Minecraft, Milk
World-building and obedience training
What Minecraft allows a 7-year-old to do is the exact opposite of whatever it is that he is supposed to do.
Minecraft:
- Build anything
- Destroy anything
- Sit in one place while the mind creates
- Exist in a world with no authority and no rules
The opposite of this:
- Build a few things (strictly prescribed)
- Destroy very, very few things (even more strictly prescribed)
- Move, do, go, do, go, do.
- 24/7 obedience training
The mother comes to the table, sees that her children have been eating, and asks every person at the table if they think her kids have eaten enough. But she doesn’t ask the kids. It doesn’t matter what the kids themselves think - it doesn’t matter if they’re full or don’t want to eat any more. Their opinions on what should go in their mouths are completely irrelevant. Because mother knows best. She knows about food and nutrition and the intricate biological symphony of her children’s bodies, but most importantly, she knows that what the children know is wrong and irrelevant.
The mother holds the back of the 7-year-old’s head and shoves a piece of roti in his mouth.
None of this dehumanising nightmare can happen in Minecraft. The 7-year-old is free to create and destroy as he sees fit. There are no meal times, no bedtimes, no being told what to do. He is not controlled, manipulated, shouted at, or dismissed. Nobody tells him to do things which are good for him.
From being micromanaged in every aspect of his existence - what food goes into his mouth, what to touch and what not to touch. what to lay his eyes on, what to try to understand and what he shouldn’t even point his attention to; to an infinitely malleable and free world with no boundaries and no authority and no instructions and no warnings.
’Mama, can I be done?’ he asks, staring glumly at his plate of eggs.
In Minecraft, he can be done with anything he wants, whenever he wants. He doesn’t have to engage with the things he doesn’t want to engage with. He is free to choose.