A time for tolerance.

Greetings, blob-o-sphere!

I have generally both agreed with and enjoyed previous posts from Claire Blobbing, but in good conscience, I cannot let last week’s post lie. 

My name is Will Randall, and I think Pokémon Go is a blast. 

Our blobbing overlord does not share my enthusiasm for Jynx and her friends.

In elementary school, I played the Pokémon card game, Pokémon Snap and dabbled in other videogame iterations of the series, but no installment in the Pokémon pantheon has enthralled me like Pokémon Go. It’s a drug for the curious and wandering mind. You have no idea when and where you will uncover something exciting. That unknown keeps you coming back for more.  

My current posse

Whether Pokémon Go is the most successful plank in Michelle Obama’s “Let's Move!” campaign, an effort to cash in on 90s nostalgia by Niantic and Co., or something in between, I cannot wrap my head around a worthy cause for outrage or alarm. Because of this game, people are exploring and enjoying their surroundings. They’re socializing with strangers - celebrating the appearance of a wild Charmander or lamenting a server error cancelling an exciting catch. They’re having fun, and they’re hurting no one. 

Pokémon Go inspired satire

Sometimes, I think we worry too much about “what’s the point” in life. So much of the joy in living life is in just living it! I know I don’t need an end goal to have fun. I’m reminded of the fantasy game in the book Ender’s Game. There was no way to win. There was no “point”. It was a vehicle for exploration and curiosity - a means to blow off steam. Ultimately, the fantasy game was a game in which the player created their own victory conditions. Sure, knowing the end goal of game can be fun, but sometimes there is just as much fun in the unknown and discovering for yourself what a world might hold. 

Not sure what Niantic is trying to say about Detroit with all these Drowzees...

I firmly believe it is not our place to tell others how to have fun (in socially responsible ways). We are all entitled to our own pursuits of happiness, and we should learn to celebrate, or at least respect, what makes each other happy. There is a lot of scary shit going down in the world - be it the attacks in Orlando, Nice, Dallas or Baton Rouge, the failed coup in Turkey, or Rudy Giuliani's speech on Monday at the Republican National Convention. As a nation and as human beings, we are better than these reprehensible expressions of fear, disgust, and hate. These are base emotions that threaten to tear good people and nations apart. 

I can’t help but think we all need more of the joy and fun that Pokémon Go brings in our lives. Every little bit of goodness in the world matters. The greatness or reprehensibility of a civilization is built on the mundane foundation of all our lives. So make good choices, learn to love your neighbor, and the next time a stranger fistbumps or yelps when they catch a Pokémon, smile and share in their small moment of happiness - it’s only a game. 

Keep chasing the dream.