When it comes to the efficient transfer of knowledge into people’s heads, digital learning is still in its infancy. A student who sits clicking through the linear, restrictive activities in a typical LMS activity in 2019 is spending as much time complying with the demands of the technology as they are learning. Knowledge is dispensed in one direction in measured doses, like those internet-enabled cat feeders. Take this knowledge, says the LMS, pass the test, and be grateful. Just don’t ask me any difficult questions.

“The ghost in the machine” used to refer to humanity’s ineradicable tendency towards self-destruction. Arthur Koestler’s 1967 book of that name argues that our brains evolved very rapidly to make us the intelligent, talking creatures we are, but the new gray matter is built upon the original reptilian brain stem that we all still have, and which is capable of overpowering all our fine reasoning skills and propelling us towards catastrophic actions like nuclear war.

Ever since the robot dog K-9 appeared in Doctor Who in the 1970s, geeks of a certain age have fantasized about having a metallic sidekick that does most things a real dog would do but doesn’t need to poop and can beat them at chess.

A kid just won three million bucks by winning a Fortnite tournament. The total prize pool was thirty million dollars and the event – the Fortnite World Cup – took place at the Arthur Ashe stadium in New York City. Where did all that cash come from? Fortnite’s developer Epic Games banked $2.4 BILLION in microtransactions from players round the world in 2018 as they bought cosmetic features and unlocked perks in the game.

There was an old kids’ game in the 1980s called Operation in which players used tweezers to attempt to extract bones and other bits and pieces from a hapless patient called Cavity Sam. If their hand wasn’t steady enough, the patient’s nose lit up red and a buzzer sounded. Oh no! Ha ha, start again.

The game drew on the drama and tension of real-life surgery, and it would be interesting to find out how many kids who later became surgeons remember playing this game. Maybe it was what first inspired some to become doctors.

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