Fun that helps change the world
On Thursday, Harvard students played a game that is helping to change the world. Of course, anyone outside the small classroom in Gund Hall might have thought the students were just relieving academic stress and pressure, judging from their joyous shrieks of laughter. Peeking inside, an observer might have been amused at the group of 40 students playing “Traffic.” In the game, they gather in a circle and in five seconds must reform the circle, but only after shaking hands with five others — and then only after touching the shoulder of five others, and then only after touching the nose of five others. Ah, but there was method to the madness. The maestro of the mayhem was Brazilian urban specialist, architect, activist, and social media game designer Edgard Gouveia Jr., who has won international attention for his approach to grassroots development and research on global change through play. In 2008, Gouveia created...