Many of us who love video games have heard negative comments about them more than a little bit. However, video games have proven to be very useful on more than one occasion in many fields, such as medicine, piloting, and more. This time, The Sims 4 made me learn the difference between the concepts of infertile and sterilite because, for all my life, I thought they were the same thing.
This all started because Reddit user MissFergy shared that they were shocked because their Sim turned out to be pregnant. The gist is that this same Sim has the infertility trait, so the user didn’t care if the Sim was making Whoohoo with all the neighbors. This post attracted the curiosity of more Redditors to debate how it was possible that the Sim was expecting a baby. As it turns out, just like IRL, The Sims 4 distinguishes between being infertile and sterile. To find out, I went directly to Google and learned the following:
- Sterility is when fertilization cannot occur, i.e., the sperm cannot fertilize the egg.
- Infertility is when pregnancy cannot be completed; that is to say, a person can become pregnant but, for some reason, cannot have a baby.
It is worth mentioning that this Reddit user is also using the Relationship & Pregnancy Overhaul and the MC Command Center. This affects several aspects of the Sims, such as the multiple possible baby daddies option.
The Sims 4, in one way or another, motivated its players to investigate and even discuss conditions such as pregnancy. Another case was the approach to mental health and other essential aspects of the real world. For example, in the High School Years, Lovestruck, and the Parenthood Expansion Packs. So, Electronic Arts low-key allows its players to experience parts of life that we all face from other points of view. If those examples aren’t solid proof that video games are truly useful and more than just entertainment, I don’t know what else will be.
