It's been a little while since I published my blog titled, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Playing Video Games" - which is a parody of the popular book of short essays written by author Robert Fulghum that explains how the world would be a better place if adults adhered to the same basic rules as children. You know...sharing, being kind to one another, cleaning up after yourself...that sort of philosophy. My version included points like, "eight hours of a good night's sleep is four hours of wasted game play; if no one knows you're cheating it's still cheating and the path less traveled is less traveled for a reason; there is a horde of orcs waiting to ambush you." Well, having succumbed to the addictive game play of Minecraft, I feel that blog is worth revisiting and modifying to incorporate my newly discovered belief that...

"All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Playing Minecraft".

(BTW - that blog remains one of my all-time favorites and includes input from various community members - if you have the time, I think you might like it.)

Of course this isn't going to be a complete list (I'll keep it to my 3 page limit...okay...okay...maybe 3.5 pages) and I hope others can inject their own relevant ideas (the funnier the better) to supplement what I've collected here. I'm all about team collaboration, so feel free to join in. In complete random and non-sensible order:

If You Dream It You Can Do It

I'm usually fairly reserved with sharing personal information about myself (I try to minimize how much I bore you all) but here's a little factoid for you - I am an Army brat and was born in a little military hospital outside of the Panama Canal Zone. Did you know the United States government spent the equivalent of $8,600,000,000 USD to fund the construction of the canal...and that 27,500 people died in the process due to the environment and working conditions? Many said it was an impossible feat, this canal to connect the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. Obviously we know that claim wasn't true. With perseverance and determination, the canal opened for business in 1914 (construction started in 1880).

Why do I share that with you?

(not sure who created this, but it is impressive)

Minecraft has this inexplicable and uncanny way of providing you with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, which is totally bizarre, given the simplistic nature of the game. With no real task to complete (although it does have an achievement system) or quest to fulfill, how does it accomplish this? The game allows you to undertake feats some might consider impossible. Digging as deep or building as high as the game will allow (which far exceeds what I expected it to) provides a rewarding sense of accomplishment; couple that with a monumental task such as cutting a pass dozens of blocks deep through a mountain range or connecting two landmasses with an underwater glass tunnel and the game truly makes you feel like, "If you dream it you can do it." I decided to build a pyramid of sand and cobblestone and just randomly picked the number 50 as the base. Once I started laying out a 50 x 50 block square to construct my pyramid, I had my doubts. I thought I aimed too high and this was too big of a task. After hours of game play spent gathering resources and toiling over block placement, my pyramid was finally constructed, and it is truly a sight to behold - it has an entrance tunnel in the bottom that spills into a glass cube room with low level light due to minimal torch placement. Since the pyramid is hollow and very dark, it spawns a ton of bad guys that you can view from the safety of the glass room. More than most games, Minecraft empowers you to not only dream big, but also gives you the ability to achieve it.

There Aren't Enough Hours In The Day

Minecraft incorporates a day/night cycle that is roughly 20 minutes long. It's amazing how frequent this transition occurs and nearly every time the sun starts to set you can hear me screech, "Wha? It's nighttime already?" There are a few disadvantages with working through the night, the obvious being it's dark and harder to see unless you throw torches around everywhere. The biggest concern is nighttime is when all the bad guys come out, so it's safer to stay indoors (or underground) or go to bed and resume working in the morning. Wandering far from home collecting resources at night is risky business. But just like in real life, sometimes if you don't get your work done during daytime working hours you might have to pull an all nighter.

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

Following up on the heels of the previous entry, if you do find yourself working late and pulling an all nighter or maybe you're out messing around after midnight, be aware that nothing good happens after midnight. It's a proven fact. The drunks are out. The weirdos are out. The cops are out...AND...the full gambit of Minecraft bad guys are out. You've been warned.

Measure Twice Cut Once

I always heard this expression growing up and never really understood it. I always believed if you just paid attention the first time you measured, then when you made the cut it would be correct. Inevitably though, I always managed to screw this up. It would explain how I almost failed shop class. It would also explain some of my struggles in Minecraft (but the game is helping me overcome this problem). In most cases, it's not a huge deal if you place a block of some sort in the wrong place...just dig it up and reposition it...but when you build something massive (in my case, a lighthouse) and take a step back to view it in its entirety, it looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa...so you count blocks and confirm that it is indeed...crooked. It's usually at that point I remember that sage advice to measure twice and cut once. Part of the problem is whenever I count out something, I'm wired to use even numbers; but obviously when building a structure that you want to have a dead center, a door for example, then you need to use odd numbers. Sigh. I'm getting better...and Minecraft is certainly helping with that - through trial and lots of error. Lots.

Use The Right Tool For The Job

Speaking of measuring and cutting (and shop class), another pearl of wisdom I learned from Minecraft is "use the right tool for the job". How many of you have ever used a screwdriver as a pry bar or chisel; or a crescent wrench as a hammer? Tsk Tsk. Guilty as charged. I know this in real life but seems like every time I crack open the tool box I break this helpful tip. Sure, I make excuses, like the toolbox is so far away or it will only take a second or surely it won't cause any damage THIS time. Well, Minecraft is no different. Just because I can dig through sand and cobblestone with my bare hands doesn't mean I should (it definitely takes a lot longer). Sometimes I'm lazy and I don't want to go all the way back to my workbench to create the right tool for the job, so I'll just improvise. It's SO much faster and a lot more efficient to use the tool designed for a specific function; axes chop wood, shovels dig gravel, sand and dirt; and pick axes break down stone...just because you might be able to interchange implements and still complete the task, doesn't mean it's a good idea. We're advised not to do it in real life, and Minecraft is no different. Use the right tool for the job and not only will you maximum the use of your resources, you'll save yourself a truckload of time too.

There Are Varying Degrees of OCD

Dictionary.com defines Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as a psychiatric disorder characterized by the persistent intrusion of repetitive, unwanted thoughts which may be accompanied by compulsive actions, such as handwashing. The individual cannot voluntarily prevent these thoughts or actions, which interfere with normal functioning.

Some might argue that hoarding is a type of OCD. Maybe. Others might think being a perfectionist is a type of OCD. Perhaps. I'm not a doctor and although medic is my favorite class to play in Team Fortress 2, I have never claimed to know anything about the mind and how it works. What I do know is I had a Navigator (Navigations Officer) respond to my demand for perfection by telling me, "You can't expect perfection from everyone. Do you know what the opposite of perfect is? The opposite of perfect is good enough."

I'm not quite sure the point he was trying to make, other than nothing is or will ever be perfect, so quit trying to achieve it. As long as it's good enough, that should be okay.

Meh. Not sure I agree with that, but whatever.

I mention all that to say that if you don't think you have OCD, Minecraft will reveal whether you do; and if you know you do, Minecraft will reveal just how bad you have it. Some gamers have to have everything perfect - like me. My storage trunks are all logically organized and sorted - I have one for sand and sandstone, one for cobblestone and smooth stone, one for gravel, one for tools and one for miscellaneous items. When I discover a cave and start exploring it, I often carve out the caverns into perfectly aligned walls; if a creeper blows a hole into the terrain I have to come back and level it out...torch placement is a big one for me. Perfectly spaced and aligned, all nice and neat like.

All signs of a perfectionist or OCD? I dunno, call it what you want, but I have it.

In the other corner, you have those who are not perfectionists (the bane of my Minecraft existence). They throw all of their resources in a storage trunk with no regard to organization; they dig, carve, cut and excavate with sheer randomness. They'll build something and abandon it, leaving behind and eye sore. They strip the land of its digital resources without even considering that one day they might cut down all of the trees if they don't replant the saplings that fall. They will occupy a cave or cavern and leave behind obnoxious traces of their presence. And torch placement...OMG...their torch placement. They might as well have given a stack of torches to a zubat to set up.

What Minecraft has taught me is that these people exist in real life too (technically I already knew that), and whether you are on the extreme right or the extreme left, both are not without flaw and their own intrinsic challenges. The optimum location is somewhere in the middle. You know...the opposite of perfect is good enough.

Stuff

Maybe you've heard of George Carlin and seen his routine on "stuff" - but it's actually quite humorous, partly because of the truth behind the message. Essentially he talks about how we spend our whole life acquiring stuff...and we buy houses just so we can store more stuff.

I don't know what it is about humans...not even so sure it's all humans or just most of us...but we sure like our stuff. Minecraft will demonstrate this quirky behavior. I don't know that I have ever been as protective over my in game "stuff" as I have in Minecraft. Basically, if I built it, stay away from it. If it's in my storage trunk, keep your hands off. I like my stuff. I'm very protective of my stuff. I have a sword. Stay away.

Argh.  I'm running out of room...I never got to talk about...

There's a fine line between paranoid and checking over your shoulder, or

All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy, or

Never dig the tile directly above or below you, or

He who dies with the most toys still dies.

Oh well, I think you get the point.

Minecraft. It's not just a game, it's a training aide for real life. Now if you'll excuse me I have to run...I have buildings to build, crops to harvest, iron ore to smelt, sheep to shear, and a zombie problem over at the pyramid.

Sheesh. My work is never done.

"I do not like work even when someone else does it." -Mark Twain

But at least I enjoy it.