The Social Side of D&D
Social interaction is everywhere, a virtually inescapable aspect of human society. It happens in the workplace, the home, when ordering services, and when spending leisure time with friends. The function of nearly every niche in society is unimaginable without some extent of social interaction, even if it simply the communication of a want or desire. Games are perhaps one of the purest expressions of this functionality which social interaction provides. For simplicity in this disccusion, we will be limiting qualification of "games" to traditional activities played between two or more human players, therefore excluding single-player computer/console games (though it can be argued that even these are a social experience, albeit one between human and artificial intelligence).
The game of Dungeons & Dragons is completely contingent upon the presence of social interactions (as introduced in the brief overview of D&D ). The construction of the game comes from interaction between the two categories of players, the GM and the rest of the group comprised of players. The GM presents the players with situations by communicating the plot, environment, and other notable details, while the players move the story forward by stating their characters' responses to the circumstances at hand. If, at any point, communication ceases on the side of either the GM or players, the story comes to a halt. At this point in the analysis of the game, some readers might scoff, remarking that a game which is so sensitive and reliant upon the presence of mutual communication can't possibly progress at any meaningful rate. After all, it seems that even the smallest wrench in the turning gears which drive the story forward could at any time bring it to a screeching stop. However, upon closer examination, many situations in daily society share this very same contingency upon communication. If at a restaurant, a waiter asks to take a customer's order, and the customer fails to communicate his order to the waiter, any likelihood of a productive outcome is eliminated. Both parties must satisfy the need for communication, in order to reach the desired end goal.
With such a delicate balance of interactions fueling our modern world, it is interesting to ponder where humans acquire these communication skills to begin with. In schools, traditional academic curricula cover core subjects like math, science and reading, but very rarely are oratory skills or communication directly taught; if anything, they consequential. Communnication skills are a by-product of experience, a trial-and-error process that is constantly refined through our lifetimes. Humans learn language, grammar, and syntactical skills which allow for coherent formation of sentences, but the finer points of communication of actual ideas are often neglected. Communicating with multiple individuals, who each possess a different mind and point of view, complicates situations even further. Many people find the process of working towards a common goal in a group environment daunting. For a handful individuals, job environments will be the first exposure to such situations.
D&D can help with overcoming these barriers. Being as dependent on social interaction as it is, the game serves as an efficient practice for communication, especially in an objective-based group environment. Additionally, as stated before in the discussion of cognitive benefits, all of the practice of social interactions and group dynamics takes place in a fantasy world, one which comes without the risk of expulsion from a job or other undesirable side-effects of failed social interaction. In a sense, D&D fills in the gaps of communal expertise which academic curricula create, and in so doing, form individuals more prepared to function in a society that is so dependent on communication and social interaction.