Mind Games

I just read about a new game from Mattel that requires you to move a foam ball with your mind waves, by concentrating upon it. This is very, very cool. And suprisingly affordable at $80. It will be out next September.

The Mattel game is powered by concentration. I am very eager to play it, but dreadful at the same time. Intense concentration has never been my strong suit. Even in chess, which at one time I played passably, my talent was to be able to very rapidly visualize a sequence of moves. I fear that I will not be able to hold my concentration for long, and any ruse of intelligence that I have been perpetuating over the course of my life will be immediately exposed as my foam ball rests motionless.

I recently reread Ender's Game, one of the few science fiction novels I've read and the only one I've really liked. Written almost 25 years ago, it describes the battlegrounds of the future, led by adolescent (or, in Ender's case, pre-adolescent) commanders. And it strikes me, as I read about the Mattel game, that conflicts may well become mind games of sorts, and in that situation, youth would likely prove more adaptable.

But that's a diversion. The idea that you can move stuff with your mind was a parlor trick made famous by Israeli entertainer Uri Geller in the 70's. He did it on television, and lacking the skepticism of adulthood I thought it was mystifying and magical. (Years later I saw Uri Geller perform live at a corporate gathering and was embarassed by his silly and transparent "mentalist" tricks.)

That may well be another diversion. I'm not sure. You see, I'm having a hard time concentrating. Game on.