Tremblaye’s Weblog

Johnson’s book “Everything that is Bad is Good for You” made me examine my opinions about the media. After playing the game Hapland, I saw Johnson’s points very clearly. Without even thinking about what I was doing I was trying to figure out how to win this game. I was pushing every point and “probing” the area for new and different actions. Every time a man died in the game I was full of anger because I wanted to win. The sense of gratification was gone because I would not defeat the game, I was defeated. I had done all this “work” but one move erased all of it. I then made a list of what were the right actions and Johnson describes this as telescoping. I did many of the actions Johnson spoke of without trying to and this Johnson also describes in his book. There is a “natural reward circuitry” (34) which people act according to this. People are hedonistic, pleasure seeking, and Johnson says that people play these games to receive rewards thus receiving pleasure. I even went so far as saying “I do not like to figure games by myself. I was frustrated but then I was trying to beat the game...I feel like if I had a cheat book in front of me I would have used it. I was so desperate to beat it that I would have kept on trying.” Johnson talks about how the games become addictive and when rereading what I wrote after playing the game I can see that I was addicted. Once I leave this class, I will go back to my room and with the answers win the game. I feel once I do that I will have beaten it, even though I did not do it on my own. I really do not care as along as I did it.