Zarbul

The Long Dream Materializing!

The thing about dreams is they often start without even noticing like waking in the morning feeling good and not realizing something pleasant drifted through our minds while we were slumbering. Another interesting detail is a dream can also manifest itself as a nightmare. When I was 9 years old I finished 3rd and 4th grades in one year…but that’s a story for another time. What’s important at the moment was an assignment the teacher gave us. We were supposed to write to our favorite politician. I wrote to Alan Cranston, US Senator for California. At the end of the letter I asked him, “when are you going to run for President?” I received a reply thanking me for my letter which ended saying how the Senator didn’t have any plans to run for President, but it posed a questions which would direct my life for the next ten years. I’m sure it was one of his staffers who asked, “When are you going to run for President?”

From that day until I was almost 19 years old I directed my life, like many young people, with the idea I was going to be President. Unfortunately, a big part of my dream was about solving the significant problems faced by humanity…war, famine, inequality, etc. I say unfortunately because when I went to college at the age of seventeen I worked full-time for a presidential candidate and became disillusioned with politics. It seemed like those in power were more concerned with fame, wealth and power than in making the world peaceful and fair. I decided to become a writer, but I never let go of my dream of being part of making humanity truly humane.

Over 25 years ago I once again asked myself a question which had haunted me since I was a child, but for the first time the answer seemed clear. “How do we bring about world peace?” Suddenly and strangely, the answer seemed simple to me. All my deep dives into philosophy and politics had eliminated all the complexities posed by the supposed great thinkers. My Junior and Senior High School graduations speeches were both on the subject, “Man’s Inhumanity to Man.” Almost wenty years later there had been changes, but wars still ravaged the world, people were starving and despite some progress inequality seemed to be worse in many ways. So what was the solution?

Bring young people together in ways which would help them bond across the old barriers of nationalism, religion, culture, race, etc. My idea was if the youth of the world had the opportunity to learn together cooperatively and create things collaboratively they would experience what seemed to me a simple fact, we as a species have much more in common than what has historically separated us. Initially, I created a website, “Peacelings.” The project was short-lived as I decided to go to India to work on a novel. Years later I wrote and directed the animation/live-action TV pilot “Earthlings” which was supposed to also have an educational virtual world to encourage cooperation and collaboration. Once the pilot was finished we signed with one of the best entertainment agents in London, but it was late in 2008 and the project failed in the worldwide economic meltdown.

Years later I started the Planet Earthlings project specifically to work on an educational virtual world, but the time just didn’t seem right. The smaller gaming experiences we created which centered around spreading kindness and overcoming bullying sparked people’s imaginations, but the massive endeavor to bring K-12 education into a 3D game universe (on 2D screen) just didn’t gather the interest or funding we needed. We created a little slice of the project which looked cool, but people weren’t convinced education and gaming could work together. Here’s a little demo video… Zarbul!

Three months ago my daughter and I moved to Austin. During South by Southwest I attended a number of startup and game industry events. To my surprise and delight I found people truly enthusiastic about the project. It seems like the time might finally be right. Challenges in education are well known. During Covid parents struggled with their children studying at home. The idea of making learning as fun as playing a video game seems to really be exciting people.

So I’m back at it, but I’ve always known if we’re going to really change the world it’s going to take MANY people. Zarbul.com is about bringing together everyone who wants to make a difference and revolutionize education. This is a safe space to share ideas, debate in a friendly manner with eyes on really making a difference. So welcome Zarbullians. I glad you’re here. I’m looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you and to hear your ideas about how we can empower the youth of today to be the leaders of tomorrow!

#EdTech #Elearning #STEMEducation #GameBasedLearning #Gamification #EducationalGames