The Inquiry

[giblets]

I haven't listened to this podcast yet, but the title looks interesting - 

The Inquiry - Are Video Games A Waste Of Time?

Video games are a huge industry, bigger than Hollywood, and billions of people around the world play them for fun. But new economic research in the US suggests that young men are dropping out of work to play games more. This is both because some jobs are becoming harder to find and less rewarding, and because video games are becoming more and more attractive. The gamers say they are happy, but the research has sharpened long-standing concerns about video games. Will there be a 'lost generation' of young men sitting in their parents' basements, frittering their lives away on mindless games, with disastrous long-term effects for them and the economy? Are video games a waste of time?

[BigPete247]

Truth be told, i actually met a guy on PlayStation before i quit who had no job, no car (assuming he relied on his uncle to drive him everywhere), lived in a basement, played more hours on his PC than his PlayStation, and has a girlfriend who games as well while he's in his 20s.

[-n.g-]

listened to it. yup, absolutely agree with the last point of view from the last expert from Manchester. If we can make work and school more like gaming I think the result would be a much more effective and productive system. 

This is part of the reason I like Duolingo- to me it works just like a game. I am very good at games but was awful at languages at school. I learned virtually every glitch in some games to be able to speedrun them but couldn't string together a sentence in French without using a dictionary.

The website is set up in a way that you can get small achievements (dopamine boosts) and improvements directed at you, unlike waiting for a teacher in a class of 20-30. And the best bit about a game is that you can go it at your own pace, if you fall behind there will be others who will be in that spot or left questions previously that were answered, so you effectively get a mini support system available to you 24/7. Of course the formula needs more work, not everyone can work like that and it should never be sole method of learning like everything else tbh. 

 

I am still terrible at learning languages but I think the game-like aspect keeps me wanting to come back git gud. I have honestly learned-and I mean actually managed to internalise- more in 2 weeks than in 4 years of learning French at school. As far as I am concerned, if I get addicted to learning french, that cannot be a bad thing. I have still already decided that I am not going back to gaming though, but I would like to learn more about how social media and gaming hooks people so it can be used for more fulfilling purposes.

 

I have heard of the 2nd expert and read a study of his. Cannot remember what it was but lets say I didn't get the best impression from it, as if there was some kind of hidden agenda. That interview just confirmed to me that he has a heavily emotionally invested interest in painting games in a negative light. 

 

As for that guy, he has a girlfriend. He did better than me  

[Mettermrck]

I'm downloading this podcast now actually but I believe it. It's hard to put an effort into a job when gaming awaits. I used to go in late and sneak out early to maximize my gaming time.