I just read an article about possible benefits of playing video games. The authors laid out a few benefits that included possible improved motor skills, increased pain tolerance and relief, possible improved eye sight, faster decision making, and help with psychological issues. Great, right? Maybe.
But the author placed these benefits against the oft purported negative affects of video games, namely, "they're addictive, they make kids fat and they turn us all into trained murderers." If those are indeed the downsides to gaming, they are not to be ignored.
Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to get rid of video games. If any of the negative effects are true they can be avoided by using caution and moderation.
No, this article simply made me wonder if we (as a society) are coming up with ways to make gaming ok in our own minds since it appears that gaming is not going anywhere. A little bit like doublethink? Kind of. Do we do this with anything else in our culture?
"they're addictive, they make kids fat and they turn us all into trained murderers." = sarcasm. Those are not the downsides and should be ignored. I don't understand rock climbing, I can't do rock climbing, and I don't do rock climbing. This doesn't mean that I accepted it because its "not going anywhere", its because I understand that if I want a good opinion on rock climbing, I will talk to rock climbers. I think you can replace rock climbing with a lot of other types of leisure activities that have downsides and the same applies, including video games. Its cool that you are thinking about it. Your post makes it sound like society isn't "ok" in their minds about gaming already. Is that what you think?
ReplyDeleteWhoa whoa whoa! Ok, I think this blog post came out sounding a lot more negative than I intended it to (i.e. not =P ). I do think there was a bit of a stigma about video games that has at least mostly gone away. I guess really what my question was is now that that is going away, why are we feeling the need to justify gaming with articles like this? Is that what this article even is? Just to make it clear- I have nothing against video games or gamers!
ReplyDeleteThose are great questions to ask. I think that when I justify video games it can be for multiple reasons: 1) because of this class 2) so I can justify to myself spending time (sometimes too much) playing 3) to break stereotypes and fight bullies (you are not a bully). I do think that justification isn't necessary and that articles like this could be as short as: Why play video games? Because they make you happy. I think that this article was written so that kids can show it to their moms (or husbands to wives) in the hopes that they can get permission for another hour or two of gametime. I didn't think your post was negative and I am glad you are discussing this topic. My comment might have been seen as defensive and that was not intended. I have informed the Guild of Gamers that you are not against them.
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