Kathleen in VA Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I found this article while perusing MIT's Open Courseware offerings. http://www.gladwell.com/2005/2005_05_16_a_brain.html Helps explain why video games are such a draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I read that guys book a few years ago! (Everything bad is good for you.) It was fascinating and very true. I've been an ardent defender of video games every since. (With balance, of course. You can't play them all day to the exclusion of interaction with other people and imaginary play on your own.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 This is the reason we've never done the Critical Thinking books recommended in the WTM. What has been interesting to me is watching the different ways my sons approach different video and computer games. They both play Guild Wars and my eldest is quite the horse trader. He buys and sells weapons and other stuff to boost his "rating" ~ whatever that means. My little guy is more into the strategy of building the Guild and navigating his way through the different areas. I'm not sure I completely buy the authors argument, though. I just don't think gaming exposes them to the same depth of thought or character that reading does, not to mention developing higher and higher levels of reading ability. Fun article. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 The part where the author talks about how reading is bad for you is supposed to be completely silly. In the book, he's making a point that you can make anything sound like it's bad for you if you want to. (He uses reading as his example because we all firmly KNOW that reading IS good for you...but you can see how it can be twisted to seem like it's bad.) Using his "reading is bad" example, he goes on to say that you hear that video games are all bad for you, but that's not really true. Video games are not all bad for you, just like reading is not bad for you. This author also agrees that the video games that are just for shooting and killing aren't the types of games he's talking about. All the violence overshadows any benefits in those games. But video games that require a lot of puzzle solving and exploring are the good ones. FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I did understand he was speaking rhetorically. He was comparing reading and gaming, though, and pointing out the benefits of gaming. My point is I don't think there's an equivalency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Post hoc ergo propter hoc The whole article simply isn't logical. He took one variable (out of many) and claimed it as the cause of rising IQ scores. The rise in IQ scores could just as easily have been caused by: better nutrition enough nutrition improved medical care better living conditions more widespread education in general higher education levels of parents more emphasis on education better test-taking skills How would he justify the rise in IQ scores between 1900 and the advent of the computer game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Post hoc ergo propter hoc The whole article simply isn't logical. He took one variable (out of many) and claimed it as the cause of rising IQ scores. The rise in IQ scores could just as easily have been caused by: better nutrition enough nutrition improved medical care better living conditions more widespread education in general higher education levels of parents more emphasis on education better test-taking skills How would he justify the rise in IQ scores between 1900 and the advent of the computer game? He did qualify his argument by pointing out those things you list. I don't think he's trying to really convince anyone that IQ increased because of gaming. He's trying to point out the we assume somethings are good or bad for us without real statistical or scientific data to back up our assumptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.