European Unions

[Carl Remick]

>From: Archer.Todd at ic.gc.ca
>
>Dennis said:
>
>But Freddie didn't have to compete with TV, radio, the
>Web, CDs, video games, video tapes, and so on. Despite the illiteracy of 
>his
>
>time, Engels could still count on enough readers to get his ideas across.
>Today? Not a chance, unless he put his ideas into a PlayStation game.
>
>The idea, Dennis, you seem to indicate is that Engels' ideas aren't as
>exciting as a video game and therefore won't have a loud enough "voice" to
>compete against all the flashy lights, loud noises, excitement, etc.
>However, one could argue that something similar to a video game medium
>already exists and could be easily adapted to disseminating the sorts of
>ideas and ideals all of the people on this list would probably agree on:
>role-playing games (RPGs), aka Dungeons and Dragons.  The medium is way
>cheaper than video games and is structured so that ideas can be passed on 
>to
>players in an exciting and memorable way.

Of course there is another exciting medium -- the TV quiz show -- that's 
shown an amazing ability to mesmerize millions but seems to be having 
trouble dealing with info that's a good deal less arcane.  From Floyd 
Norris's column in today's NY Times:  "As analysts struggled to explain the 
timing [of the Federal Reserve's surprise rate cut yesterday], the most 
creative idea came from Rory Robertson of Macquarie Research. 'Perhaps 
Chairman Greenspan wanted to get back in the news,' he said, noting that 
contestants on 'The Weakest Link,' a television quiz show broadcast Tuesday 
night, were unable to name the chairman of the Fed."

Carl

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