Games cause stupidity?

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L337_Assasain

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I was talking with a friend of mine today, and we got into this conversation about how games today are supposedly making people stupider, and that they are a complete waste of time. Now i asked him if he thought i was stupid, and his reply was not what i expected...He said that maybe i could be smarter if i didn't play games. Now I for don't agree with him, i believe it has more to do with the audience that plays them. Today adolescents seem to be more interested in a game then they are in what's happening in the world. I went a bit off topic. I just wanted to know your oppinions, and maybe some proof for my friend that not all people who play games are ignorant losers.
 
I dunno about stupidity but I'm pretty sure that computers have shortened my attention span. I've gotton used to having huge amounts of information and computing power at my fingertips. When I'm walking down the street and I think of something, my first reaction is to google it, then I realize I don't have google, then I wish I had some sort of google in my brain so I could distract myself while I walk. If something takes more than 5 seconds I start to get impatient. Recently I tried going back to the 256 mhz computer that I had used for like 4 years. It was torture.
 
Well, conversely, I saw a little of that Child of Our Time program (hosted by Robert Winston on the BBC) and the video-gaming kid was better socially (more verbal, responded better to queries) and came up top on the reactions tests.

Now a question- are the games irrelevant and such anomalies are down purely to personal (genetic) factors, or did they make some impact on his development?

Note that anyone who says "yes, the games couldn't possibly have benefits" had damn well better follow up with "so logically anyone blaming games for causing massacres or rotting brains is a total smeghead".
 
Well, i guess i'm not a complete game addict. but i find i have a long attention span, i read alot, i'm in top set for all my classes at school, and i'm able to communicate well (i think) with other people. Gaming also improves ur hand eye coordination :D. PLUS! As many valve gamers will know, you have to have a lot of patience with Valve and its games. So,in conclusion, i hope i have convinced you that Gaming IS good for our brains.
 
Well, I don't think it 'rots' your brain or makes you any dumber than you are, but for a lot of kids, it distracts from their school/current learning process, so that's what some people might mean. As in it's costing them as they progress, but not actually making them go backwards in the learning progress.
 
RakuraiTenjin said:
Well, I don't think it 'rots' your brain or makes you any dumber than you are, but for a lot of kids, it distracts from their school/current learning process, so that's what some people might mean. As in it's costing them as they progress, but not actually making them go backwards in the learning progress.
Click to expand...

agreed.
 
ya i rarely do hw. I am either checking here or actually playing, yet I still do good in school, I must be a genius.
 
L337_Assasain said:
I was talking with a friend of mine today, and we got into this conversation about how games today are supposedly making people stupider...
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Stupider isn't a word. Better lay off the video games. :p
 
i think if you do nothin but gaming you are going to be a bit thick...although some people are naturally stupid so...you're never alone...
 
Depends on how high you priortize it, for exemple if you let it go before all else and dont do any homework it cant be good for you. But if play video games instead of say watching TV it IS probubly good for you.
 
MSN makes people stupid, you should see the appauling spelling from people... *shakes head in disgust*
 
If you play games all the time, and someone else reads books all the time, of course they're going to know more things than you. But I've played games for many years, and I'd still regard myself as pretty clever.

What you gotta remember is that games are a comparitively brand new form of media - perhaps in the future you'll be playing games set in WW2 and you'll be taught all the names and dates through character scripts and letters handed to you by NPCs. Then you'll go and kill baddies.
 
Games and computers only have done good for me. Meat some really cool people, reaction time is high, many many more things. Games dont make people stupid people make people stupid.
 
I don't think games make you stupider.. I just think they can be a 'waste of time', and some kids (myself included :p ) play games rather than doing homework.. so they get worse grades, making themselves seem 'stupider'...

And people who game instead of reading would have a worse vocabulary/know less, but it doesn't mean they're stupider.. it's no different from watching TV. In fact, I think TV is worse.. you don't have to think when watching TV like you do when gaming. TV doesn't improve your reaction speed either! Go games :D
 
Well, I dunno about stupidity, but gaming (and computing at large) has definitely sapped my creativity over the years. There was some Chinese study proving this a while back.
 
Video games themselves don't make people more stupid. They do however occupy time that you could be using to learn/study/do something else that might make you smarter.

It wouldn't do any good to compare an 80 IQ and a 150 IQ obviously. So let's take two 100 IQ people with similar education. Tell them there is a calculus test in one week. One studies calculus the whole time while the other plays games the whole time. Who wins on the math test?
 
I read a lot, draw a lot, map a play, and game a lot.

My deadlines have occasionally suffered due to an AG binge.. but my work's just fine.

That said, I have ****ing leet reaction times :E
 
Raziel-Jcd said:
Games and computers only have done good for me. Meat some really cool people, reaction time is high, many many more things. Games dont make people stupid people make people stupid.
Click to expand...

Ditto, except for the stupid people make people stupid part.
 
ComradeBadger said:
That said, I have ****ing leet reaction times :E
Click to expand...

That's why a lot of surgeons are playing video games now. It helps their reaction time and concentration. So games can't be all bad for the brain.
I remember a study done that showed the effects of gaming on the elderly, as well. Some old lady got hit by a bus, and some researchers came in and tried to see if video games would help old folks' reaction times. It did, and it said that the ones that continued playing the games were less likely to be hit by a bus.

I don't think games make you stupid at all. Games can be mindless, sure, but I doubt they're killing off brain cells. Some games that are thinking games, puzzle games, those make you exercise your mind. Take Grim Fandango for instance, that one made you consider your surroundings and your equipment with precision detail in order to figure out what to do. That one probably made some people smarter.

Now, the internet, that's a whole different story. Everybody knows the internet makes you stupid. So if you're worried about saving your brains, don't worry about the games. You should probably get off the internet.
 
Video games can only make people less intelligent, is if by playing games, devoting all of their time to games, without learning lessons or anything from them. You see, someone who spends their entire education life playing video games rather than studying what they should in school, would be a good claim that they are less intelligent because of the video games. HOWEVER, the video games themselves would not cause this, just the lack of common sense from the person who would ignore their studies, and prefer to play the games which often teach them no lessons on life or of acedemics.

The same can be said of playing tennis, or football, or golfing, or any other hobby, so should the individual have been doing these things when they were supposed to be gaining an education.

One who spends some of their time, adequately doing their schoolwork, and the rest playing games... will be no worse off than someone who does nothing but school work for their entire day, without much else. I would be more inclined to say that the person who did do something he enjoyed after his work was done, would be better off not only socially, but mentally as well!

Unless of course the gamer plays stupid games like JFK reloaded and postal :-P
 
Raziaar said:
The same can be said of playing tennis, or football, or golfing, or any other hobby, so should the individual have been doing these things when they were supposed to be gaining an education.
Click to expand...

But of course, you'll never hear parents say, "Playing sports made my child stupid!" :LOL: Even if their MVP child was as dumb as a sack of wet bricks carried by Ashlee Simpson, they're going to gloss over that fact because playing sports is a popular activity. Gaming, which was previously viewed as the activity of nerds and recluses, gains fire because it was an unpopular, and somewhat unsocial activity. That's changing now, though, since games are becoming mainstream.
 
Games no make me stupid me smart go by games!:p*Sorry, just had to...*
 
Danimal said:
MSN makes people stupid, you should see the appauling spelling from people... *shakes head in disgust*
Click to expand...
Oh, it annoys me... "cum on u kno u want to" "wha dat" "fuk of" -_-
 
Most people I have on my MSN spell well, so MSN doesn't make everyone go stupid, ComradeBadger has MSN and he ain't stupid :p*Smooches for the mods(J/k)*
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raziaar
The same can be said of playing tennis, or football, or golfing, or any other hobby, so should the individual have been doing these things when they were supposed to be gaining an education.
Click to expand...

Yes, BUT! It has been medically proven that if you are fit you are able to sleep and study a whole lot better.

Don't forget HL2! HL2 made u think. It took me like 15 minutes to figure out that section in water hazard with the ramp you need to lift using the blue barrols. I spent age trying to get the boat through the pipes..... :(
 
Nah, I dont think games makes you stupid. However, I realised
some strange things in my life, after using the computer long periods of time(every day) after ending my studys.

Not long time ago when, I was drawing traditionally on paper, and hardly ever do these days, I was wondering wheres the undo button(about a half second before I realised). Felt really stupid.. :monkee:
Also there seems to be a save and reload button in my dreams these days :p
I should take a break now. :|
 
I try to quicksave after a class session :| especially after the school holidays (a few days left for now until school begins again :()
 
i play games, they just distract you, not make u stupider.. as far as i know, im not stupid at all :)
 
Well just today I tried to use my zoom function to focus on a distant street sign :hmph:

The idea that gaming makes you "stupider" because you're playing in a virtual world rather than concentrating on your education holds no water with me. You could say that about anything- sleeping instead of working, watching TV instead of working, eating instead of working... there's too much of a tendency to blame the means rather than those with the attitudes that allow abuse of such things.

Don't make my beer more expensive- just murder the binge drinkers. Don't tax my junk food- just render fat whiners down into affordable tallow. Don't blame games for violence- just hammer some common sense into stupid parents who raised unhinged, easily influenced "children".

Extreme? Yep. But the scapegoat culture has got to stop. People have to start accepting the facts- that the real people responsible are total idiots. I've said it once so I'll say it again... Vote Ed for the 2020 moron cull!
 
Dude, games have taught me so much. Games have helped me with my spelling skills, math skills, etc.
 
:) Some videogames have taught me techniques on how to use some weapons such as guns.
 
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