The Haunting Peace of Being Lost

hello 72 milliseconds that is the average time it took in 2019 for your voice to leave your lips reach your phone's receiver get transformed into an electrical signal travel hundreds sometimes thousands of miles and then finally burst through the speaker of the phone belonging to the person you're talking with though finally may not be the word to use here considering all that space was covered in less than just one tenth of a second space isn't as much of an obstacle for people as it used to be the intimacy of writing someone you love a letter will never quite be experienced again because the necessity for doing so has long been removed a text is quicker and will do just fine a phone call a facebook tag or a shared meme can go a long way in raising your support points with someone distance can't stop human interaction like it used to hell even your basic needs like a burrito bowl with extra guac from chipotle an impulse bought rice cooker and a physical copy of final fantasy 7 even though you don't own a playstation can all be delivered right to your home with the hopscotch of the thumb thanks to amazon and other services i'm not sponsored by even food medical supplies and pretty much anything you could ever need can all be dropped right at your doorstep long gone are the days when our ancestors would hunt and forage for food now it's the how much do i have to order to get free shipping metagame you'll never have to search a library for information again and there is no longer such a thing as not knowing where you're going in a lot of ways distance has been conquered earth has been captured and placed squarely in the palm of your hand you don't travel to places places travel to you and i'm not saying this is a bad thing by the way i'm not the biggest fan of getting out i i hate driving and the russia dopamine i get when random [ __ ] i've ordered online arrives at my doorstep is borderline inebriating i don't like space at least if it's between myself and what i want and i think it's fair to say i'm not alone in that sentiment which may be why humanity has done such a good job of making the planet feel smaller if you will so why then do we crave the sensation of being lost in an ancient alien world why do we pine for lush open vistas why do we demand more and more space to explore in open world games why is traveling via horseback through an unmarked portion of the map such a thrilling experience why do we turn off huds and feel the need to ignore objectives added to our map why do we purposely deprive ourselves of the conveniences the game tries to offer that we indulge in in the real world why did stumbling upon this abandoned tram car at the edge of deep nest and hollow knights make me feel desperately alone yet somehow at peace why do we have this desire to wander aimlessly in an artificial world i'm daryl this is psych of play grab a blankie and your new rice cooker get cozy and let you and i talk about the haunting piece of being lost let's get the obvious out of the way running in a game is pushing your thumb up running in real life is pushing your heart rate up obviously in-game travel is effortless the lack of mosquitoes and traffic makes traversing the land of tsushima much sexier than your trek to the grocery store i'd be willing to bet that if gas was free we were all in perfect shape and safe states were readily available in the real world to make getting mauled by a bear a simple oopsy poopsie we would all explore earth quite a bit more but i'm here to talk about what makes exploration and specifically losing your way in a game such a captivating ride and after spending a staggering amount of time pouring through studies about being lost and feeling alone i've noted down to three primary reasons we crave the inconvenience of being isolated and adrift and fantastical abandoned post-apocalyptic and eerily serene worlds [Music] the first of which is related to neophilia the infatuation with all things new and i don't think i need to explain the affiliate itself extensively most of us like new things in one form or another at all times the brain is a wood chipper that'll explode if it runs out of wood and brother you'd better get to chopping trees new trends new music new movies new people new games new old games you you get the idea but what most exceptionally built in game worlds do is lock that new behind exploration and the reason this works so well for players exploring sudra or the stone tower temple for example is because of the inverted you curiosity curve according to a 2009 study subjects expressed the most curiosity for answers to trivia questions for which they were sort of confident about their answers if they were super confident or just had no clue whatsoever they were pretty apathetic to find out the right answers kenny and kagan found a similar effect in a 1976 study with infants and auditory expectations which again seems to suggest that we have the greatest curiosity for information that is partially encoded we care the most if we've only had a taste of the answer and this echoes the sentiment of economist george lowenstein who suggested that curiosity is a cognitive induced deprivation that arises from the perception of a gap in knowledge and understanding it's like a hunger a morsel of information serves as a priming dose which greatly increases interest and this is the backbone behind the appeal of metroidvanias in super metroid for example you come across this narrow tunnel that you can't quite fit in then you find the morphing ball so you come back to it only to realize you still can't quite make it through but you know from experience already that you can probably find a skill out there to grant you passage so then using the morphing ball you find this missile that unlocks this door which leads you to this map and then using that map you come back to that dead end and what's this what's this dot oh man i really gotta atlantis my way through this tunnel now anytime a game can tease you with a little bit of information about a thing your mind will naturally ache for the satisfaction of knowing more about that thing like there's this dead end i found in the queen's garden in hollow knight where i can see this little clearing in a house with a a dude i wanted to say friend but i don't know if he is yet i can't interact with him yet but boy i really want to so after the dead end i went and updated my map and now i can sort of tell where he is but i don't know how to get there though i have an idea and that setup right there is exactly what drives exploration new knowledge is delicious but incomplete knowledge is an itch that can only be scratched in games by unraveling a winding dungeon traversing a dangerous nest or surviving a scorching desert just to name a few by the way i still haven't figured out what's going on with that damn clearing yet because i need some kind of skill to get there and i haven't found it yet and writing this script instead of searching for that skill definitely isn't making my face numb but that's more of an extrinsic motivation we're searching almost to relieve a need for closure let's discuss something more intrinsic that feeling you get when you look out over a beautiful body of water when you stumble upon a lush clearing deep in the woods or when you get caught in a spontaneous rainstorm let me tell you about biophilia in the brain surgery recovery suite at massachusetts general hospital each room has an internal and external facing wall and for the first 24 hours out of surgery patients beds are facing the interior wall towards the nurse's station so the nurses can look patients in the eye and constantly keep watch in case of complications however after the 24 hours have elapsed their beds are turned to face the exterior wall towards a glass pane revealing a garden teeming with plants and foliage this is not just to give the patients a nice view while they recover it has in fact been reported to increase recovery speed and post-visit health the atrium on the eighth floor of massachusetts gin is an investment an installation based on research that has strongly suggested that simply a view of plants and nature goes a long way in improving cognitive performance and affect in a 2003 study researchers had subjects perform intentionally draining tasks and then sent half of the subjects to wait either in a room with a view of trees or with no view as you might have guessed the room with the trees was much better for subjects that group had a faster decline in diastolic blood pressure indicating that stress melted away much more efficiently and if that's not enough to make you want to hit your wagon to a spruce the researchers also found that subsequently walking in a nature reserve as opposed to an urban setting boosted further performance on intentional tests whereas performance by those in the urban walk only declined but wait there's more positive affect also increased for the nature reserve subjects by the end of the walk for the survey data they were less irritated less angry meanwhile for the poor schmucks in the urban setting the opposite pattern emerged and it's because of this that architects are now designing office buildings and hospitals with biophilia in mind that exposure to nature has a very real measurable effect on our mental health and cognition [Music] now i hear what you're saying daryl what difference does this make nature is great but being inside playing games doesn't exactly mingle with that are you saying i should take my switch on a hike with me to help my mental health are those nintendo ads trying to tell me something and the answer is yes but also no not not really because through the miracle of graphics cards and flashy flashy rectangles our console of choice can deliver mother nature right to us your tv or your monitor can be the window there's plenty of hot single trees in breath of the wild so you can play all the [ __ ] kill mare you would like without ever leaving your bean bag chair and i'm not reaching here by the way i might be reaching a little bit but there is strong evidence to support that even artificially created environments and even pictures can still have the same benefits as exposure to real nature one study in 2015 used eye tracking and post-testing questionnaires to find what subjects spent more time looking at and found more pleasant on-screen images of natural scenes or urban scenes and even when the images had color removed or were distorted the nature scenes created higher self-reported pleasantness and held eye fixation much longer we are naturally drawn to the outdoors to open sky to environments that feel alive to space when you find yourself wandering through the land of skyrim and come across the countryside of rifton up near mary fair farm you'll probably find that it is quite lovely but also that it gives you cause to draw deep breath and slow down for a moment to me breath of the wild works so well because you are constantly exploring the land of hyrule which is typically dangerous or requires strategizing to reach certain locations but once you reach those higher peaks and earn that view it's a relief not only because you escaped danger and reached your goal but because you were surrounded by an abundance of life and ecosystems not to mention the high locations give you a clear view of what you'd like to investigate next which starts that danger relief loop all over again one common rationale for why biophilia has such a robust effect on us is this idea of prospect and refuge coined by the english geographer jay appleton prospect and refuge are first of the idea that when we are evaluating space we would like the ability to prospect or examine the world around us whilst also having refuge this stems from evolutionary survival where as a predator you'd prefer to be able to see all around to spot potential prey without being seen yourself which is one reason modern architects are now designing buildings with more windows and higher ceilings and why the tiny corridors and deep nests make you feel so uneasy and while you breathe such a sigh of relief when you come across ash lake and dark souls since the narrow tunnels full of enemies open up to a sprawling beach with distant vegetation the clearly visible bonfire helps too of course but again exploration in games is driven so much by this ebb and flow of dealing with stress and calculation to then discovering something that feels every bit as breathtaking as it does relieving and for some of us at least to a certain degree that back and forth is tarnished when the game points to too many objectives and tries to guide us this would explain why we like the inconvenience that is inherently part of searching dungeons or large landscapes half of the fun of exploring and creating that curiosity we talked about earlier comes from stumbling upon something that we can't fully interact with yet and then facing adversity to get there and when we do finally find that place of refuge that also provides prospects and stir in a splash of nature it's immensely rewarding and viscerally refreshing which may be why a high mountaintop a bonfire or even a bench gives off the same vibes as that nice waitress at waffle house that you kind of want to be your grandma because she calls you baby your honey when you order your food [Music] like we established earlier we adore all things new all things novel and preferably would like those things to require little effort the voice of a loved one from any distance should only be 72 milliseconds away at all times we relish the idea of effortless interaction with the world and its people so why then do we work so hard to wander alone through often harsh unforgiving and challenging spaces yes as we've discussed there are things that are inherently rewarding about getting lost and finding your way again but i think there is something else that is not often talked about that tram i found at the edge of deep nest had no nature around it though it was placed at the end of a brutal area filled with traps and constant enemies so of course the bench i found was a relief but for some reason when i found this place i didn't open the map i didn't mess with my charms i just sat and was alone with my thoughts for a moment and something about the empty seats surrounding me the flicker of lights on what seemed to be a once bustling tram system and the song reflection that typically placed near a bench being broadcast over the tram's gramophone made me feel more alone than i have in a very long time it was almost like i was so deep and so far away from home that the game had to play me a distorted warped version of the music i had grown accustomed to the distance i had come in the game was so vast that a radio signal or a phone call was necessary to bridge the gap i had traveled it could be argued that some of the appeal of horror movies is that it gives us a chance to prove how strong we are that we can mentally take whatever disturbing imagery the movie has to offer you could point to a similar appeal in sad music it gives us a way to experience the feelings being conveyed by the artists without actually going through troubling times ourselves and of course you don't need a psych study to know that sad music is relatable it gives us a bit of catharsis to hear we have felt so deep down put painfully into notes and lyrics the desire to get lost in zebez may be cut of the same cloth as the yearning to watch the shining or to listen to that one anime soundtrack that makes you tear up on command loneliness is unpleasant and despite my best efforts these psychological benefits of loneliness turned up about as many useful results on google scholar as searching why does the guacamole go bad so damn fast but despite how terrible the feeling of loneliness is i would contend that there is an inherent desire we all have to feel alone of course some of us are introverts and prefer to be alone in most cases but i mean really feel alone deserted facing struggles and having no one to turn to it's a feeling we have likely all had at some point in our lives and getting lost in a game may give us a chance to safely experience that feeling without having to stay in it much like those lo-fi mixes on youtube often capture the feeling of being up at 3am isolated with your thoughts desolate settings and games illustrate that sensation of loneliness through the vast unoccupied space and that distance paradoxically brings you closer to others because it's relatable seeing loneliness portrayed like this at least for me gives me a ton of peace much like a sad song comforts you with the knowledge that someone else has felt the same way you have lo-fi mixes and lonely environments let you know that you're not alone someone else has felt this way before too and look maybe i'm getting a little artsy here i know there are no psych studies in this part believe me i tried to find them but that's my take and maybe that makes for a cozy video i'll close by saying that space is important we may be connected to the rest of the world at shocking speeds but i think it speaks to our nature as humans that we feel the need to supplement that distance with artificial miles and digital kilometers it's an intimate feeling to wander lonely spaces where separation somehow brings us closer to ourselves where discovery has to be earned where you can't find answers instantly where the view is more than metaphorically healing where we can paradoxically be alone together where you can genuinely feel lost well ladies and gentlemen it feels so good to be back making videos for y'all after a small hiatus it was fantastic i finally finished cowboy bebop i lost my jojo virginity i've played hollow knight i played i played a lot of damn hollow knight but i have missed you all and i hope this video finds you well and if it finds you unwell well hang in there 2020 can't last forever thank you very very much as always for watching and i hope you enjoyed what you saw tiny announcement i made it twitter it's fun i'm still kind of getting used to it but please feel free to give me a follow at daryl talks games a massive thank you to my patreon backers who never fail to amaze me with their love and support you guys make this possible and hey if you'd like to conquer distance and send a dollar my way every month at blinding speeds you'll get access to exclusive bonus content early access to new videos live commentary slash q a on older videos and your name in the credits like you see here if that sounds like a good time please be sure to click that orange link on screen well my friends thank you so much for being here take care of yourself seriously take care of yourself and have a damn good one you

Channel: Daryl Talks Games

Views: 354,222

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Id: -CqS72KvwNQ

Length: 19min 43sec (1183 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 26 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Tayleroy28]

This is a really well made video studying why getting lost in Metroidvanias (and just games in general) is such a good feeling

[u/zwatt09]

I havent watched this video yet, I will soon, but I gotta say I haaaaaate the feeling of being lost in a mv.

I have a habit of "taking breaks" while playing games to keep them fresh for me, so after I make so much progress, I will sometimes not play them for a week or two. The worst feeling is when I come back and I'm completely lost. Sometimes I can find my way with enough trial and error, but sometimes I dont have any point of reference and am just completely blank on where to go.

That feeling has ended quite a few playthroughs for me. I do realize this is a "me problem", just putting my 2 cents out there

[u/mikronaut]

All of these are great points! I also think, going off the last point, there's a joy in feeling alone temporarily because it's a stark contrast to when you find civilization again or return to what's familiar, so when you feel disconnected from safety or familiarity it heightens the appreciation for those things when they are present again.