Do You Utilize Your Pattern Recognition Tool?

This weekend I did something I've been avoiding for around 7 years! Eight hours of gaming! What I played? Mass Effect: Andromeda. What fascinated me is how adaptable our brain is. I reached a boss fight (Architect) and the first time of course I got destroyed without much of an opposition. Then I tried a second time and before I got to the middle of the fight my brain had already figured out the patterns and was constantly forcing me to avoid some attacks. I was astounded that from the middle to the end I didn’t lost a single point of my health, because of the fast pattern recognition of this grey matter in our heads.

It's totally amazing how fast your brain can catch up patterns and utilize them to your advantage. My point is that every single human being on Earth has it. So, utilize its capacity!

After this "aha" moment, I'll try to apply it in my daily activities by observing what patterns I'm using and where I’ve got them from.

Let me know if you had such "aha" moments while playing a game in the comments below.

Keep learning and may the Force be with you!

How Many Things Can You Focus On?

When Civilization 6 was released, together with my girlfried we sat down and had a look at the game and started playing. What we figured out is that as the game is quite complex you can't get the whole picture in a blink of an eye. Then we decided to focus on one victory at a time. What this means is that we began playing several games trying to win with culture, then science, then domination and so on. The game is much more digestible like this, because it's easier to become very good at only one thing.

After playing Civ 6 about a week my mind made an interesting analogy with martial arts and then with my starting years as a programmer. How is Civ 6 approach similar to martial arts? Well, you usually train one single technique per training session. This gives you focus and allows you to get deeper understanding of the corresponding technique. This means you have much more chance to recognize a situation where you can use it.

The programming was quite similar. I was first focused learning C for about half a year, then switched to Java for another year, then to C++. It wasn't simultaneously, it was one language at a time. This doesn't mean I had very deep understanding about each of the languages, but I was aware of them. In order to get deeper understanding you have to be emerged in much more deeper and longer learning process.

Let me know if this approach worked for you in the comments below.

Keep learning and may the Force be with you!

"Paragon" or "Renegade" What Would it be?

I do like the description from BioWare about morality choices in Mass Effect Trilogy. You can check them here. Basically, you can't change what you've done, whether good or bad. Yesterday I was playing Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes and a very promising guild mate left the guild. My first initial reaction was hurt, anger, but then I thought: "What would be a paragon choice here?" Of course, it will be to keep helping the other guild members and try to compensate as much as possible for the loss. Each time you have a choice in a game you can either be inactive (Renegade) or be compassionate, caring and helping (Paragon). In other words, take responsibility for your actions whether they are more Paragon like or Renegade like. I'm not saying one is better than the other, just be conscious of your choices. Here are some examples where I try to apply this approach:

• Not blaming the other team in HotS
• Giving constructive feedback to your teammates (HotS and SWGoH are the only games I play with teams)
• Giving your guildmates all your knowledge (SWGoH)

It's absolutely the same for me in the real life: work, trainings, communication with family and friends, going to the supermarket, charity or whatever you choose. When you're facing a choice most of us are acting instinctively. We rarely think about each choice, because it would be too hard for the brain. Still, if we want to become something we are currently not, always ask the "Shepard Question": would this be a Paragon or a Renegade choice?

Let me know a situation where you've used this question in the comments below.

Keep learning and may the Force be with you!

In Search for Answers

Have you ever “encountered” the advice: “Find your passion”? I did start to encounter this phrase more often once I started reading self-development literature. I don’t know the answer, how to find it, but what I do know is that games can help you find what you love. Let me give you a story from my early gamers days.

The first game I started playing (excluding Duke Nukem 3D) was Roller Coaster Tycoon. I could spend hours upgrading and improving my park. Next game was Worms Armageddon. Again, hours of improving this one shot, how to pass some challenges. Next came Heroes of Might and Magic III, more hours in upgrading and improving strategies. I did love those improvement parts. Did I know back then that this is exactly what draw me to the concrete game? 100% NO! But as I was very consistent and I tried many different games finally managed to understand what kept my attention at some of the games, and lost it at others. That’s why I keep playing games where there are a ton of development of characters like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes and many others.

My point with that story is that if you search for a common theme in all games you play, you might end up finding your passion, or in the worst case, you’ll find something you very much love! Remember those two words from the beginning: upgrading and improving? Every single activity I start in my life is around those two things: wing chun, snowboarding, programming, gaming. Basically, I try to apply them in everything I do, because I’m just passionate about the process of improving. Even this blog is a journey of constant improvement.

Let me know what is the common part for you in the comments below.

Keep learning and may the Force be with you!