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Videogames and Sociology: Twitter's pic of the day summary (11-15)

This is the third round of Pic of the day RECAP (11-15). To understand what all of this is about, check out the original entry

11 - Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP: Home is where the hearth is
If we understand hearth as the floor of a fireplace in a house, we might be inclined to consider that home is just either a cold and dusty place or a warm and smoky one. Like most social relationships, all depends on whether the fire is lit or not. The other option is to consider hearth in its metaphorical sense as home and family. Therefore, Home is where home is. That's redundant. Sociology, as social actors - human and non-human - always do, should prioritise literal meanings over metaphorical ones.
 
12 - Crysis: What the hell is going on out there?
We tend to think in terms of opposing dichotomies: above and below, left and right, nature and culture, action and structure, life and death, in and out. Most of the time those notions only make sense if they're put together. That should be interpreted as a sing of its spurious nature. If we're at home and hear a thunderous sound coming from the street, we say 'What the hell is going on out there?'. If we're in a haunted house and glimpse a spectral figure walking down the corridor, we shout 'What the hell is going on out there?'. If we're social scientists outlining a research project, we think 'What the hell is going on out there?'. There is no such a thing as an out there, it's only a matter of distance, magnitude and mediation.
 
13 - Super Street Fighter IV: You're early 
People usually get angry when other people are late. It seems, but it's not completely corroborated, that people also can be mad at other people if they show up earlier than expected. What does this teach us from a sociological point of view? Things always happen on time. It's just that its time doesn't need to coincide with yours.


14 - Dark Souls: This is your fate
Fate relates to all that is already written, foreseen and foretold. It's about destiny and the inevitable. Fate is what controls you like a puppet. In sum, fate is much like the structure, the habitus, the limits of the system, the dispositif, or the constrictions imposed by other social agents. Don't worry, as oppressive and bleak as your situation might seem to be, there is always room for some good old free will: agencies, arrangements, shady deals, plays, tricks, detours. We also play a role in our fate and, more importantly, our actions are part of other people's fate.
  
15 - Spec Ops: The line:  Too many lies
When a specific number of lies becomes too many? Is not just one lie enough? Why are we worried about lies when there is a guy holding an assault rifle (or is it a shotgun?)? Amidst the lies and the guns we can spot the news. You can figure out the rest.


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