{"id":5451,"date":"2016-06-01T11:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/?p=5451"},"modified":"2017-11-16T14:38:13","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T19:38:13","slug":"big-data-endgame-of-virtual-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.playthepast.org\/?p=5451","title":{"rendered":"Big Data: Endgame of Virtual History"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part one of a four-part series on the future of quantification in history. For the thematic introduction to the series, please click <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At face value, it might appear to the casual reader of Play the Past<\/strong>, that the main focus of this blog is the treatment of historical experience in the medium of games.<\/p>\n

This is, however, only a first-level reading of Play the Past authors. There is also an undercurrent of analysis on Play the Past that seeks to address the more complicated issue of how games and simulation are impacting the social sciences, and the discipline of History itself.<\/p>\n

This concern is shared by many Play the Past \u201cregulars\u201d, as well as guest writers. For example, historian and educator Jeremiah McCall\u2019s<\/a> very first post on Play the Past tackled the issue of historical causation in history-themed simulation games. In his analysis of Civ City Rome<\/a>, McCall linked his practice of teaching historical concepts modeled in game mechanics, to hypothesis-making in historical research. McCall went on to write many posts on Play the Past<\/a> on how to best use games in history education, and even published a book about the subject<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Civ<\/a>
Civ City Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pushing the educational envelope even further, Trevor Owen\u2019s<\/a> propositions for ludic pathways into scholarship – required reading if you\u2019re interested in this question – suggest three ways \u201cgames media\u201d can serve historical research<\/a>: to reach broader audiences, to operationalize models of change and causation, and to breach the limitations of linear narrative. Owens\u2019 own playful approach to \u201cserious\u201d games with history students<\/a> suggests creative ways historians might enhance their toolbox – despite the many hang-ups<\/a> scholars still have toward games culture.<\/p>\n

On the theory front, digital media scholar Mark Sample\u2019s<\/a> great introduction<\/a> to \u201cplatform studies<\/a>\u201d demonstrates how a multi-layered analysis of simulation media can also serve as a rich mode of historical investigation into technological culture. Attentive to complex issues of mediation, Sample has also explored in his writings the new culture of digital evidence in play spaces<\/a>, and the possibilities (and perils) of historical revisionism opened up by digital media<\/a>. In a similar vein, one of Play the Past\u2019s most prolific authors, Peter Christiansen<\/a>, has critically reviewed the deterministic assumptions of \u201chistorical development\u201d<\/a> in many history-themed games, most especially strategy games. Christiansen\u2019s analysis of game mechanics as historical frameworks<\/a>, highlights the way many historians today distance themselves from commonly-held ideas of \u201chistorical progress\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Sifting<\/a>
Sifting through archives: the game! (Gone Home, 2013)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Play the Past guest authors have also been fruitful contributors to the dialogue between game culture and historical research. Andrew Salvati\u2019s address to the International Network for the Theory of History (INTH) in 2013, excerpted on Play the Past<\/a>, examines the conflicted status of historical narrative, fudging the boundaries between play and research. In a similar same vein, Richard Bell\u2019s analysis of 2013 sleeper hit Gone Home<\/em><\/a> drew attention to the game\u2019s mimicking of the process of historical research, in a dramatic setting. Perhaps more in line with the argument I will be presenting below, Jim McNally, President and Lead Designer at Longbow Games<\/a>, previously discussed the process of \u201ccaricature\u201d<\/a> – or ideal-typing – required in designing game mechanics that reference historical facts. Finally, my own article on the current popularity of Civilization-style strategy games<\/a>, highlighted how deep-seated philosophies of \u201chistorical progress\u201d still run unchecked in both academic research and popular media.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Counterfactual History: Here to Stay<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps the best example of gaming culture\u2019s cross-fertilization with historical research is the burgeoning field of counterfactual thinking in academia and popular fiction, in which games and simulations play a leading role. As Wikipedia<\/a> defines it:<\/p>\n

\u201cCounterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a form of historiography that attempts to answer “what if” questions known as counterfactuals<\/em>. Black and MacRaild provide this definition: “It is, at the very root, the idea of conjecturing on what did not happen, or what might have happened, in order to understand what did happen.\u201d The method seeks to explore history and historical incidents by means of extrapolating a timeline in which certain key historical events did not happen or had an outcome which was different from that which did in fact occur. It has produced a book genre which is variously called alternative history, speculative history, or hypothetical history.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"What<\/a><\/p>\n

Though controversial amongst historians, the counterfactual approach has gained a sufficient foothold to become established practice, at least to the more experimentally-minded academics, and top brass in military<\/a> and business schools. As a result, many mainstream historians<\/a> in the English-speaking world today argue for a more diligent and qualified use of counterfactual \u201cmethod\u201d in historical research, rooted in historical evidence.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing. Beyond this overall trend – and the many themes identified above – there are harder-to-detect affinities between games \u201cmedia\u201d and historical understanding that have, in my opinion, not yet been adequately voiced. And the nexus of issues contained in them could have a decisive impact on the future of historical inquiry. These undercurrent affinities manifest themselves in the malaise of Total History that regularly plagues the discipline<\/a>, despite the best of intentions. Put simply, whenever historians seek to master the human event-horizon with exhaustive understanding, they inevitably default back to good old storytelling. And digital games, of all things, uniquely manifest this mania of omniscience – and its contradictory result – into one swell package.<\/p>\n

\"OldData\"<\/a>It is my contention that the latest quantification craze in our culture will only prove this more so. And as I am hoping to persuade you, this below-the-radar issue of narrative \u201cbias\u201d in quantification deserves a fair hearing, considering where we are headed in both historical research and gaming culture. If there\u2019s a single salient reason why you should read on, that would be to bear witness to the coming unification of the social sciences under Big Data – or, see how games might prevent this horror, and contribute to the renewal of the humanities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

History: Misfit of the Knowledge Economy ?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are many signs that university disciplines are about to undergo a major shift<\/a> in the next decade or so. For one, with changes in workplace demographics and an overall increase in university populations, universities are under intense pressure to specialize in order to attract their \u201ccore clientele\u201d – either first-time students looking to complete basic or advanced degrees, or returning professionals, in the middle of a career transition. Changes in the university’s “DNA” have also been noted, from many quarters. As universities are set to become the research powerhouses of our globalized knowledge economy<\/a>, they have set about to restructure core university disciplines to fit emerging vocational standards and attract top students and researchers at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n