The future of human automation
While the connection between violent behavior and games is still being debated, there's little question that games do teach us, if nothing else, how to play games. I've spoken with educators who feel that games engender a kind of "game mentality" in children - a trait that probably used to be known simply as being manipulative. With this in mind, I was amazed to see the following headline: "Script For Escaping Cingular Contracts Without Fee, Based On New Arbitration Clause."
What you'll find there is a step-by-step walkthrough of how to get out of a cellphone contract, complete with everything from the CEO of Cingular's phone number, to legal citations ("In Cunningham vs. Fleetwood Homes of Georgia... the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that..."). All the arguments are structured there with relevant citations. Presumably all you'd have to do is call up Cingular and, well, run the script.
In a way, this is just a more edited, practical version of the old self-help step-by-step program. It would be interesting to see if this broadens though. I could see an entire collection of such scripts - everything from lowering your car insurance to breaking up with your significant other. Do you ever get the feeling we're adapting to computers faster than they are adapting to us?
