[thedoc (OP)]

There's lots of both good and bad press surrounding video
games. But what should we believe?
Read a transcript of the interview by clicking here

or [chapter podcast=1000778 track=14.08.12/Naked_Scientists_Show_14.08.10_1002600.mp3] Listen to it now[/chapter] or [download as MP3]

[smart]

Video games are good for the developing brain. In particular, video games can stimulate neurogenesis (birth of new neurons) and brain connectivity. Video games can also be helpful for peoples with ADHD, TBI, and depressive disorders.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201310/video-gaming-can-increase-brain-size-and-connectivity

[syhprum]

I think that video games are good for young children as they give them an incentive to learn to read and write much as the wireless in the thirties made me learn to read the Radio Times.
I think the problem with Video games for young adults is that the consequences of violence are not made sufficiently clear with people surviving being blown up or being in crashes

[alancalverd]

Silly anecdote to begin with: when the first arcade games appeard, we had one installed in a flying club bar. It disappeared and was never replaced after a student, who hadn't reached solo stage in the real thing,  shot down the chief flying instructor and two Polish DFCs in a tournament.

Certainly practice at anything that requires eye-hand coordination, improves that coordination and may have other benefits in staving off dementia or whatever.

It always pays to follow the money rather than the academics. Billions are spent on TV advertising because everyone in the industry knows that moving pictures and sound can change people's attitudes and choices. There's not much point in playing a war game where you can run out of ammunition, fuel, or life (indeed it would be difficult to sell a game where the player always loses), so my guess is that many kids set thse parameters to "unlimited" and grow up believing, somewhere deep down, that they are invincible and have indefinite resources. And of course that anyone who doesn't wear your uniform must be killed.

Back to the beginning: once video games progressed beyond flight simulators, armies have used them to improve soldiers' performance in urban infantry operations, including desensitising infantrymen (it's worth reading Grossman's book "On Killing" to see the problem from the commanders' side). There is ample evidence that offduty policemen sharpen their skills and lose their inhibitions through video games. No surprise then if the occasional teenager or neonazi nutter adopts the posture of the lone hero saving the world from the untermenschen. As pointed out above 

Video games can also be helpful for peoples with ADHD, TBI, and depressive disorders.

but that isn't always a Good Thing for society.

Let's see how the next President of the United States, who apparently has only ever read one book, behaves. I bet he plays all sorts of video games when he isn't interfering with children.     

[syhprum]

Although no lover of USA president elect I feel this is verging on slander and should be removed

"plays all sorts of video games when he isn't interfering with children."     
 
 
                         

[alancalverd]

It would be a slander if I asserted that he did interfere with children, which I didn't. You may have inferred it, but I have been studying the Donald Trump Book of Public Speaking. How often the President-Elect has settled out of court on a charge of statutory rape is of course a matter of public record and I wouldn't want to comment on that.

[syhprum]

Reading carefully  it seems that you are convinced to the extent that you would place a bet on it that he interferes with children, you are only quoting your own opinion not stating that your opinion is fact .
Although this may not legally be slander because we are all permitted to have our opinions as long as we do not publish them as fact but I still think you are sailing close to the wind

[alancalverd]

Are you accusing me of being a betting man? I'm offended. I demand an immediate retraction of your unfounded slur on my character, or I'll see you in court. And that, my friend, is how the next President of the United States interprets free speech: you can say what can afford to defend.

Anyway, it seems that Little Donny once tweeted against video games, and Hitler was a vegetarian, so the world ain't all bad.

[Wicked96]

There has been a propaganda how violent video games increase the violence in teenages but the thing is its actually DECREASING violence and you can look it up.
There is nothing wrong with it and they are decreasing stress, it can only be bad if you are playing video games alot and its hurting your everyday life.

[Ousizems]

Many parents and educators have expressed concern about teenagers playing video games, believing that these may negatively impact development. While it is true that some video games can be negative influences if not monitored and managed appropriately, there are a lot of benefits that video games can provide to teenagers. They can stimulate the critical thinking and problem solving skills of young people; enhance their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and spatial cognition; teach them the importance of collaboration and team work; help them learn how to handle failure; encourage imagination and self-expression; provide a safe space for exploring non-traditional genders roles and perspectives; as well as allow teens to connect with other like-minded peers from around the world. So while it's certainly important to know how much time is being spent on gaming, when used mindfully, video games may actually be beneficial for teenagers' cognitive and social development.

[GertrudeFranklin]

Ok, but what are the final verdict and arguments? The most important to me are the arguments, because I still don't know what to say to my parents when they start their speech about the bad influence of video games.

[alancalverd]

Here's the argument: you have one life. You can use it to do good, bad or nothing. As a parent of several ex-teenagers I was prepared to accept that they might push and occasionally exceed the boundaries of good behavior - that's normal development, hormones, etc., but the idea of a fit, intelligent child of mine doing nothing appalled me.

I never saw a dog wasting its life. At the end of the day, he might present you with a dead rat. What can you show for a day playing computer games?

[Zer0]

I never saw a dog wasting its life. At the end of the day, he might present you with a dead rat. What can you show for a day playing computer games?

Ans - Number 1 spot in the High Scores.

There are Various ways of Stimulating the Senses & deriving Pleasure out of it.

Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll being Dominant....
followed by Speed, Weed & Birth Control being Prominent...
Life's a Ditch, you Fall, you Die..
So duck the Real World n just play GTA5!

P.S. - Only if Dogs could have known how to play Duck Hunt...Bowie Wowie!
🐶