Representing Problems in Wishbringer
Wishbringer (1985, Infocom), an award-winning work of IF by Brian Moriarty, offers
an amusing instance of a second ability which, according to Sternberg, underlies
intelligent behavior, the ability to decide on how to represent problem information. In
this relatively easy interactive novel, the main character eventually finds himself in the
lair of a dangerous, light-hating monster known as a grue, as he searches for, among other
things, grue's milk. In the lair, he finds a sleeping baby grue and a refrigerator. When
he opens the refrigerator door, he notes that a small light goes off, but since he's
carrying his own source of light, he can see a bottle of milk inside. Unfortunately,
though, because of the light, the baby grue wakes up and howls like "the screeching
of a subway," summoning a horrible monster with "a calico apron and slavering
fangs," which promptly dispatches the protagonist. Now, after using a few simple
keystrokes to recall to the computer's memory a "snapshot" of the game just
before the opening of the door, the readers have a problem to solve, a problem that will
probably lead to the question, "How can I get the grue's milk out of the
refrigerator?" However, with (or better, without) a little coaching, readers may see
that other, more complete representations of the problem can facilitate a solution. They
may move to, "How can I kill the baby grue in order to get the grue's milk
safely?" but since there are no weapons in the story, this formulation doesn't help
much. Sooner or later, though, they will probably try, "How can I keep the baby grue
asleep in order to get the grue's milk safely?" a very helpful version in that the
protagonist has easy access to a blanket. Of course, other readers may solve the problem
through other sorts of alternative representations, as by drawing mental or physical
pictures of the scene, thus using visualizing techniques that English teachers often urge
students to try.
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