another. Labels aside, your insight into the different emotional timbres of Games and Art is worth a deeper look. Through simple observation alone, we see that the act of participating in any game is far different than perusing an art gallery or reading a book. The level of engagement and stake in a game is far greater. But how do these different […]
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