Wanna playtest the SlamBall Card Game?
What kind of philosopher of games and sports would I be if I didn’t try to make a card game about SlamBall? Anyway if you want to help me...
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Ricky Mouser
Rapid Fire
Basically a blog where I try to do philosophy outside.
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- Oct 20
- 1 min
Look at me I’m on a Panel
Last week, I was sick as a dog and downright loopy. What a perfect time to be invited to an APA Panel on AI ethics! Fortunately, I...
- Sep 15
- 2 min
Games let us practice suffering Bad Luck
First I’ll share my story. Then I’d love to hear yours. In Twilight Imperium, there’s a unique hex called the Gravity Rift. Ships that...
- Sep 8
- 1 min
Game Values vs. Real-Life Values
My friend Kjell and I noticed there just aren’t enough podcasts, so we decided to help. Our first episode takes an early look at some of...
- Aug 25
- 4 min
The Politics of Age of Empires II
I’ve been playing a lot of Stellaris lately, but as a kid, the only computer game I really played much was Age of Empires II (AoE2, as in...
- Jul 21
- 4 min
SlamBall and the Skill Explosion
Darius Clark, 25, is a highly decorated long jumper who holds the Guinness World Record for the highest vertical leap with a running...
- Jul 14
- 5 min
Twilight Imperium and Instrumental Convergence
I got to play Twilight Imperium last weekend and I was so powerful I didn’t know what to do. I like to describe Twilight Imperium as 8...
- Jul 7
- 5 min
Why do (some) scientists hate philosophy?
My concern here is that the philosophers believe they are actually asking deep questions about nature... It’s not that there can’t be...
- Jun 30
- 6 min
I had to write a research statement about what I’m working on. Here’s my first draft.
Let me know what you think! I'm still figuring out how to summarize my research program and instill confidence I’ll be a “productive”...
- Jun 23
- 4 min
Complexity versus Richness
Here’s some chess jargon: pawns aren’t pieces. Your king, queen, rooks, bishops, and knights are all pieces. But your pawns are just...
- Jun 16
- 5 min
Efficient and Effective
Just a quick dive into a useful distinction, because these aren’t the same: Effectiveness is all about outcomes. (You know, effects.)...
- Jun 2
- 7 min
Terraforming Mars and Intergenerational Politics
If I’ve seen you in the past month or so, I’ve probably talked you into playing Terraforming Mars, currently the 6th highest ranked board...
- May 26
- 7 min
Being a Coach
I don’t love talk of ‘smart’ or ‘high IQ’ basketball. I got to coach a youth basketball team recently, and it was awesome. For a lot of...
- May 12
- 3 min
I'm on Twitch now
So here's an argument: In Utopia, our practical problems would be solved. (There'd be nothing we had to do.) But if we sat around all...
- Apr 21
- 4 min
Puzzles and Problems
I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between puzzles and problems and I need your help to figure it out. Say you’re solving a...
- Mar 31
- 4 min
Writing with ChatGPT
Let's talk about games. Do you know the difference between purposes and goals? The goal of a game is the target we aim at during the...
- Mar 17
- 4 min
This one's not really about chess
There are 255,168 possible games of tic-tac-toe and they’re all boring. If both sides play perfectly, tic-tac-toe is a draw. And playing...
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