We All Level Up
In this episode we explore the similarities between how game characters level up and how we acquire skills in real life. Especially, we focus on school. In the early years of school students follow a fixed development path. Students adhere to a fairly standardized curriculum. Furthermore, there’s not much variety in course selection.
That all changes in college, however.
Episode Details

* Greetings and the introduction (00:54)
* Systems to level up in games (02:16)
* Regardless of the system, leveling up in a game tries to convey a single intent (05:10)
* Fixed character development paths; conversely, open-ended skill trees (08:44)
* Moving to the next grade in school is a direct parallel to gaining a level on a fixed path (11:21)
* Conversely, higher education is an open-ended development path (16:04)
* The pace of leveling up in games and life (22:26)
* In light of the parallel, can students be over-leveled? (28:09)
* Addressing feedback: No, I don’t have a 1200w power supply (33:16)
* SWS: Beer! Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewing (37:01)
* Finally, opening it up for feedback (44:06)

References

* The Critique of Pure Reason, by Immanuel Kant
* Arrogant Bastard on Beer Advocate
* Arrogant Bastard on RateBeer