Warcraft teaches real life survival skills? For one Norwegian lad and his sister, it sure does!

From Boing Boing: Swedish boy outthinks angry moose with Warcraft skillz.

The comments indicate that the boy was Norwegian and not Swedish. I don’t know squat about World of Warcraft, so I can’t make any nifty insider comments, but this story is very interesting. Most animals, humans included, learn social and survival skills through play. Just watch your kitten attack a foil ball, or your own balls if their hanging low on a given day. Now we have World of Warcraft ‘play’ teaching 12 years olds how to survive large animal attacks in real life.

“In the article he describes how he first yelled at the moose, distracting it so his sister got away, then when he got attacked and the animal stood over him he feigned death. “Just like you learn at level 30 in World of Warcraft.”

On that theme, if anyone has not read Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game, it ties into this concept. The premise is that video game-like skills are required to operate remote attack ships that are used to fight an alien race. Children are recruited and used for this purpose. Ok, its not exactly the same as avoiding a terminal hoofing from a moose..