Meyer Barash

Bio: Meyer Barash is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Divine retribution. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 1948 citations.

Man, Play and Games

Abstract: According to Roger Caillois, play is "an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill, and often of money." In spite of this - or because of it - play constitutes an essential element of human social and spiritual development.In this classic study, Caillois defines play as a free and voluntary activity that occurs in a pure space, isolated and protected from the rest of life. Play is uncertain, since the outcome may not be foreseen, and it is governed by rules that provide a level playing field for all participants. In its most basic form, play consists of finding a response to the opponent's action - or to the play situation - that is free within the limits set by the rules.Caillois qualifies types of games - according to whether competition, chance, simulation, or vertigo (being physically out of control) is dominant - and ways of playing, ranging from the unrestricted improvisation characteristic of children's play to the disciplined pursuit of solutions to gratuitously difficult puzzles. Caillois also examines the means by which games become part of daily life and ultimately contribute to various cultures their most characteristic customs and institutions. Presented here in Meyer Barash's superb English translation, Man, Play and Games is a companion volume to Caillois's Man and the Sacred.

Man and the sacred

Abstract: Throughout the world, people believe that much of what they do is accidental, ordinary, and inconsequential, while other acts can bring on divine retribution or earn eternal grace. In "Man and the Sacred", Caillois demonstrates how humanity's ambiguous attitude toward the sacred influences behaviour and culture. Drawing on a diverse array of ethnographic contexts, including the sexual rituals of the Ba-Thong of South Africa and evidence drawn from aboriginal Australian, Eskimo, and traditional Chinese social systems, Caillois analyzes the role of the forbidden in the social cohesion of the group. He examines the character of the sacred in the light of specific instances of taboos and transgressions, exploring wide differences in attitudes toward diet and sex and extreme behaviours associated with the sacred, such as rapture and paroxysm. He also discusses the festival - an exuberant explosion following a period of strict repression--and compares its functions with those of modern war. A classic study of one of the most fundamental aspects of human social and spiritual life, Man and the Sacred - presented here in Meyer Barash's superb English translation - is a companion volume to Caillois's Man, Play and Games.

From game design elements to gamefulness: defining "gamification"

Abstract: Recent years have seen a rapid proliferation of mass-market consumer software that takes inspiration from video games. Usually summarized as "gamification", this trend connects to a sizeable body of existing concepts and research in human-computer interaction and game studies, such as serious games, pervasive games, alternate reality games, or playful design. However, it is not clear how "gamification" relates to these, whether it denotes a novel phenomenon, and how to define it. Thus, in this paper we investigate "gamification" and the historical origins of the term in relation to precursors and similar concepts. It is suggested that "gamified" applications provide insight into novel, gameful phenomena complementary to playful phenomena. Based on our research, we propose a definition of "gamification" as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.

Games, Motivation, and Learning: A Research and Practice Model:

Abstract: Although most agree that games can be engaging and that games can be instructive, there is little consensus regarding the essential characteristics of instructional games. Implicit in the research literature is the notion that if we pair instructional content with certain game features, we can harness the power of games to engage users and achieve desired instructional goals. In this article, the authors present an input-process- output model of instructional games and learning that elaborates (a) the key features of games that are of interest from an instructional perspective; (b) the game cycle of user judgments, behavior, and feedback that is a hallmark of engagement in game play; and (c) the types of learning outcomes that can be achieved. The authors discuss the implications of this approach for the design and implementation of effective instruc- tional games.

Defining gamification: a service marketing perspective

Abstract: During recent years "gamification" has gained significant attention among practitioners and game scholars. However, the current understanding of gamification has been solely based on the act of adding systemic game elements into services. In this paper, we propose a new definition for gamification, which emphases the experiential nature of games and gamification, instead of the systemic understanding. Furthermore, we tie this definition to theory from service marketing because majority of gamification implementations aim towards goals of marketing, which brings to the discussion the notion of how customer / user is always ultimately the creator of value. Since now, the main venue for academic discussion on gamification has mainly been the HCI community. We find it relevant both for industry practitioners as well as for academics to study how gamification can fit in the body of knowledge of existing service literature because the goals and the means of gamification and marketing have a significant overlap.

Edgework: A Social Psychological Analysis of Voluntary Risk Taking

Abstract: While there seems to be general agreement among members of contemporary American society about the value of reducing threats to individual well-being, there are may who actively seek experiences that involve a high potential for personal injury or death. High-risk sports such as hang gliding, skydiving, scuba diving, rock climbing, and the like have enjoyed unprecedented growth in the past several decades even as political institutions in Western societies have sought to reduce the risks of injury in the workplace and elsewhere. The contradiction between the public agenda to reduce the risk of injury and death and the private agenda to increase such risks deserves th attention of sociologists. A literature review is presented that points to a number of shortcomings in existing studies, most of which are associated with the psychological reductionism that predominates in this area of study. An effort is made to provide a sociological account of voluntary risk taking by (1) introducing a new classifying concept- edgework-based on numerous themes emerging from primary and secondary data on risk taking and (2) explaining edgework in terms of the newly emerging social psychological perspective produced from the synthesis of the Marxian and Meadian frameworks. The concept of edgework highlights the most sociologically relevant features of voluntary risk taking, while the connections between various aspects of risk-taking behaviour and structural characteristic of modern American society at both the micro and macro levels. This approach ties together such factors as political economic variables, at one end of the continuum, and individual sensations and feelings, at the other end.

Television and everyday life

Abstract: 1. Television, Ontology and the Transitional Object 2. Television and a Place Called Home 3. The Suburbanization of the Public Sphere 4. The Tele-Technological System 5. Television and Consumption 6. On the Audience 7. Television, Technology and Everyday Life References