[mythtv-users] OT - Re: Mythgame advice

[blake]

Post or flush...post or flush...forgive me:

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:15:13 -0700, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:

> Your excuse about hand/eye coordination etc. is oft used, and may have
> a VERY limited truth to it, for very young kids.

Or doctors: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4685909/

> However, I was out at our local college the other day. I overheard a
> couple of students talking, saying they were flunking courses because
> they "just didn't have time to study".
>
> They then launched into a 30 minute discussion of their prowess and
> progress at WoW.

Hey, that is sad. Most college kids don't have time to study because  
they're too busy partying!

> WoW claims over 10,000,000 paying users. Do the math, at $15/month
> that's enough to provide health care for every child who needs it in
> this country, or pay off the national debt in a few years, or pay for
> the war in Iraq (not that that's a good thing). What a waste of
> resources.

Only about 4 million people play WoW in the US, the rest of the world  
don't pay $15/month. Whatever the amount, we could take the income of a  
lot of different industries and apply it to something less wasteful, were  
we soviets.

I must say, this really is a remarkably ironic and puritanical post to  
make in a group dedicated to, you know, watching TV.

People "waste" their leisure time. That's what it's for. It's a remarkable  
luxury in history to be able to do so in the quantities we do. But ever  
since the first caveman sat down to watch a sunset after a long day  
killing mammoths, there was someone there nagging him about wasting his  
time. Most of those kids will pass their classes, or at least eventually  
straighten out their priorities. If not, the problem is not created by  
WoW, it's revealed by it.

> As for increasing intelligence, most of the gamers I have met are in
> dire need of that, so maybe that's a good thing, but I seriously doubt
> it is true. :-)

That's quite a slur. NPD reported recently that 72% of the population from  
6-44 are gamers. If they're at the bottom of the IQ pile, 22% of them are  
still smarter than average.

And I suspect you might be less skeptical if someone said "chess" instead  
of video games. Yet, chess is relatively simple compared to a great many  
computer games. I also suspect you're engaging in an internal circular  
logic that goes something like "gaming is stupid therefore those who play  
games are stupid".

Gaming generally takes up a big percentage of the time that would  
otherwise be spent staring at a TV, or a wall in some cases. (You can't  
necessarily tell if someone staring at a TV is actually engaging with what  
they're watching at all.) Games are interactive; even the dumbest game has  
that going for it. It seems like a biological certainty that the brain is  
more engaged.

You might research the subject before expressing such prejudices. I  
understand this book "Everything Bad is Good For You" is quite interesting  
on the subject, though I haven't read it:

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Bad-Good-Steven-Johnson/dp/B000O17CYM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209149363&sr=8-1

"No, I don't play WoW, I have a life."