Interesting podcast on NPR, in which game designer Will Wright interviews Biologist E. O. Wilson about games and collaboration.

Besides encouraging everyone to listen to the entire interview, I want to highlight two points:

The importance of bridging the disciplines to answer fundamental questions about human behavior – is altruism learned or in our genes?

Wilson says that he thinks we can’t have any answers before we’ve done a lot more science to find them. And he believes that the best way to do that is to integrate science with the other great branches of learning — the social sciences and humanities.

The importance of new education standards to prepare young people for life. Experiential learning is how we as a species learn best and games are a risk free way to learn experientially.

“I’ll go to an even more radical position,” Wilson said. “I think games are the future in education. We’re going through a rapid transition now. We’re about to leave print and textbooks behind.”

Tim Hwang’s presentation at Participation Camp 09 adds some more thought to the role of games discussion.

I wonder if games can also play a role to bridge disciplines towards more integrated research.