Gaming Can Change The World - Page 4

On March 19 2010 08:12 Alou wrote:
Games have social interaction. Do people not talk and strategize on TeamSpeak or Ventrilo? It may not be face to face, but you don't need to see someone to interact with them. Interaction through a computer is still interaction.

On March 19 2010 08:22 CommanderFluffy wrote:


The social interaction through a computer screen, a microphone are all very different from interacting with someone face to face. You miss out on a huge part of human interaction that is body language.

On March 19 2010 08:21 RosaParksStoleMySeat wrote:
I am more interested in the effect that games have on cognitive development. I'd like to hear about some neurobiology studies on left and right hemisphere involvement in the playing of certain games. I'd like to see the levels of brain activity while playing games compared to activity levels involved in other activities such as watching television, surfing the Internet casually, and studying.

One issue that I have with her work is that these in-game attitudes do not necessarily apply to real-life. If there is research indicating that they do, then she has a real slam dunk of an argument. If not, then she needs to go back to the drawing board.

On March 19 2010 08:30 Manifesto7 wrote:


You might be interested in part of the sarcraft progaming documentary done by national geographic (which is on youtube, and was done by the member "The Storyteller" on TL). It goes into the brain activity of progamers.

On March 18 2010 13:20 Cloud wrote:


You mean like adding a tv news show? Or placing a starving african child on the back of your teen magazine? Or a satirical novel?

It has been done over and over and it hasn't worked for shit. People just don't like facing reality. They are only rational when they're playing a game, reading a novel or drowning in a gallon of whisky. Yet they turn into some kind of blind, dumb, deaf and mature zombie when facing reality.

On March 19 2010 08:22 anch wrote:
The lady puts too much positive effect on playing WoW.
I understand WoW does give coordination and social skills but that's only if you are top of the management. Underlings follow order because they want to stay in the guild, just as a employee follow his order to keep his job. I dont see how playing 1 more hour per day can change anything.
Games are still games, it cant just teach kids algebra and reasoning of the real world. Its not like "hey if we screw up this financial project (raid) we can always try again tomorrow".

I know my arguement are weak, just want to point it out.

On March 19 2010 12:36 Judicator wrote:


I don't think she does; she more or less emphasis points that are often ignored by critics of WoW and when the "positives" of WoW/gaming are explored it more often than not leads to the success of the game in terms of player base, profits, or how it changed the field. In other words, there's a clear distinction that is drawn between the gaming world and real world when in fact the distinction hasn't been as clear for I would guess the last 20 years. She's in essence making that argument in an exaggerated way.

Going along with WoW, individuals in the (average) raiding guilds quickly learn a few things; not everyone tries their best, not everyone has the best intentions of the guild in mind , not everyone respect and/or like you based on their opinion regardless of how trivial or senseless it maybe, and etc. On the other hand, it's hardly an accurate portrayal of the real world (whatever you want to define that as), but it certainly shares some parallels that are very similar.

Also, there is the danger of over-extrapolating/overstating of the apparent facts in a situation like this.

Lastly, there are a few studies now that show certain video games improve some aspects of cognitive functions like memory and spatial learning as well as teamwork, organization, and etc. So its not all games are just games. Tetris has been used for neurological studies more frequently this past decade.

On March 19 2010 23:43 GGTeMpLaR wrote:
I would have turned it off after 5-10 minutes if I didn't think she was a cutie

pretty sure this is like a speech project or something related to public speaking (after seeing the end logo, it IS basically some public speaking program/school) and she just happened to pick what she thought would be an "easy topic/easy A" or "something she would enjoy working on"

she made as many logical fallacies as a politician

On March 20 2010 04:43 Railxp wrote:
She used some far-fetched exaggerations to make her point, but we are all gamers here and have all seen those starcraft-applied-to-girl-problems threads.

On March 20 2010 05:32 tissue wrote:
Gaming has lots of transferable skills... if you are 9 years old, or lack a logically functioning mind.

Also failure in a game has less impact, you just dust yourself off and try again - it's just a game, after all. Failure in real life can have huge social, economic, and emotional consequences. For every epic win achieved, don't forget the endless amounts of epic fail.

On March 19 2010 23:59 Alou wrote:


It's TED. It's a convention where people go and talk about whatever they want. Tons of brilliant people are invited and you only get in with an invitation. And she isn't a student. She's been designing games for years. I've played one and they are pretty interesting.

On March 20 2010 05:41 CharlieMurphy wrote:

I thought some of the people had to pay thousands of dollars to go to events and even more if they were doing a speech.

On March 19 2010 08:14 Manifesto7 wrote:
Stuff like this is pretty tepid. It is interaction, but so is buying my gas, working on a school project, or organizing a family dinner. There is only so much stock you can put in these types of "learning situations".