Does Gaming Make You Dumb?

So many times I have heard people say something along the lines of, "Video games have no benefits! They're just time-wasters that distract from more important things! They make people stupid, and those that play them don't think about anything but what's on the screen!" My first response to this is generally to ask if they themselves have ever played video games. Then, I want to know how actively they have played them. Yes, video games are definitely a source of entertainment, and if you like that sort of thing, then they do a great job! But it really perturbs me when people are so quick to cast off video games as such a negative way to spend your time. Really, how much better is watching TV? I would say it is significantly more mindless than a game. Reading a book? Yes, you have to work a little harder to understand the story, but it is still laid out for you, right there. 

Well let me tell you something. TV is a great source of information. While it is not very interactive, a person can gain quite a bit from watching, depending on what they choose to watch and how closely they pay attention. Along with the potential to be educational, people absorb many different social and cultural traits by watching and listening to whatever is happening on the screen. Books? Obviously they are great. They help tone a person's linguistic ability as well as enhancing imagination. When reading, the reader must create the world, people, and events all in their own mind. It is up to them to get the full effect. 

So how are video games any different?

Initially, when looking at a video game, one does not generally see the educational value lying within, but it is definitely present. For one, those who use lots of technology and play video games are great problem solvers. In Portal, the entire (basic) premise of the game is to solve puzzles. Players often die or fail, and must start levels over and try different tactics. This ability moves on to other aspects of life, as we are able to see things from different angles. Just recently, a friend and I were trying to print something, but had to take about four different routes before we were successful. Many people in older generations do not understand that there is any way to achieve this other than simply pushing the print button. 

In schools, quite often, being wrong or making a mistake is the worst thing that can happen to a student. The infamous "red pen" is a horror to returned tests, and raising one's hand to answer a question almost always has a bit of fear along with it. From schools, students often fear being wrong. However, video games do not penalize you. When you die, you have an extra life. You can always try again, in some way. Games encourage enriched thought in order to achieve your goals, and mistakes are how you come to solve the problems placed before you. Gamers are almost never perfect at a game the first time they pick it up. All playing takes a certain amount of trial and error. 

(Want to read more on this? Check this out.) 

When talking about playing a certain video game, one woman named Heather Robertson says, "I was required to learn many different skills in order to understand and gain knowledge of the game.  This included the ability to not only see what my character was doing on the screen, figure out where I needed to go and how I could get there, but to actually read the text within different screen shots in order to learn how to play."   She feels that games definitely help enhance academic learning, such as reading, through combining different actions that the player must master. (Read Robertson's article here.) Tons of games have extremely complex controls that become like a second nature to the player, but it is through repetition and practice that one becomes accustomed to them. Without applying oneself, the chances of improving at a video game, just like anything else, are slim to none. 

I will never understand why people think that playing video games can only hurt a person's intellect. In all reality, video games are another great opportunity for people to hone new skills. Some of these skills are things a person learns elsewhere, but many of them are unique to technology and video games as they become more prevalent today. In all reality, it is extremely foolish to cast off video games as a whole in terms of educational value, for they are becoming a very common new literacy.