Spiel-Automaten – virtueller Spiele-Kosmos: Der verautomatisierte Mensch

Abstract

The virtual universe of games is about the fear of loss of self. To escape this – as with historical game-machines – the uncontrollable, the unmanageable, the boundless and the mysterious, in short the real imponderables of life, are suppressed. Both worlds are the expression of a mechanistic worldview. Therefore, one has to critically-theoretically consider that Homo Ludens is all too easily exploited when playing is primarily aimed at programming those subjective utility-maximizing skills that are, in the short term, useful (according to their own underlying basic principles) to the prevailing values of political and economic systems; when playing is seen only as an economic category and players as mere consumers; or when playing is used to control and train unquestioned social rules, no matter what the cost.