

Homeless in The Sims 3 - dangoldin
http://oirt.rutgers.edu/2009/06/homeless-in-sims-3.html

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physcab
There's no substitute for living and working with the homeless in solidarity.
If you want to learn real lessons about how they live their lives or about how
they got into their situation, get off your chair and go work at a soup
kitchen for a day. Trust me, they are just as eager to hear from you and also
in need of a good friend.

~~~
byrneseyeview
There is a substitute, and that substitute is information. If you're claiming
that you got new information from your "solidarity," you should be able to use
that information to convince other people you're right. If the information you
got convinces nobody but you, it's not data -- it's a bias.

~~~
physcab
This isn't about information. It's about experience. Just like you don't learn
hacking by reading a book, you don't learn about homelessness until you put
yourself in their shoes. Literally. The sad part is that the marginalized
always become a statistic and that's in part why the problem persists.

~~~
byrneseyeview
_This isn't about information. It's about experience._

You're taking the side of the guy who knows the CIA is controlling his
thoughts, rather than the one who knows what schizophrenia is.

 _you don't learn about homelessness until you put yourself in their shoes.
Literally._

You probably mean "Figuratively." "Literally" does not mean "Emphatically," it
means "Literally."

You persist in claiming that you had a transformative experience, which
changed your views without giving you any facts you can use to inform others.
The usual term for having a belief that doesn't correspond with the facts is
"bias." If my experience with homeless people convinced me that they need to
be locked up, but the data implied that they were down on their luck and just
needed shelter and a caring hand, you wouldn't be telling me that my personal
experience trumps the data, just because I strongly believe in it.

~~~
physcab
Actually I do mean literally. Seriously, go immerse yourself in the culture
that surrounds homelessness and actually try to be homeless for a day, or
better, a week. Then write about what you learned.

What you'll find is that there is no "data." Yes some homeless people are
criminals. Some have mental diseases. Some just couldn't pay their bills.

You can't quantify the problem because these people have no homes,jobs,medical
records, or social security numbers. They have nothing. So again, it's not
about having a "bias." It's about how you deal with the situation locally and
you have to evaluate every homeless situation case by case.

~~~
byrneseyeview
_until you put yourself in their shoes. Literally._

"Literally," means "Not figuratively." So, if you say "I was in his shoes --
literally," you mean "I was not necessarily experiencing things from his
perspective, but I was wearing his shoes."

 _You can't quantify the problem because these people have no
homes,jobs,medical records, or social security numbers. They have nothing. So
again, it's not about having a "bias._

"You can't have good information, so it's best to just try to make yourself
feel good about your opinions, and then treat them as facts. Like, when I used
to not own a scale, I decided I'd be happiest thinking I'd lost twenty
pounds."

 _you have to evaluate every homeless situation case by case._

You have not talked about single cases. You have generalized, generalized,
generalized. There are two basic ways to generalize: the way I do it (by
looking at aggregate numbers that tell you something), or the way you do it
(by thinking in terms of stories). Your way is dumb and counterproductive.

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jfornear
I don't feel sympathy for this self-inflicted situation at all. I found the
Sims 3 to be way too easy.

They could have easily found a job in the newspaper (can basically just sign
up for one), showered daily at the local gym (free), and made friends
(requires a small effort) to help with food for a few weeks until they could
afford a house.

This reminds me of the Nickel and Dimed vs. Scratch Beginnings debacle.

From the original blog: "[The gaming student] removed all of their remaining
money, and then attempted to help them survive without taking any job
promotions or easy cash routes." The rules this guy was playing by are not
applicable and have absolutely no resemblance to real life.

~~~
prospero
I think this is more about creating a narrative than a realistic description
of the homeless lifestyle. That being said, I don't see how you can both
criticize the game for being too easy and criticize the author for not taking
every easy opportunity offered by the game.

~~~
byrneseyeview
The author tried to show how hard it is to be homeless; The Sims 3 makes it
pretty easy to be homeless.

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dangoldin
The actual blog is here: <http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/>

~~~
IsaacSchlueter
And the twitter feed is here: <http://twitter.com/aliceandkev>

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ensignavenger
I have homeless 'neighbors', and in my very limited experience, they are
mostly alcoholics. Some of them may have been pushed into the situation by
circumstance, but they don't seem to be too anxious to change. I've spoken
with one of them about changes he could make to improve his situation, and
even tried to give encouragement and help, but he never seems to take action.
It is all very sad.

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Tichy
Don't they have social welfare in the Sims 3?

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rbanffy
Isn't cruel to subject AIs to such environment?

~~~
rbanffy
I love when people disagree with a question by downvoting it instead of trying
to engage in a useful discussion...

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hwijaya
It's very interesting read. Quite refreshing actually.

