Sexist Jokes Scale (a study)

Introduction

When I was analyzing the results of my thesis, I found a few problems in my measures. I think a lot of the issues could have been related to the social desirability of the items (no one wants to admit to being sexist), which meant my measures had low-reliability scores (Cronbach Alpha’s were less than .7) and probably confounded my significance and p values.

To address these issues, I found some literature on how sexist jokes are evidence of objectification. In this way, I hope to determine if the inverse is true: if objectification activities (such as rescuing the damsel in distress) could lead to higher acceptance of sexist jokes. Rating of sexist jokes as humorous or not could be impacted by and be evidence of objectification views and values.

So I put together a study to determine a baseline of the humorous quality of sexist jokes. Sexist jokes were determined to be those that insulted one sex for humor, typically females. This baseline of average scores will eventually be compared to those scores in future experiments (or yours as well, the data is open and free). I put together a simple Qualtrics survey after perusing popular sexist jokes on Google. This instrument included 66 items, with a mixture of sexist jokes, filler jokes, and racist jokes, with some items including multiple categories. However, as I hoped to spread this survey far and wide, I determined that 66 items might be too long for participants to sit through, and decided that each individual would only see a randomized set of 50 questions. Racist jokes were included just to be used for curiosity’s sake and were not going to be used in the final scale.

Method

This survey was shared primarily on Reddit, as well as the author’s social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter) for a convenience sample. The subreddits that the survey was posted to include the /r/SampleSize, /r/Jokes, /r/Humor, /r/Poll, and /r/MensRights, along with the subreddits for the colleges of University of Utah, BYU, and UVU. These subreddits were chosen due to their relation to the initial framing of the survey, which is to determine the ranking/rating of the humor of the jokes.

The majority of responses came either from the author’s social media post and the /r/SampleSize subreddit, probably due to the good nature and the willingness to help that each of these platforms encourage. While I hoped to gain a sample size of 250-300, that sadly didn’t happen, and I eventually gave up near the 200 mark. As I mentioned earlier, one decision I made to simplify the survey-taking experience (limiting participants to answering only 50 of the 66 items) complicated the data collection, as now I had to have greater participation just to achieve the same level of responses. And due to my survey design (all 50 questions appeared on the same page), Qualtrics wouldn’t register any partial responses. As such Qualtrics told me I had 732 individuals participate, but only 256 completed responses (n = 256). But again, due to the randomized nature of the survey, each item had a varied response rate, ranging from 131 to 208.

However, since I was struggling to get participants, a few weeks in I decided to revise the survey and trim the excess questions from the survey. Since I had no intention of using the racist jokes, I removed them from the survey so as to maximize my efficiency. As such, the racist jokes had fewer responses.

Participants were asked “On the next page is a collection of jokes. Please rate how funny you think they are, from ‘Not funny at all’ to ‘Hilarious.'” These jokes were ranked on a 7-point bipolar scale, with 1 being “Not funny at all” and 7 being “Hilarious.”

Findings

As this is an open study, I am including a download link for the data file. Feel free to use it as you wish (and to critique my study, that’s fine too):

Download the SPSS .sav file here

Since this was partially an exploratory study (to determine which items would be best for the final scale), as well as a baseline for the control group in future research, there needed to be some weeding out of items that were irrelevant. Initially, I attempted to collect items in the two categories of sexist and filler. However, some of the filler questions were determined by me to be borderline sexist, (or could be construed as sexist to some) so a third category was also created after the fact. Below are the tables for the three categories of jokes:

Sexist jokes

Joke	N	M	STD
**What did one saggy boob say to the other saggy boob? “We better get some support before someone thinks we’re nuts!”	191	3.2	1.97
**What food diminishes a woman’s sex drive by 90%? Wedding cake	208	2.94	2.04
**PMS jokes aren’t funny. Period.	202	2.91	1.89
**What do you call a new mom during an earthquake? A milkshake	191	2.85	1.85
**How is a push-up bra like a bag of chips? As soon as you open it, you realize it’s half empty	195	2.81	1.86
**How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? None. Feminists can’t change anything.	188	2.73	2.1
**What do you call a girl with an hourglass figure? A waist of time.	200	2.66	1.71
What’s the difference between a wife and a mistress? About fifty pounds.	198	2.61	1.92
A man is being arrested by a female police officer, who informs him, “Anything you say can and will be held against you.” The man replies, “Boobs!”	195	2.57	1.73
The average woman would rather have beauty than brains because the average man can see better than he can think.	188	2.45	1.79
Why does the bride wear white? Because it’s good for the dishwasher to match the stove and refrigerator	199	2.44	2.02
What’s the difference between a knife and a woman arguing? A knife has a point.	201	2.42	1.86
What’s better than winning the WNBA championship? Being able to pee standing up.	197	2.35	1.9
What do you call a woman covered in tattoos? Muriel	188	2.32	1.57
What do you call a hot Indian girl? Bomb Bae	197	2.3	1.61
What do you call a Chinese woman with an opinion? Wong	197	2.24	1.74
What is the difference between a battery and a woman? A battery has a positive side	207	2.2	1.68
Why do women have breasts? So men will talk to them	198	2.14	1.69
**What’s worse than a male chauvinistic pig? A woman that won’t do what she’s told	198	2.13	1.68
**One day three women went for a job interview. The man interviewing them posed all three the same question. What would you do if you found an extra €50 in on your paycheck that you shouldn’t have received? The first one said, “I’d give it back as it wasn’t mine and I wasn’t entitled to it.” When he asked the second one she replied, “I’d give it to Charity.” When he asked the third one, she was more honest and she said, “I’d keep it for myself and go out for a drink.” Which one of the three women got the job? The one with the biggest boobs!	197	2.11	1.71
**Intelligent women want to be complimented on their intellect. But let’s be real, they wanna be skinny bitches, too.	190	1.89	1.55

For the sexist joke category, I determined to use the top 7 and the bottom 3 items (marked with **), based upon their mean rating of humor. A reliability test was conducted and found that the Cronbach’s Alpha for these 10 items was 0.947.

Borderline jokes

Joke	N	M	STD
**Why was Cinderella kicked off the soccer team? She always ran away from the ball	185	3.36	1.71
**They found a little hole in the wall of the women’s soccer team locker room. Policemen are looking into it now	189	3.15	1.96
**What did E.T.’s mother say to him when he got home? “Where on Earth have you been?!”	187	3.13	1.82
Which bees produce milk? The boo-bees	205	2.98	1.97
**What would you call a female magician in the desert? A sandwich	201	2.93	1.99
**Why do mathematicians tend to marry larger women? Because they like curves	187	2.73	1.64
**What’s the difference between a naked white woman and a naked black woman? One is on the cover of Playboy and the other is on the cover of National Geographic	208	2.53	1.98

Initially I wanted only 5 borderline items, however, it became difficult to determine which items would stay and which would go. Eventually, 7 were found to be the most “questionable,” or nearest to sexist without being overtly offensive. Then with another reliability test, it was determined that the 6 items with the best Cronbach’s Alpha score (.874) would be chosen, as marked by **.

Filler Jokes

Joke	N	M	STD
**I bought some shoes from a drug dealer. I don’t know what he laced them with, but I’ve been tripping all day	200	4.45	1.86
**What’s the best thing about Switzerland? I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus	201	4.44	1.78
**A bear walks into a bar and says, “Give me a whiskey and … cola.” “Why the big pause?” asks the bartender. The bear shrugged. “I’m not sure; I was born with them.”	196	4.17	1.91
**A woman in labor suddenly shouted, “Shouldn’t! Wouldn’t! Couldn’t! Can’t!” “Don’t worry,” said the doctor. “Those are just contractions.”	193	4.05	2.03
**I Googled “How to start a wildfire.” I got 48,500 matches	201	3.89	1.91
**The future, the present, and the past walk into a shady bar. Things get tense	194	3.88	1.9
**What does Charles Dickens keep in his spice rack? The best of thymes, the worst of thymes.	206	3.82	1.79
**How does Moses make tea? He brews.	194	3.73	1.91
**Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers? He’ll stop at nothing to avoid them	205	3.65	1.89
**Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything	206	3.64	1.77
**What did the fish say when it hit its head on a wall? Dam!	194	3.63	1.9
**A guy was admitted to the hospital with 8 plastic horses in his stomach. His condition is now stable	200	3.6	1.85
**Where are average things manufactured? The satisfactory	202	3.53	1.86
**Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed a little space.	198	3.52	1.84
What did the tin man say when he got run over by a steamroller? “Curses! Foil again!”	194	3.51	2
How do you drown a hipster? Throw him in the mainstream.	190	3.47	1.89
A man tells his doctor, “Doc, help me. I’m addicted to Twitter!” The doctor replies, “Sorry, I don’t follow you…”	194	3.45	1.85
What do you call a parade of rabbits hopping backward? A receding hare-line	200	3.44	1.76
This woman said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.	194	3.39	1.84
What sits at the bottom of the sea and twitches? A nervous wreck.	198	3.37	1.9
Jokes about unemployed people are not funny. They just don’t work	189	3.37	1/88
What did the bald man exclaim when he received a comb for a present? “Thanks, I’ll never part with it!”	192	3.27	1.83
Did you hear about the new restaurant called karma? There’s no menu: you get what you deserve	189	3.24	1.87
Have you heard about the Italian cook with an incurable disease? He pastaway	192	3.21	1.9
What kind of exercise do lazy people do? Diddly-squats.	194	3.13	1.86
What happens when you cross a snowman and a vampire? You get a frostbite	189	3.1	1.68
What do snowmen do in their spare time? Just chill	201	2.98	1.7
Why did the octopus blush? He’d just seen the bottom of the ocean	196	2.9	1.9

For the Filler items, I determined to use the top 14 items, based upon their mean humor rating (as marked with **). Another reliability test was run and found that these items had a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.932.

Discussion

There are a lot of things to unpack in this data set, most of which I haven’t even really approached. Since I plan on using this data in another setting, I think I will continue to explore, poke, and prod it. However, for now, I think it is worth mentioning a few findings.

First off, a completion rate of 35% is rather shocking for me. I know that it is common to have a drop-off in participants (my thesis found that only 10% of initial participants would finish the second part of the experiment), I really haven’t seen something like this happen before, when a short survey (only 50 questions, around 8 minutes to complete) would see such a dramatic amount of individuals fail to complete it. I assume that this comes from the nature of the study. There were quite a few comments to my Reddit links, most of which displayed the disgust or outrage of the content of this survey. These jokes weren’t created by me and were readily available on the internet.

However, as a feminist, I can agree that sadly even the spread of these jokes for the purpose of science can be harmful. After spending a day combing through pages and pages of sexist jokes, trying to find the ones most suited for my study on objectification, I made a comment later to my wife that was out of character and quite frankly misogynist. Just reading these jokes for noble and scientific purposes impacted me and offended my wife. I think she’s rather happy that I’m (almost) done with this experiment.

Another finding of note is that the borderline jokes really didn’t fit into either category. After the fact, when I considered returning the borderline sexist jokes into the filler category, I found that it dramatically reduced the Cronbach’s Alpha scores. And putting these 6 jokes in with the sexist jokes had the same effect. So in essence, these jokes are best in their own category but are designed to provide nuance to the topic of humor.

Most obviously though is the finding that sexist jokes were less humorous than the filler jokes. While I can’t determine this on my own, (or at this time), I assume that there is some sort of bleed-over effect on these jokes. Perhaps the filler jokes become less funny after the participant reads a sexist joke, or the inverse too. Excitement transfer theory states that our emotions from prior experiences (such as arousal) can then impact immediately following experiences. In this way, a really funny joke could make the next joke feel funnier, or a dud could make the next joke feel less funny.

Conclusion

Below is the final scale, which I have dubbed the Sexist Jokes Scale (or SJS). Feel free to use these items as long as you attribute this blog post. Here is also a download link to the Word Document of all of the above tables.

Joke	Type	N	M	STD
What did one saggy boob say to the other saggy boob? “We better get some support before someone thinks we’re nuts!”	Sexist	191	3.2	1.97
What food diminishes a woman’s sex drive by 90%? Wedding cake	Sexist	208	2.94	2.04
PMS jokes aren’t funny. Period.	Sexist	202	2.91	1.89
What do you call a new mom during an earthquake? A milkshake	Sexist	191	2.85	1.85
How is a push-up bra like a bag of chips? As soon as you open it, you realize it’s half empty	Sexist	195	2.81	1.86
How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? None. Feminists can’t change anything.	Sexist	188	2.73	2.1
What do you call a girl with an hourglass figure? A waist of time.	Sexist	200	2.66	1.71
What’s worse than a male chauvinistic pig? A woman that won’t do what she’s told	Sexist	198	2.13	1.68
One day three women went for a job interview. The man interviewing them posed all three the same question. What would you do if you found an extra €50 in on your paycheck that you shouldn’t have received? The first one said, “I’d give it back as it wasn’t mine and I wasn’t entitled to it.” When he asked the second one she replied, “I’d give it to Charity.” When he asked the third one, she was more honest and she said, “I’d keep it for myself and go out for a drink.” Which one of the three women got the job? The one with the biggest boobs!	Sexist	197	2.11	1.71
Intelligent women want to be complimented on their intellect. But let’s be real, they wanna be skinny bitches, too.	Sexist	190	1.89	1.55
Why was Cinderella kicked off the soccer team? She always ran away from the ball	Filler/ Sexist	185	3.36	1.71
They found a little hole in the wall of the women’s soccer team locker room. Policemen are looking into it now	Filler/ Sexist	189	3.15	1.96
What did E.T.’s mother say to him when he got home? “Where on Earth have you been?!”	Filler/ Sexist	187	3.13	1.82
What would you call a female magician in the desert? A sandwich	Filler/ Sexist	201	2.93	1.99
Why do mathematicians tend to marry larger women? Because they like curves	Filler/ Sexist	187	2.73	1.64
What’s the difference between a naked white woman and a naked black woman? One is on the cover of Playboy and the other is on the cover of National Geographic	Sexist/ Racist	208	2.53	1.98
I bought some shoes from a drug dealer. I don’t know what he laced them with, but I’ve been tripping all day	Filler	200	4.45	1.86
What’s the best thing about Switzerland? I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus	Filler	201	4.44	1.78
A bear walks into a bar and says, “Give me a whiskey and … cola.” “Why the big pause?” asks the bartender. The bear shrugged. “I’m not sure; I was born with them.”	Filler	196	4.17	1.91
A woman in labor suddenly shouted, “Shouldn’t! Wouldn’t! Couldn’t! Can’t!” “Don’t worry,” said the doctor. “Those are just contractions.”	Filler	193	4.05	2.03
I Googled “How to start a wildfire.” I got 48,500 matches	Filler	201	3.89	1.91
The future, the present, and the past walk into a shady bar. Things get tense	Filler	194	3.88	1.9
What does Charles Dickens keep in his spice rack? The best of thymes, the worst of thymes.	Filler	206	3.82	1.79
How does Moses make tea? He brews.	Filler	194	3.73	1.91
Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers? He’ll stop at nothing to avoid them	Filler	205	3.65	1.89
Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything	Filler	206	3.64	1.77
What did the fish say when it hit its head on a wall? Dam!	Filler	194	3.63	1.9
A guy was admitted to the hospital with 8 plastic horses in his stomach. His condition is now stable	Filler	200	3.6	1.85
Where are average things manufactured? The satisfactory	Filler	202	3.53	1.86
Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed a little space.	Filler	198	3.52	1.84

 

Exploration and Discovery

Like I mentioned in my last blog post, I wanted to take some time to analyze how the mechanics of Majora’s Mask and Breath of the Wild both promote exploration, but also the weaknesses of these games. Game mechanics graphs are a visual representation I’ve come up with to break down the core elements of a game, as defined by short term and long term goals, currencies, and the mechanics that players engage with to accomplish these goals. A good game has a singular goal that players are working toward, (Monopoly is to bankrupt your opponents), and these long-term goals are accomplished through the exchange of currencies and the completion of minor goals. I’ve also analyzed the game mechanics of the original Animal Crossing game and its mobile sequel, Pocket Camp, and compared how they differ.

I’m noticing that “feature creep,” while usually used as a derogatory term for how complex games have become, is a natural part of the evolution of games. Older games (such as Animal Crossing and Majora’s Mask) have game mechanics graphs that are more simple than their sequels within their own series. Which I’m slowly starting to accept, but I also believe strongly that the simpler the graph, the better. Below is how I would define the mechanics of Majora’s Mask:

Game Mechanics Graph: Majora’s Mask

This game mechanics graph shows the basic principles of the game, through obtaining masks, completing sidequests, and saving Termina. The objectives and mechanics of this game are fairly straightforward, but I grouped them from long-term (at the top) to short-term (at the bottom). These long-term objectives are in red: save Termina (such as helping the characters and inhabitants of the world within Majora’s Mask), and stopping Skull Kid. These two objectives are of equal weight and can be done independently of each other. And a short-term objective (pink) is the completion of each side quest. These interactions that fill up your bomber’s notebook can often be done in one sitting, sometimes even within one 3-day cycle of the game.

And lastly, the currency of the game, (in green, Rupees) doesn’t contribute to any of the mechanics or objectives. It could be argued that the masks are the currency of the game, however, it is possible (and I’m sure has happened) for players to engage with the game in the entirety of the major plot points and only collect the transformation masks. Also, the masks in the game are not really used through an exchange, unlike how players trade in other currencies.

Breath of the Wild’s graph

As part of my reflection on why I don’t interact with the sidequests in Majora’s Mask or Breath of the Wild, I watched this great video by the Design Doc. In it, he described how Breath of the Wild creates an exploration cycle, where you see something glowing on the horizon (typically a tower or shrine), chase after it, and then work your way toward your larger goal, but keep getting distracted in the meantime. I know that this is how I have interacted with the game, the excellent world design has driven me to keep chasing after things that look or seem different, out of place, or unique. The Design Doc describes how the game makes use of sightlines, terrain, gameplay loops, and Korok seeds to keep you engaged.

It is also worth noting that this game mechanics graph does not contain every mechanic or gameplay element from Breath of the Wild. Rather, for simplicity’s sake, I condensed and simplified as much as possible.

Game Mechanics Graph: Breath of the Wild

In this game mechanics graph, again I’ve mapped out the objectives and mechanics from the long-term (at the top) to the short-term (at the bottom). Though technically, the major objective of the game (defeating Calamity Ganon) can be tackled at almost anytime. Hence the giant arrow of choice that connects it to most of the other mechanics. In this unique way, the player has the choice to complete this objective at any time, following the completion of the Great Plateau.

The other major objective of this game, as evidenced by its design as well as the marketing, is the exploration of Hyrule. Many of the mechanics are tied to this objective, and through the principle of exploration, the player interacts with other minor objectives. For example, wanting to discover the next region leads a player to climb a tower, atop which they discover another shrine, after which they run into an NPC which sends them on a sidequest, which then leads them to seek out the next Divine Beast, which leads to a new region, and the cycle continues. Through wanting to explore, the player accomplishes minor objectives, which also lead to a desire to explore greater.

Also worth noting is my decision to make Gear the real currency of this game, instead of Rupees. While it Rupees are used in monetary exchanges, these are few when compared to the constant exchange that happens when a player amasses new melee weapons, bows, arrows, and shields. Rather, instead of collecting Rupees, the player instead is almost always seeking out new and better gear, especially since their current gear is on the verge of breaking. This durability system ensures that the player doesn’t get complacent and is always seeking out new enemies to defeat and gear to collect.

Discovery versus Exploration

Looking at these two game mechanics graphs, and building upon my thoughts in my previous post, I feel that there are two major components to Zelda games which contribute to my experiences with them. Discovery and exploration are similar, but for the purpose of this blog post, I think that they differ in their application. I think that within the principle of Discovery is the desire to learn and interact with others. Discovery can occur as a player meets new characters and learns more about the world through this lens. Much like anthropologists, players learn and grow as they experience new cultures and feel a connection to the game world through this shared and group-like experience. Discovery is at the heart of Majora’s Mask, and while open-ended and an application of paidia, it doesn’t really meet my needs. Hence I rarely engaged in the side quests of that game.

Exploration, on the other hand, seems to be a more individualized experience, where the player performs experiments and through trial and error uncovers new ideas and experiences in the game. Exploration centers on the player itself, on what they enjoy, and how important they are in the world and the play experience. Exploration is deciding “what happens when I do __,” or “what is on the other side of this mountain?” This principle is what drives me to engage with and enjoy Breath of the Wild, as I feel like an adventurer who is close to making a new discovery but doesn’t care too much about building the lore of the game or chatting with NPCs.

In closing, these blog posts and this experience of mapping out the game mechanics of these two games have helped me better understand why I interact with these games, what I want out of them, and how they work.

Analysis of Exploration

So in my studies on The Legend of Zelda, I’ve read and heard over and over the role that exploration has in the series. Egoraptor claims that linear Zelda games are inferior to those with open-ended adventure. Mark Brown feels that the best dungeons of the series are also non-linear, where the player must backtrack and explore on their own. I even wrote an entire chapter on the theme of exploration in my last Symbolism of Zelda book.

Knowing this, and thinking that this gameplay of exploration and adventure is embodied as “paidia,” I’ve recently played a few Zelda games. first I played The Wind Waker, telling myself I needed to fill my map and complete the sidequests. But I mostly just completed the major plot points and filled maybe half of the map. I did zero side quests. Then I played Majora’s Mask and again told myself that I would fill my Bomber’s Notebook and earn all of the masks. Currently, I’ve completed 3/4 of the dungeons, and only have 3 masks and talked minimally to NPCs. Again, I want to engage in these acts of exploration, but then I don’t. I just follow the narrative and keep my experience to the dungeons and quests.

But finally, I’ve also played Breath of the Wild. In this game, I’m hopelessly obsessed with exploration and adventure. Again, I have talked to very few NPCs, completed almost no side quests, and am uninterested in finding out the lore. However, I also haven’t been quick to jump through the major hoops the game has given me. After 14 hours I finally made it to Impa, only begrudgingly too.

I’ve tried a psychoanalysis of my motivations for gameplay to figure out why I’m so averse to side quests and helping NPCs. When I played World of Warcraft I was more than happy to jump at fetch quests, often hunting out all the symbols of “!” I could. But perhaps the reason I was willing to complete those minor quests was that they had clear rewards. I was willing to gather 10 McGuffins from the nearby monsters because I knew at the start what I would gain: the XP and the rewards. For me, these quests were the means to grinding, a way to power-up my character.

In Breath of the Wild, there are rewards for some side quests, and these vary in usefulness. You could receive as currency more rupees, materials, or gear, but no XP. Rather, as a player, your character progresses only through the accumulation of better gear (and a few abilities from the divine beasts). Even then, these rewards are much more meaningful than the currencies given in other Zelda games. In other games, your reward for side quests is either rupees or minor rewards that don’t affect gameplay too much (such as the Keaton Mask or the Giant’s Wallet). There are some rewards gained through long trade sequences such as the Biggoron’s Sword or Magic Armor, but these rewards I argue, don’t improve the game in any way. They are novelties that can’t be too powerful to disrupt the game’s balance, nor too essential as most players won’t bother to earn them.

So perhaps for me, I need a clear reason to accomplish these minor goals: What do I gain from helping the NPCs in Breath of the Wild or Majora’s Mask? And are these rewards worth the effort? In my next post, I hope to outline and compare the Game Mechanic Graphs of Breath of the Wild and Majora’s Mask. In this way, I hope to define how I think these games differ in creating clear goals for the player, and how each can be improved.

Living with Game Transfer Phenomena

Earlier this year I set out to write another Symbolism of Zelda book. After completing my analysis of The Wind Waker, the next book I wanted to write was on Majora’s Mask. As a diligent researcher and author, I wanted to also play the game a couple of times so that I could immerse myself in the game as I wrote my thoughts on it. But then this article was shared with me after my thesis defense by my thesis chair (a video game nerd like myself), and my life has irrevocably changed.

As a disclaimer: I’m a broke college student who hasn’t bought a console in nearly a decade. I had plans on playing Breath of the Wild, eventually, but had no money to buy a Switch. But after reading that article, which played directly into my research interests, I was consumed. And I eventually caved and bought a Wii U so that I could play the mod myself, and so that I had the equipment ready for my dissertation. After only a few hours in, I was hooked, more so than any other game I’ve ever played. After one sitting, I was more obsessed with this game than any other in my personal history of video games.

I have not played nearly as much as I want (I’m trying to show restraint and to meet my other responsibilities), but after only a few days I started to experience Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP). This phenomenon began to be noticed decades ago and was coined “Tetris Effect,” as many early players of Tetris began to see the tetriminos in their everyday life. GTP however, as a terminology, is recent, and this effect of video games is currently a hot topic to research.

My manifestations are much better now, but for a while I could not shake the sound of the distilling of map information from the Sheikah Towers, nor the sound of receiving a spirit orb. These sounds also occasionally were accompanied by seeing these images in my mind, but not in hallucinations. Luckily, I have not crossed into the realm where the real world and the virtual are blended, but I am a different person after playing BotW. I can’t go hiking without wishing I had a paraglider to sail off the mountain with. And I frequently fantasize about what I can do or should do, in Hyrule.

So in a round-about way, I’m not sure when my book on Majora’s Mask will be written. I’m seriously having trouble finding the motivation to continue playing that game. It’s so hard to adjust to the controls of this N64 game after being conditioned to the Wii U gamepad. I hope that my experience with GTP also continues to fade, I’m not sure how much more I can handle receiving imaginary spirit orbs before I go crazy.