Apodaca: ‘Pokemon Go’ a sign of the times
Unless you’ve been vacationing in Antarctica, by now you’ve no doubt heard of the “Pokemon Go” phenomenon sweeping the United States and other countries.
“Pokemon Go” is a mobile app that allows cell phone users to play a game that sends them on quests to capture digital creatures based on the popular 1990s video and trading-card game. Since its debut earlier this month, it has blitzed through mobile game records.
Depending on your perspective, the game is either a sign of the impending collapse of Western civilization or it’s a harmless, possibly even beneficial, activity.
Its detractors warn of dangers faced by transfixed players wandering the streets oblivious to safety features such as traffic lights. They also warn of the potential for harmful or disrespectful behavior posed by the game’s use of facilities such as hospitals, fire stations, museums — even Holocaust memorial sites — as places to track Pokemon.
Fans of the game argue that “Pokemon Go” gets players off their duffs and out into the real world where they interact with nature, bond with friends, form new relationships and engage in a highly enjoyable pastime.
But for now let’s put aside the great debate over whether “Pokemon Go” is good or evil and consider another aspect to this story that’s receiving far less attention.
The guy who has been getting nearly all the press so far is John Hanke, chief executive of Niantic, the California firm that designed “Pokemon Go.” Hanke has an impressive resume that includes an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and two decades of experience in the tech industry.
But it has been pointed out by a few astute observers that “Pokemon Go” is far more than just an engineered product brought to us by a collective of tech geeks and business impresarios. The game is also a work of art, and among the people responsible for its spectacular success is an artist and a musician: Dennis Hwang, Niantic’s art director, and Junichi Masuda, who composed the music for the mobile game.
I’d be willing to bet that there are lots of other non-technical people behind the game’s meteoric rise, including publicists and marketing staff.
I bring this up because, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, people tend to think that any student these days who isn’t focusing all efforts on the STEM fields — that is, science, technology, engineering and math — is destined for the unemployment line.
And when I refer to “people,” I’m thinking of you, Mom and Dad.
STEM subjects are critical. No argument there.
But amid our current obsession over sculpting every student into the most sought-after worker possible, we continue to discount the many ways that the study of the “softer” subjects in liberal arts and humanities also helps prepare young people for the labor force.
Indeed, research has clearly demonstrated that a solid education in the arts and social sciences builds many of the qualities that employers are specifically seeking: creativity, problem-solving abilities, collaboration and communication skills, and leadership potential. Even a parent’s nightmare, a philosophy degree, has demonstrable value in today’s workplace, where the ability to understand and articulate diverse lines of thinking can help businesses strategize and prosper in a challenging, fast-changing global marketplace.
Contributing to the lingering perception that certain majors are essentially worthless in today’s job market are the many surveys showing that recent college graduates in STEM fields are the quickest to find employment and earn the biggest salaries. But most of those studies tend to focus on employment data immediately after graduation.
Other research has clearly shown us that the differential in employment prospects and earnings potential between those with more technically oriented degrees and liberal arts majors actually evens out over time.
This isn’t just wishful thinking. Forbes magazine, in an article published last year, reported that in technology hubs around the country, companies were discovering that “liberal arts thinking makes them stronger.”
While engineers still commanded the highest salaries in places like Silicon Valley, Forbes found, the “war for talent” had moved into non-technical fields, such as sales and marketing.
“The more that audacious coders dream of changing the world, the more they need to fill their companies with social alchemists who can connect with customers — and make progress seem pleasant,” it stated.
So the message to worried parents wondering if their children, who insist on pursuing an education in liberal arts, are actually destined for years of sleeping on other people’s sofas is this:
Relax.
A solid education in the liberal arts can be a sound investment and a great jumping-off point for a fulfilling and prosperous work life. Try to remember that if your child returns home from college at some point with news of changing their major from engineering to sociology.
“Pokemon Go” is just one piece of evidence. You might not be able to relate to the swarms of people wandering around the streets looking for Pikachu, but there’s no denying that this game is monstrously successful and on track to make a ton of money. And that’s thanks in no small part to people with humanities degrees.
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PATRICE APODACA is a former Newport-Mesa public school parent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer. She lives in Newport Beach.
