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When you're looking to make something for other people, you'll often be told to "make something you want." It's great advice because you probably know what you want better than you know what other people want, and people probably want what you want. It's also great advice because it's permissive. It encourages you to make something, anything, no matter how frivolous (so long as you want it) which is how many great things start. However, it assumes that you know what you want when you might not. Worse, you might trick yourself into believing that you know what you want when you don't. When someone says "make something you want," I recommend translating it to: make something that you'd use even if someone else made a poor version of it.
When you don't know what you want, you can fool yourself into believing that you want anything you can create. The self-talk of this sounds like "I want to create this thing because I'm curious about what I'll learn while making it so I must also want to consume this thing." Another way this appears is "I want this thing but only if it's done right and I'm the only one who can do it right." These thoughts can overlap with making something you want, but they show up when you're making something you don't want too. If the goal is to make something other people want, satisfying your own curiosity or making your personal version of something does not always coincide with what other people want.
When making something you want focus less on the making aspect and more on the wanting aspect. We're told what to want by other people all the time. We're told to not want more than what we have. We learn to self-soothe by suppressing our greatest, most unmet desires. It's upsetting to want things that don't exist and might never exist. But you need to let yourself want. The less convenient the want, the less confirming, the better. Armed with knowing what you want, you alone can determine what's worth making that other people might want. Armed with knowing what you want, "make something you want" becomes foolproof advice. Make something that you'd use even if someone else made a poor version of it.
Clearer: Make something that you'd use even if it were made poorly by someone else.
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make something that you'd use even if someone else made a poor version of it
That's an interesting thought. Something that I really want to make is an entire Econ 101 course packaged as a video game. Even if it's kinda janky with bad graphics I'd still want it.
But I don't know if I'd want it if someone else made it. I kinda feel like it has to be my own vision of it. So maybe this is an example of what not to do, in your estimation.
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If you're making it for you, with no expectation that other people want it, then I'd say go for it.
I kinda feel like it has to be my own vision of it.
If I were building this, I'd recommend defining the parts that are independent of your vision first. Would you use that minimal version if someone else built it? If the someone else were a professor that you agreed with? If the answer is no, I'd begin wondering if I just want to make a game.
The someone else part is there to dispel this kind of confirmation bias.
The poor version part is there to filter out marginal desire.
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The biggest barrier is honestly time, and whether it's a good use of my time. I think if I wanted to lean into teaching 100%, without all my little side projects and research, then I'd definitely go for it.
If I were building this, I'd recommend defining the parts that are independent of your vision first.
That's good advice. The graphical style and story/setting are probably optional. The less negotiable parts are probably what curriculum is covered, difficulty progression of the levels, how the challenges in the game relate to the economic concept being taught.
Now that I think about it, probably what matters more even than the topics covered, is how tightly the game's mechanics fit into the economic concepts. I think that would be my biggest hangup.
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That's one thing I've noticed about this advice (which I constructed yesterday). It's at least useful for figuring out which wants are most important. And that's useful for prioritizing what to explore/research/work on first.
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Actually, this has been my issue with textbooks. I've never stuck with using someone else's textbook. I feel like I can't teach unless it's my own version. So I've always used my own materials, which has kept costs down for students, but it's also meant less bells & whistles that the big publishers can provide.
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How much would someone else need to agree with you on course materials for you to use their game?
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Solid post, bookmarked
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Very good question.
This is an idea I've thought about, for a while. I'd definitely use an app or tool that would help people learn sing together, in harmony. Making it myself - that's another story.
Here's what I envision. People would be together in person, and the help would be be in the form of earbud - just one - for each person - connected with an app on someone's phone. The app would be coordinating the song.
There would be multiple singing parts. Then for each part, the earbud would feed you the notes (and maybe lyrics), in triple speed, just before it was time to sing them.
I think something like this would make learning to sing in harmony much easier. And it wouldn't require highly trained choirs or choir directors, or a lot of time.
And singing in harmony with other people is such a beautiful, life-affirming activity.
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50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Car 1 Oct
I agree on all this k00b, just want to add some extra color to it.
When someone says "make something you want," I recommend translating it to: make something that you'd use even if someone else made a poor version of it.
I have come to realize in my life this equates to ideas, that turn into creation then formation but those ideas are disseminated across the world all at once to people that are tuned into that frequency. Musicians talk a lot about this, and its true in a lot of creative circles. We talk about this all the time in the lab.
"I want to create this thing because I'm curious about what I'll learn while making it so I must also want to consume this thing." Another way this appears is "I want this thing but only if it's done right and I'm the only one who can do it right."
God formula is to be fruitful, do multiply, do replenish, do subdue, have dominion, be + do = have. Sometimes just being fruitful is all one can muster up to do and thats okay.
We're told to not want more than what we have. We learn to self-soothe by suppressing our greatest, most unmet desires. It's upsetting to want things that don't exist and might never exist. But you need to let yourself want.
💯
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ken 1 Oct
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