Moderation is Key

Post # 11 - Summary and Response to "Games" by Steven Johnson


Steven Johnson makes a very good point in his essay, "most computer games are a colossal waste of time." Video games have really impacted how little any American demographic group reads for pleasure. Most people nowadays would rather watch T.V. or play a video game. Both of which are much more visually stimulating than reading text in a book. Johnson states that a good "thought experiment" in which video games were made popular before books would show that all this hype of why video games are bad for you and that reading is better would be reversed. Video Games can be visually stimulating but they don't offer the same shared experience you get when reading a book. Reading text requires much more concentration and ability to under stand what all the words together mean. Johnson mentions that video games does improve your visual intelligence and your manual dexterity, but "the virtues of gaming run far deeper than hand-eye coordination."


In a way I do have to agree with him on how video games are more visually stimulating than reading a book would be, and that reading books requires a lot more concentration, memory and ability to understand what you are reading. But I believe that playing video games offers a lot more than visual stimulation or hand-eye coordination. It offers more of a social experience than reading books does. People generally play video games with friends, or with thousands of other players online playing at the same time they do. There's a lot more socializing going on and I believe that being socially active is what helps develop a healthy mental life. I do, however, believe that reading books really helps you to learn to concentrate and memorize important facts better than video games do. 
Something I've noticed that's happening is more and more people are turning to video games as a way of distraction from their day. Attending school and sitting in a class bores them, and so all they can think about is playing that video game. Its something that I believe we need to be careful about as well. Everything in moderation is key.