Pinkerton said:
"I'd still be plenty concerned if my child played them all the time," Prof. Bialystok said. "Sure, they're getting better at rapid search and response problems, but I really would prefer my child read a book."
this is exactly the point. Video gaming is a sensory addiction, and, if your mind has been trained to thrive on over-stimulation, a a book just looks too boring afterwords. Of course I am talking about, say, "War and Peace", and not about a fantasy novel.
there is a whole trend on foot here, and video-gaming is a part of it, along with decrease in verbal STA scores and rise in ADHD, be it diagnosed or actual.
Marc Prensky writes about impact on video games on children's brains, his take is entirely positive (\\\http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp) It appears, however, that he and other video game proponents are simply putting a positive spin on trend which is beyond our control and scope of understanding.
I have been talking about this subject to friends who have embraced their children's interest in the games (interest that to me looks like full blown addiction, but anyway). By this time, I am seeing that their kids are growing up into decent young people, despite their gaming, or may be even because they received some benefits from actual gaming or being allowed to follow their interests.
There is one common thing among all those people though -- it's a general lax attitude to one's life, equating happiness with bodily comfort, and assuming that whatever makes you feel good is good for you. They would say, of course, that the latter applies only to a narrow spectrum of generally acceptable, morally sound and obviously non-criminal activities. And, they do like the word "moderation"a lot -- the thing is, they define it as it suits them, and the scale of "moderation" may change from discussion to discussion, there is no objective criteria.
I also found that their very opinion on some issue may turn around 180 degrees, but they still find ways to make it match with whatever system of values they espouse. It's very much about "creating your own reality", even if they don't refer to it this way.
And it is THIS that bothers me most of all. Video games are about entertainment and taking the player away from objective reality, and they do it insidiously, too. Consider the following example: if "good" video-games are about learning and have benefits, then ok -- a surgeon-in-training should practice every day shooting green dots on a black screen and enjoy the increase in visual perception and better reaction time. But would he\she be interested enough to do it? No, because it's boring. It's the pretty packaging we are going for in the video-game, and that's what people become addicted to -- not the game's "meaning".
Learning is fun, but it's not easy, while game-based learning wants us to believe that we can have our cake and eat it too.
