ESP Biography

Games are incredible cultural artifacts. Like music, they transcend language. Like art, they can be appreciated across cultural boundaries. The best games survive for hundreds or thousands of years virtually unchanged--and are still being played. Among games in general, abstract board games occupy a special place. Abstract board games include chess, checkers, go, and Mancala--games with simple rules (usually without luck), which nonetheless create strategic depth which exceed the ability of any human to master the game within their lifetime. The best way to understand these games is to play them. In this class, you will learn how to play the following games: Connect Four, Hex, Dots and Boxes, Yavalath, Mini-chess, Mini-Mancala and Hippos and Crocodiles. The class will be split into two teams: each time we start a new game, a new leader will be selected for each team. The leader has one minute to decide what move to make, but should consult the other team members. After playing a game, I will discuss some cool facts about the game (or related games). Then as a class, we will discuss what we like or dislike about the game.

What will the future hold? I'll review accounts of the future from science fiction and from professional futurologists. Time permitting, we may also discuss additional topics such as philosophical issues, economic or political issues or details of speculated technologies. Afterwards, groups of students will collaboratively write and present a short science fiction skit based on some assigned prompt, e.g., "What if we discovered that an asteroid was going to hit us in 10 years?"