I first learned about Scott Rogers from listening to the Ludology podcast. Scott Rogers would do a semi-regular segment called the Biography of a Board Game by Professor Scott Rogers. These were some of my favorite segments of the podcast. I always had a picture in mind of Scott rocking a tweed jacket and reading glasses surrounded by many leather bound books. Scott would go deep on a board game and tell its story from the early design and inspiration to the market reception. I sat in my office’s parking lot many times trying to finish the episode even though my commute was over.

In 2019, I was fortunate enough to attend a board game design workshop co-located with BGG.CON. On one of the networking breaks, I heard Scott’s distinctive voice. I turned and walked over to him saying, I just had to say thank you for all that you have given the community. I had Gabe Barrett’s board game design advice book in my backpack and remembered that Scott wrote a chapter on game design in it and shared his best advice for new game designers. I asked Scott to sign the chapter. Shameless.

Turns out that Scott was at the Tabletop Network design workshop to give a lecture on horror themed board games, so I got to learn from the professor himself. Scott would go on to design the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Board Game based on the iconic film from 1974.

Again… Thank you, Scott Rogers. You have given a lot to our community. I appreciate your contributions and inspiration over the years. I wish you well.

I have been bald for over 20 years, so my haircare options are quite limited. I do my own “haircuts” every 2-4 weeks. For my wedding, I did splurge and used a barbershop. I wanted the full pampering experience, although, the experience lasted about 20 minutes. Hair washing took the longest amount of time.

The stay-at-home order has not impacted my hair care lifestyle. I decided to use TikTok as my platform to share my experience during the COVID-19 lockdown. Maybe others can relate. The struggle is no struggle.

When YouTube recommended this video to me last night, I assumed that Bill Gates recently recorded his TED Talk and TED just released it. While I watched it, I couldn’t believe what he was saying. It was as if Bill Gates predicted the future and got it right. I was shocked to see this video was released on April 3, 2015. I admit that I probably watched this video before. I didn’t do anything to help. I ignored Bill’s call to action.

Polarization

In the United States, the COVID-19 epidemic has further divided us. Nothing pulls us together. This pandemic will be the worst thing that Americans face in recent memory. People’s lives will be impacted by sickness and death. The economic impacts will be felt for a long time. We should be working together. We are not. A virus is not political. How we handle the virus is. If you view all the information through a political lens, you only see what you want to see. Everything validates what you believe. We keep dividing.

Microbes and Misinformation

There are two epidemics happening at the same time. COVID-19 is being passed all around the world at an alarming rate, but misinformation is propagating faster.

“More people will buy toilet paper than will vote in the 2020 presidential election.”

Hans Scharler

Imagine a world where we mobilize for a common cause. People literally bought all of the toilet paper in a manner of days because of memes being shared on social media. This incited panic. Misinformation leverages the same mechanism. Ideas of all sorts of validity spread like wildfire across Facebook. People believe what they hear from their friends. Where did their friends get the information? Where did your friends of friends get their information? Information can be injected into the system and at some point hordes of people believe what they are reading since their friend from high school shared it.

I felt bad when I heard the innocent words of Bill Gates. He said that we have an advantage with the next outbreak since people can use their phones to tell central bodies where issues are and have them get information out to people. He said all of those words in 2015 before the presidential election in 2016. Bill didn’t realize how phones and communications channels were going to be used and how easily they are manipulated. The communications channels work well, but they are agnostic about the type of information.

$3 Trillion Impact on the Global Economy

Bill tried to estimate the budget needed to prepare for the next epidemic. He was concerned that the next virus would be spread through the air and have a long incubation period. A virus like the one he described would have a $3 trillion impact on the global economy. With a figure like that in mind, he estimated that the budget would be far less to get prepared for the next outbreak. The Fed has already injected $1.5 trillion in loans. Imagine if we would have spent some percentage of that on diagnostic systems, information channels, preparedness, germ games, and vaccine research.

Call To Action

What are the key pieces to deal with an epidemic? Where should we invest?

1. Strengthen health systems
2. Create a medical reserve corps
3. Pair medical and military
4. Run germ games and simulations
5. Step up research and development with vaccines and diagnostics

“There’s no need to panic … but we need to get going.”

Bill Gates

Ebola and H1N1 should have served as a wake call. Now, it’s COVID-19. Will we wake up?

Thanks, Bill Gates. Keep predicting the future. It would be great if we didn’t have to keep proving you right by doing nothing. We should be trying to prove you wrong.