Should Video Games Be Art?

Back in April this year, film critic Roger Ebert decided to handle the topic of the cultural importance of video games from the perspective of whether they could ever be regarded as art. Clearly, Ebert 【小题1】 (convince) that no game so far could even dream of being considered as coming close to a work of art.

In today’s post, Ebert returns to the topic to put an end to the debate that has been going on ever since: though he stands by 【小题2】 he believes in — namely that, at least in theory and principle, video games will never be art — he can now admit that he shouldn’t have expressed his opinion without knowing what he was talking about. And that is his biggest mistake, as far as he is concerned, 【小题3】 he expressed a judgment on a public forum（论坛）without having played a single video game — and all the while 【小题4】 (insist) that was the last thing on his wish list. He approached the matter strictly from a theoretical point of view and that’s not fair 【小题5】 the gaming industry — or the gamers who took offense, for that matter.

“I was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place. I would never express an opinion on a movie I hadn’t seen. Yet I have declared that video games 【小题6】 never be Art. I still believe this, but I should never have said so. Some opinions are best kept to yourself. So far, 4,547 comments 【小题7】 (rain) down upon me for that blog entry. Perhaps 300 supported my position. The rest were united in opposition. What you see now posted are almost all of the comments 【小题8】 (send) in. They are mostly intelligent, well-written, and right about one thing in particular: I should not have written that entry without being more familiar with the actual experience of video games,” Ebert writes about the very post 【小题9】 started the debate.

Most posters pointed to him that he was also doing so without as much as offering a clear definition of Art. “【小题10】 gamers experience video games as a form of art, does that not automatically make them so？” some said. Others, tired of reading what others had argued before them, were simply content to say “Ebert doesn’t get it.”

Few facts about modern life seem more undeniable than how busy everyone seems to be. Across the industrialized world, large numbers of survey respondents tell researchers they’re overburdened 【小题1】 work, at the expense of time with family and friends.

But the total time people are working, whether paid or otherwise, has not increased in Europe or North America in recent decades. What’s more, the date also show that the people who say they’re the busiest generally aren’t.

Part of the answer is simple economics. As economies grow, and the incomes of the better-off 【小题2】 (rise) over time, time has literally become more valuable: Any given hour is worth more, so we experience more pressure 【小题3】 (squeeze) in more work.

But it’s also a result of the kind of work 【小题4】 many of us are engaged. In the past, farming work was subject to weather limits, while at present people live in an “unlimited world,” and there are always more incoming emails, more meetings, more things to read, and digital mobile technology means you have a few more to-do list items.

With time pressure 【小题5】 (weigh) us down, it’s hardly surprising that we live with one eye on the clock. But psychological research demonstrates that this time-awareness actually leads to worse performance. So the ironic consequence of the “busy feeling” is that we could handle to-do list less well than if we weren’t so rushed.

Arguable【小题6】 (bad) of all, the feeling of rush spreads to affect our leisure time, so that even when life finally 【小题7】 permit an hour or two for recovery, we end up feeling that leisure time should be spent “productively,” too.

If there’s a solution to the busyness epidemic (流行病) , other than the universal 2l-hour workweek, it 【小题8】 lie in clearly realizing just how reasonable our attitudes have become. Historically, the ultimate symbol of wealth, achievement and social superiority was the freedom not to work. Now, it’s busyness 【小题9】 has become the indicator of high status. “The best-off in our society are often very busy, and have to be,” says Gershunny. “You ask me, am I busy, and I tell you: “Yes, of course I’m busy because I’m an important person!”

Too often, we measure our worth not by the results we achieve, 【小题10】 by how much of our time we spend. We live crazy lives, at least in part, because it makes us feel good about ourselves.

Be Careful on the Internet

Parents of boys at a Sydney private school have been urged to monitor their sons' use of social networking website,with a warning 【小题1】 any mistakes made in teenage years could be permanently recorded on the Internet and catch up with them later in life.

The headmaster,Timothy Wright,wrote to parents on Thursday, 【小题2】 (explain)that younger boys were too immature to fully understand the possible consequences of disclosing private information on social networking sites."We now know that those parts of the brain 【小题3】 deal with decision-making are still developing in a man in his 20s.'he said. ‘But mistakes 【小题4】 (commit)at fifteen may be still accessible to an employer ten years later.

Modern technology means that a careless word, an ill-willed comment or an inappropriate photograph, are on permanent record and freely available to 【小题5】 has access. Stupidities that 【小题6】 (forget) immediately before now last, spread and damage in ways unknown before this decade.

Dr Wright said that 【小题7】 words spoken in the playground could be more easily forgotten, those captured on the Internet or on mobile phone text messages could have far more lasting and more hurtful consequences.

He urged parents to set ground rules for use of mobile phones and the Internet and in particular to set boundaries on taking and sending images that 【小题8】 be used to bully(霸凌）others. “Parents who are paying for the Internet service have an unquestionable right【小题9】 ( insist) they are a friend on social networking websites.I would certainly insist on this【小题10】 at least the end of 16 if not later.'he wrote.