Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: Some parents prohibit children from playing specific types of games. Is there such a thing as a harmful game, and if so, what is it?
Dr. Michael Laitman: A game is an imitation of a future state. By imitating adults or independently inventing scenes and situations, a child imagines that he is in those future states. It seems to him that he is actually doing it.
Of course, he doesn’t understand why these urges exist in him or how they control him. They are instilled in us by Nature so that we may develop and prepare for future states by acting out the most diverse situations and our behavior in them ahead of time. Whether a game is correct or incorrect, useful or harmful, depends on the kind of child we wish to end up with.
We have to watch very carefully what games a child plays and what children he associates with, what he sees there, what he realizes and understands, and what influences him. Do these games take place in mixed groups of boys and girls, or do boys and girls play separately? Are the children the same age? Are there children from different social circles? Everything must be considered.
If we want to achieve an integral society and we realize that this goal has been placed before us by Nature, and if we know that to achieve it we have to rise above our egoism and establish the right connection among us, we have to check whether all of the child’s games lead to that state?
Only the games that teach how to attain this sublime goal can be considered useful.
Dr. Ulianov: The most widespread prohibition applied by parents is on “adventure” games. These are games played individually or in groups, and the player or players must overcome various obstacles to advance from one level to the next. Parents think that this is a harmful game and prohibit playing it. Is it really harmful? And if yes, what is harmful about it?
Dr. Laitman: I see that children are very attracted to this kind of game. In life they are also constantly crawling, jumping, overcoming something, and climbing on top of something. This is useful for their physical development. If they wish to see the same thing in a virtual game and to try themselves there, I think it is useful.
The whole problem lies in what exactly is the child overcoming? Is he hitting and destroying someone, or does he overcome obstacles together with his peers, learning about integration with others in the process?
I don’t think we should entirely take away this kind of interaction and the need to overcome difficulties. On the contrary, let them get confused and look for a way out, because this is natural for a person. Our entire life is a search for the best possibility out of several, and a continuous process of overcoming obstacles.
Let’s not turn a child into a passive observer. It’s very useful to interact with what is happening, so this kind of game is necessary. The whole problem is the meaning of these games, their content, where they lead a child, and what a child gets out of the game in the end.
The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).
