11–20 of 61 posts
AWS expert this, Microsoft that, and now the engineering regulatory body has micro-certifications and badges for CPD. I can get a micro-badge that says I’m good at project management, yay!
I find the idea that books don't have progress bars to be very amusing. Have the author never looked at a book with a bookmark in it from the side? :)
> Books don't even have a progress bar on them (at least physical ones don't yet) I find the idea that books don't have progress bars to be very amusing. Have the author never looked at a book with a bookmark in it from the side? :)
> Books don't even have a progress bar on them (at least physical ones don't yet) I find the idea that books don't have progress bars to be very amusing. Have the author never looked at a book with a bookmark in it from the side? :)
You don't even need a bookmark. Just open a book. It is a progress bar in itself.
It's clear that the trend is about capitalizing on this addictive behavior, however. Is it possible to reject it without becoming depressingly jaded in the process? That's something I haven't been as successful with. Limiting Internet time is probably the best thing here, and you shouldn't base your self-worth on anything that involves fake Internet points.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adrian-hon/youve-be...
I've been designing games for twenty years, and I'm CEO at Six to Start, the co-creators of Zombies, Run!, one of the most popular examples of gamification to date. I also originally trained as an experimental psychologist and neuroscientist.
The most prevalent forms of gamification, including the ones mentioned in this link, are ultimately based on behaviourism as a theory of motivation. It's not that points and badges and levels don't work – clearly they do, particularly for some people – it's that there are other ways people motivate themselves and others, and the better forms of gamification harness them.
I grew out of that stuff by age 23 or so but wasn't automatic. At some point I had an epiphany that it was the most ridiculous form of pursuit. It's clear that the trend is about capitalizing on this addictive behavior, however. Is it possible to reject it without becoming depressingly jaded in the process? That's something I haven't been as successful with. Limiting Internet time is probably the best thing here, and…
Meanwhile, broader society (read: 19 year old girls) are fundamentally very susceptible to simplistic ranking strategies. HotOrNot, a grossly misogynistic, shallow, frankly evil concept piece built around ranking people's appearances, actually paved the way for everything that came after it in social media and online dating. The reason they're so susceptible is that they haven't had the experience of living in an offline world yet where they're seriously listened to and treated as something other than an object, or worse, an Object().
Mainly because it give this illusion that once you've "leveled up" in something, you'll stay at that level forever - like in video games. But the truth is that all skills need to be honed and maintained, or else they will falter. Anyone that's been active in sports, music, art, etc. know that maintenance is the key, and that even then, you will not stay at the same level forever.
Gamification can be good for people that need structure, clear goals, and measurable progression. But it can also lead to sacrificing understanding for the sake of speed and execution - if that makes any sense? And also false expectations of what it takes to become the very best at something.
The leetcode/technical interview "grinding" culture is full of this.