Although I was amazed at how skilled these players were, I was more impressed by the donations they have raised for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. This event, which began on January 5th at 11 a.m., has raised $1,007,636.61. In a week, there have been over 27,000 donations to raise over a million dollars (this may or may not include bids).
Of course, this isn't the only instance of charity events hosted by game enthusiasts. Siv, a streamer on Twitch, raised over $100,000 for Save the Children in a mere 13 hours. So why am I writing about this? One reason is that I simply wanted to bring these spectacular deeds to your attention. The other was that I felt the urge to discuss the influence and role of games in our society.
The rest of this post will be spent discussing the positive societal consequences of gaming. For those that hate games with a passion, part two or three of this post series will discuss the negative consequences.
Much of the malice toward games, other than their addicting nature, is actually quite unwarranted. There are a number of valuable skills video games can teach and improve, and games can sometimes even teach lessons that can't be taught in the classroom. For example, it can teach hand-eye coordination. One of the games that I frequently play, League of Legends, requires understanding, patience, and almost perfect hand-eye coordination to become an exceptional player. Whether I am playing table tennis or League, my coordination is definitely improving.
In fact, that very hand-eye coordination from games has been proven to help surgeons in surgeries, which are becoming increasingly dependent on robotic tools. You can read more about that here.
Another positive effect of gaming is improving critical thinking and decision-making. Especially true of action games, video games force kids to think quickly. To use another League of Legends example, in higher level play, fractions of a second can be the deciding factor in the outcome of a game. In the seconds leading up to that moment in which the game can be decided, a player has to draw tons of information from the game. Is my team here? What spells and items do they have? Is anyone out of position? When will dragon respawn (an important objective in the game)? Beyond these questions, there are countless other factors that must be taken into account. With such importance placed on making quick, educated choices based on given information in these games, children are likely to become better at decision-making in general.
To read more on the benefits of playing video games, check out these links below.
Positive Effects of Video Games on Children
The Benefits of Playing Video Games
Part two of this series can be found here.
Much of the malice toward games, other than their addicting nature, is actually quite unwarranted. There are a number of valuable skills video games can teach and improve, and games can sometimes even teach lessons that can't be taught in the classroom. For example, it can teach hand-eye coordination. One of the games that I frequently play, League of Legends, requires understanding, patience, and almost perfect hand-eye coordination to become an exceptional player. Whether I am playing table tennis or League, my coordination is definitely improving.
In fact, that very hand-eye coordination from games has been proven to help surgeons in surgeries, which are becoming increasingly dependent on robotic tools. You can read more about that here.
Another positive effect of gaming is improving critical thinking and decision-making. Especially true of action games, video games force kids to think quickly. To use another League of Legends example, in higher level play, fractions of a second can be the deciding factor in the outcome of a game. In the seconds leading up to that moment in which the game can be decided, a player has to draw tons of information from the game. Is my team here? What spells and items do they have? Is anyone out of position? When will dragon respawn (an important objective in the game)? Beyond these questions, there are countless other factors that must be taken into account. With such importance placed on making quick, educated choices based on given information in these games, children are likely to become better at decision-making in general.
To read more on the benefits of playing video games, check out these links below.
Positive Effects of Video Games on Children
The Benefits of Playing Video Games
Part two of this series can be found here.
This is a great post, and it does bring up some key issues about gaming. However, there are a few points I would like to address. First of all, I do agree that much of the argument against gaming on the grounds that it causes addiction is unwarranted, but I feel that way more because most people are smart enough to play those games responsibly and not allow it to become a major focus. I agree that the positive effects you mentioned are good, but at the same time, it's important to remember that there are other activities that do that as well and have other benefits to go with them. For example, you mentioned table tennis and League both improving your coordination, but table tennis also provides. League may provide critical-thinking opportunities, but so does reading. My point isn't that games are bad, but they should be used in moderation.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I wanted to ask: how do you think the acts of generosity at the beginning of your post relate to the effects of gaming? Is it because games create a social environment that better allows for that, just plain old human nature, or something else?
Again, great post!
This is a really interesting points, but I was wondering if you think these benefits of gaming outweigh some of the negative consequences of gaming. For example, the actual subject material of many video games is controversial, like auto theft, prostitution and murders. Therefore, while gamers might be improving their hand-eye coordination and the like, their minds could arguably be corrupted and desensitized to morbid or despicable things. Do you think this is justified?
ReplyDeleteI agree! This is a really interesting pointS! I will be expanding on this later in parts 2 or 3, but the short answer is that I believe they can. As they say, everything in moderation, right? Personally, I think that games that include things like theft, prostitution, and murder have almost no benefits. In many cases, they have been shown to desensitize people to such horrors. At the same time, video games are good outlets through which people can relieve stress (although trolls may induce more stress), which may reduce the rate of suicides or the like. All in all, it's rather difficult to label gaming as good or bad. It has its benefits and its drawbacks.
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