Loved this one - you touched on one of my pet peeves with society at large, which is the war of escalation on hyperbole. We can't just be excited, we're super excited. It's not just a good game, it's the best game ever. It's not a decent 4 stars, it's 5 stars and would go higher if the lever moved, and I'll fight anyone who disagrees.
I wonder if part of this is due to the difficulty of being heard; there's a common trait of wanting to over egg the pudding if we don't feel our case will be taken on face value. It's everywhere - business cases where the world will end if we don't buy Product X, or the movie we trash because we had a mildly bad time but don't think Disney give a shit about our opinion (...spoilers: they probably don't).
The greatest form of respect we can show someone is to truly listen to their thoughts and opinions as if they might hold the key to something profound—because they probably do, even if they don’t realize it. In truth, we all do. We are made of the same matter, and by listening with openness, even when we disagree, we might help someone remember something deeper. If we engage with genuine questions and real curiosity, we return to the spirit of the Socratic dialogues. None of us have all the answers, but through honest inquiry and wonder, we can begin to find our way… hopefully.
Yes, people confuse objective reality and subjective opinions all the time. A dangerous trend I've noticed in society (beyond gaming) is that we are too accepting of points of view that deny facts. You can't have an "opinion" on whether climate change is happening or whether vaccines work, because those are facts. And it alarms me that we treat the affirmation of such facts, or their denial, as "choosing a side", as if both opinions were valid. One of these sides is as wrong as saying the Earth is flat.
On the other side of the coin, I think we should be more tolerant of people who have different opinions than us on issues where having different opinions is valid (e.g. issues of ethics like capital punishment, or how "progressive" we want to be as a society...or what games we like!). But we're in deep trouble as a society if we can't agree on what is real and what isn't.
Sorry for pushing this topic beyond gaming...but I think you bring up interesting points about the way we talk about everything!
Indeed, you’ve captured the spirit of our age with remarkable precision. We live not in the era of reasoned discourse, but of exaggerated performance. The ordinary must be made extraordinary, the satisfactory heralded as transcendent, lest it be lost in the great cacophony of digital self-expression. Hyperbole is no longer a rhetorical flourish—it is the very grammar of modern attention.
And yes, I do believe you’re right to point toward the root: a deep insecurity about being heard. In a world where algorithms reward spectacle, and nuance is often drowned beneath the waves of virality, many feel compelled to shout when a whisper would suffice. Thus, the quiet delight of a well-made game becomes “life-changing,” and a passable film becomes “an affront to cinema.”
In truth, such inflation debases our capacity for true wonder. When everything is the best thing ever, nothing truly is. As Aquinas might say, bonum est diffusivum sui—goodness spreads of its own accord. We need not gild every lily, nor scream our pleasures into the void.
Loved this one - you touched on one of my pet peeves with society at large, which is the war of escalation on hyperbole. We can't just be excited, we're super excited. It's not just a good game, it's the best game ever. It's not a decent 4 stars, it's 5 stars and would go higher if the lever moved, and I'll fight anyone who disagrees.
I wonder if part of this is due to the difficulty of being heard; there's a common trait of wanting to over egg the pudding if we don't feel our case will be taken on face value. It's everywhere - business cases where the world will end if we don't buy Product X, or the movie we trash because we had a mildly bad time but don't think Disney give a shit about our opinion (...spoilers: they probably don't).
The greatest form of respect we can show someone is to truly listen to their thoughts and opinions as if they might hold the key to something profound—because they probably do, even if they don’t realize it. In truth, we all do. We are made of the same matter, and by listening with openness, even when we disagree, we might help someone remember something deeper. If we engage with genuine questions and real curiosity, we return to the spirit of the Socratic dialogues. None of us have all the answers, but through honest inquiry and wonder, we can begin to find our way… hopefully.
Yes, people confuse objective reality and subjective opinions all the time. A dangerous trend I've noticed in society (beyond gaming) is that we are too accepting of points of view that deny facts. You can't have an "opinion" on whether climate change is happening or whether vaccines work, because those are facts. And it alarms me that we treat the affirmation of such facts, or their denial, as "choosing a side", as if both opinions were valid. One of these sides is as wrong as saying the Earth is flat.
On the other side of the coin, I think we should be more tolerant of people who have different opinions than us on issues where having different opinions is valid (e.g. issues of ethics like capital punishment, or how "progressive" we want to be as a society...or what games we like!). But we're in deep trouble as a society if we can't agree on what is real and what isn't.
Sorry for pushing this topic beyond gaming...but I think you bring up interesting points about the way we talk about everything!
These three books can really shape one’s approach on critiquing any subject matter, especially games.
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images by
Terry Barrett
Great post! I try to be aware of how I speak, while also being forgiving of how others talk
Indeed, you’ve captured the spirit of our age with remarkable precision. We live not in the era of reasoned discourse, but of exaggerated performance. The ordinary must be made extraordinary, the satisfactory heralded as transcendent, lest it be lost in the great cacophony of digital self-expression. Hyperbole is no longer a rhetorical flourish—it is the very grammar of modern attention.
And yes, I do believe you’re right to point toward the root: a deep insecurity about being heard. In a world where algorithms reward spectacle, and nuance is often drowned beneath the waves of virality, many feel compelled to shout when a whisper would suffice. Thus, the quiet delight of a well-made game becomes “life-changing,” and a passable film becomes “an affront to cinema.”
In truth, such inflation debases our capacity for true wonder. When everything is the best thing ever, nothing truly is. As Aquinas might say, bonum est diffusivum sui—goodness spreads of its own accord. We need not gild every lily, nor scream our pleasures into the void.