The Wikipedia Game

While it may seem that all I do is play video games and watch anime, I would like to inform you that I also do many other more active things such as breathing, eating, and sleeping. However, my sleeping has been rather lousy as of late, and that takes up a lot of my time, so I decided to Wiki (the action of using wikipedia.org to inform one's self of an area, event, or item with little effort) some methods of falling asleep more quickly. Whenever I use Wikipedia, I can rarely just look at one article. This recognition of my low attention span has now become "The Wikipedia Game."

Step 1: Become curious about something. That's right, you can't start unless you have something you want to know about. Even if it's something that you've looked up already, there are different paths to take this time around. I guarantee it.

Step 2: Satisfy that curiosity with a single, direct article from Wikipedia. It's not hard to get your answers from the great Wiki, so place your faith upon its digital pages, and you will be rewarded with a wealth of knowledge (if you can't find your answer, it doesn't matter. Even if your attention span is better than mine, you'll probably get sidetracked with something way more interesting than the answer to your question anyways).

Step 3: Click on the most interesting link to another Wikipedia article on the site. Whether you choose to finish the current article you're on or not, you need to continue the chain. I would advise sticking slightly to topic at first, but as you get better at the game, click on some entirely unrelated links. *Warning* Do not leave the sanctity of Wikipedia by clicking on the "External Links" section. It's a nasty world out there on the Internets, and I wouldn't want any one of my beloved (four) readers getting viruses that stop them from reading my amazing posts.

Step 4: Get bored. All good things must come to an end. Whether it's your mom calling for dinner, or you are just too tired to continue on, eventually you will stop this easter egg hunt for knowledge. This is where the fun begins (for those of you who just don't like learning).

Step 5: Climb your chain. With me, it's usually 10-15 articles I go through before finishing up. Write down the last one and work your way back to the Wikipedia homepage, writing down all the articles you read along the way.

Step 6: Bask in some glory. Stare at that piece of paper and think about all you learned and read today. Doesn't that just make you feel like someone who is smarter than you are? The best part about it is: you are that smarter person now!

So, as an example, my Wikipedia Game score sheet looks like this: Sleep - Sleep Apnea - Dream - Lucid Dream - Near Death Experience - Out of body experience - meditation - Bahá'í Faith - Monasticism - Christian Monasticism - Heremetic Life - Recluse - Hikikomori - Dysthymia

As you can see, this is quite a list and kept me occupied a good 2 hours. Less expensive and more informative than a video game, yet it's usually only information that won't even show up on Jeopardy. I wouldn't advise this game for parties, but it's fun to try and do the same thing with conversations with people, and it shows them that's you're listening. Go on, give it a whirl!