Infatuation, Intemperance, and a Virtual Adventure

For the last few weeks, I've been infatuated with the PC video game Fate. In this game, players test themselves in dungeon battles, collect gold and weapons which can be kept and sold, and buy things that change their abilities and appearance (and those of your pet).

My first thought about this infatuation was to quit playing, and that's how I've handled previous fits of intemperance. However, my wife (who brought the game into the house) recommended moderation instead. Taking a step back, I thought a bit about what was happening.

What I realized was that I'm attracted to the game. I also realized that intemperance is a reaction to attraction. In my past, I've had intemperate reactions to crushes, to novels, and to food. In reading novels, for example, I've thought that my voraciously reading for the end was motivated by fear of being manipulated or tricked by the author. In this latest reaction, I see that instead, intemperance is an attempt to eliminate desire by satiating it. What I fear is that the beauty will seduce me and I will lose myself.

But I have encountered something else for whose beauty conquers me, that is Jesus Christ. Defended and saved by this victorious desire, I can ask why I have this other desire, what is it given for?

It turns out that the game Fate is the latest expression of a desire that goes back to middle school, when I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings - and to high school, when I played Dungeons and Dragons with friends and played Zork online on the school district's mainframe. I left Dungeons and Dragons behind when I saw that working on a role playing character takes as much energy and creativity as building a life in the world, and that being a dungeon master takes energy and creativity that could find a wider audience in writing fiction, for example. There is something in me that is attracted to the symbolically rich world of Fate, to the test of battle, and to rich virtual worlds. The desire is in me, and I suffer it with the certain hope that it is given to me for a greater purpose.

The other thing has been the way my wife and I and the younger kids have come together in playing this game. We all have an interest in it, and we work together and help each other play. As a father, I have to use everything that happens as an opportunity to help the kids learn about life. Even my intemperance, then, can become an opportunity for helping the kids learn how to face their own infatuations.

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In the above screenshot, you can see my character, Frederique the Glorious, now that I have retired him. To his right, you can see the pet (dog) Barquer changed into a unicorn. In his right hand, Phrederique holds his Elite Flaming Claymore sword. His left hand once held a black tower shield with resistance to fire, ice, and electrical damage. My 9-year-old son has taken over the descendent of this character and for his inheritence he chose the tower shield. After my last quest, I sold off everything except the equipment on his back - in a gesture reminiscent of Everyman (from the Medieval mystery play of the same name) saying farewell to strength, good health, and the other allies of life.

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A review of Fate that captures the charm of the game.

I've been playing Fate...

Social Media from where I sit

Recently, Sharon gave her summary view of various social media applications: "Social Media: My Take." I kind of take Blogger, Reader, and FriendFeed for granted now. As far as I'm concerned there are two social media that are critical:

Facebook

It's the place to hang out, post photos & albums, mini-blog, post links, etc. It's the place to see what friends are doing even if I don't see them much. It's like a stock ticker for friends and family.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the serious place where I stay in contact with those I work with and those in past positions. In terms of professional networking, it's invaluable. Everything is designed to support professional relationships: it encourages people to connect with colleagues past & present and to write recommendations for each other. Photos, status, and profile information are closely tied to professional purposes. The heart of the profile is one's job history, which becomes a dynamic resume visible to one's contacts. Privacy settings allow you to limit information shown on your public profile. The jobs board allows me to see many opportunities that are more relevant than Monster or Careerbuilder, etc. The Q&A Forums are a substantial resource for research and professional decision making. Groups allow for more open discussion and sharing of news in a more open format. An interesting thing about LinkedIn is that it tends to attract experienced people. Recent college grads (a group with much to gain from networking) perhaps don't see the value of connections in job seeking. 

Both Facebook and LinkedIn have clearly designed purposes, and both have made themselves invaluable by taking an early lead and building significant market share and attracting many users. 

The Mass is Triduum Compressed

And the Paschal Triduum is the Mass expanded.

Ave Verum Corpus

"Ave verum corpus"

• Good Friday Homily 2005 by Fr Cantalamessa, OFM Cap.
  
• Hail True Body ... sacrificed on the Cross for man
• Hail True Body ... from whose pierced side blood and water flowed
• A Great Movement of Hope: Ave Verum Corpus

Ave verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine,

Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary,

vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine,

truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man,

cuius latus perforatum unda fluxit et sanguine,

from whose pierced side water flowed and blood,

esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine

be for us a foretaste in the trial of death.

What is an Honorary Degree?

A degree is like paper money, a token which allows the value of academic education to be quantified, compared, and exchanged. Bachelor originally meant one who had completed the course of the Liberal Arts. Master and Doctor mean that one is qualified to teach.

In the medieval European universities, candidates who had completed three or four years of study in the prescribed texts of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic), and the quadrivium (mathematics, geometry, astronomy and music), together known as the Liberal Arts, and who had successfully passed examinations held by their masters, would be admitted to the degree of bachelor of arts, from the Latin baccalaureus, a term previously usually used of a squire (i.e., apprentice) to a knight. Further study, and in particular successful participation in and then moderating of disputations would earn one the Master of Arts degree, from the Latin magister, teacher, entitling one to teach these subjects. [....] Today the terms "master", "doctor" (from the Latin - meaning literally: "teacher") and "professor" signify different levels of academic achievement, but in the Medieval university they were equivalent terms, the use of them in the degree name being a matter of custom at a university. " 

("Academic Degree," Wikipedia, 3/31/09)

In medieval Europe, one paid an instructor in order to learn a subject, but the university awarded degrees passed on tests and trial by disputation (a defense). In the current system, however, the student pays for a series of classes to receive a degree. Some students and teachers believe that the university is no longer responsible for evaluating the learning of the students, but only in delivering the degree that was paid for. To be fair, institutions that operate strictly according to the exchange of money are regarded as less than academic.

With this uneven summary of history, then, I wonder what is the value of an honorary degree? Is it the judgment that a person is qualified to teach a subject? No, because to some extent universities are still self-certifying and have some leeway to award a real degree to an extraordinary individual who can demonstrate knowledge and skill. In other words, if it were an expression of merit, the university could award a real degree. An honorary degree could also recognize extraordinary accomplishment of someone. More often than not, I expect that honorary degrees are simply expressions of money and power, or at least fame. 

To the extent that honorary degrees are not tied to extraordinary merit, and to the extent that they are automatically conferred on guests of a certain stature, they are inflationary. If they are inflationary, then the value of any degree is devalued. Has President Obama advanced the cause of the law as the reasonable relationship among people? Does he exemplify the ideal teacher of law at a Catholic university? No. But neither do most honorary degree recipients. Neither in fact do most recipients of bonafide degrees.  It's too late to be scandalized by this honorary degree. The true stumbling block is that few appreciate what education is, what a teacher is...