Why can something so trivial be as of importance and even greater than the wheel or even the smallpox vaccine? The answer is a simple one but you must open your mind; video games are responsible for creating more imaginative minds than any wheel or cell phone have ever created. Modern technologies have allowed dreamers to create their own 3d worlds, universes if you will, that are beginning to rival the size of our own Planet. If God is thought to have the biggest imagination of all, clearly he gave us the ability to think big, but we lacked the tools until recently.

Early man showed signs of artistic thought and thinking outside the box with pictures telling great stories on the sides of ancient cave walls; would we have known about their artistic side if the cave or material they wrote with didn’t exist? Of course not, just like we wouldn’t know Mozart was a great piano player, or Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player ever if the piano or basketball were not created. It is the inventions that allow people the most freedom to express themselves; who they are, what they think, and what they dream about. Never in the history of man has a tool allowed one to express themselves so emphatically other than Video games.

In a world where we are limited to 100 years or less, video games allow people to explore vast universes, join hunting parties, make friendships, establish enemies, engage in combat, lose battles, gain great victories, and still live to fight another day. It is the greatest teacher of all that encourages trial and error, and thinking outside the box. Has a wheel ever inspired a kid to dream of another universe, or find out if he/she is a relentless explorer, an achiever, a socialite, or perhaps even a great guild leader? 

It is easy to look at a game and judge it at face value, as just a fun toy to play with, while looking at the wheel as the greatest architectural advancement in the modern world. I simply ask what’s more important: To understand architecture and the intricacies of the wheel and shapes or to be able to question the very thing discovered and simulate your own virtual empire with all different shapes and sizes.

Imagine if our ancestors had the ability to play Eve Online two-thousand years ago. They would be so excited about space travel and the virtual space they played in, they would probably have dreamt up a better space shuttle than we currently use. Only a handful of people dream about actually entering space, and this is why Nasa isn’t advancing as fast as it could. What if every child in America was exposed to mock simulations of space travel, space exploration, in a 3d environment that would rival real life? The outcome would be a society hell-bent on traveling outside our solar system. Those children would grow into adults, adult explorers, leading the way to exploration all because of a spark, a seed, of imagination implanted in their psyche since they discovered their virtual space.

Is it any wonder why our society craves violence and misery as we are exposed to it constantly as children? We seek out in our adult life what we know to be true as children. Thankfully video games are here to save our minds from “reality” and allow us once again to think of possibilities and a world where boundaries become laughable and society becomes free willed.

So log onto World Of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Ultima Online, Shadowbane, DAoC, Tabula Rasa, or perhaps Eve Online, without feeling guilty for expressing your inner self. The wheel’s time to shine has come and passed…it is now merely a tool under my chair to wheel me closer to my magical box that lets me think ever so freely.

Matt Anton is an avid gamer and debates game issues at http://www.characterplanet.com . He also updates his blog over at http://www.characterplanet.com/GameBlogs ; He encourages those interested in virtual worlds/gaming to chat at http://www.characterplanet.com/forums .

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