Addiction to the Internet/video games?

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Some videogames can be a complete waste of time, and in general I've had to stop myself from spending too much time on one. I've learn a lot with them though, like coordination, the english language (you can get away with not knowing English in a FPS I guess, but not in an RPG, I used to play them with dictionary in hand) and MMORPG's are good for socializing, and pitting your skills against someone else in a good fighting game can be bonding and rewarding.

I just don't see that happening with television, one of the most passive things there is to do. I enjoy my good shows, but BG's comment appears rather disinformed. Do you have good arguments to back up your claims?

...If video games really did help you learn logic, you wouldn't make ridiculous statements like "playing video games teaches you how to program". And the only problem-solving skill you'll ever learn from video games is trial and error.

There's plenty of non-fictional programs on television, such as documentaries, the news, sports, and game shows. I suspect you don't watch these very often.



The coordination thing is a myth. They don't help with your coordination; they only help you get better at playing that video game, or a similar one.

I suppose you have a good point about the language, but the reliance of online socialization is one of the causes of people having issues socializing in real life.

first off i never said all games teach you to program, you only assumed i meant as much, wrongly i might add.

you do know that the same argument you just made can be applied to computer games as well?(and i even added a qualifier in my original post for this very reason)

it would also be rather wrong of one to assume that factional and fictional programs should be judged against eachother,
you cannot compare a documentary to a tv show, just as you cant compare a documentary to any other work of fiction, no matter format(why i used fiction)

so we could compare acedemic programs to a documentary, i know which one is of greater use in any actual proffesional context.

also a for learning to program

ever heard of minecraft?
redstone is logic, in the format of logic gates.
it also gives you a place to program using LUA,
i used garrys mod to test PID algorhitms in a virtual enviroment, also where i learned lua and expression2.
the competition on some mp servers also give you a place to expand and compete in programming.

that is one example,
there are plenty of games that actually center around programming as well.

i would even argue that one should take accesibility into account, in that context nothing beats teaching logic to ones 8 year old brother over the internet in a way that he actually enjoys and looks forward to.
i dont think i could say the same about a documentary, he would probably get bored pretty quickly.

but to an extent i agree, they dont give you enough tools to directly teach you a whole programming language, they do however give many people a reason and motivation to learn it, as well as a way to actually see the effects of what you do in an entertaining fashion



here is one of a few(100+) thousand unique hits on google, inclduing a couple of thousand on google scholar.

link here

please come with something instead of your opinion when making assertions

If you are going to use documentaries as an example of how some television is beneficial then we might as well qualify videogames. I learned chess from a computer game and was really good. Just clicked the help button for weeks in a row until I got good.

Then you should work on your communication skills so that others can understand you better.



...You do realize that whenever people say "video games", they also mean computer games right?



Programming video games =/= Video games teaching you to program. That would be like saying fixing toilets means toilets teach you mechanical skills.



No, I'm pretty sure those are in the very tiny minority.



Yeah, now let me know when people actually start teaching digital logic to their 8 year old brothers this way.

An innovative teacher could probably use something like minecraft to teach logic, but I'd hardly consider that to be "playing video games" anymore.



None of this really matters unless there's actually a significant number of people who do it. You're trying to paint gamers as curious programmers who only use video games to aid their intellectual pursuits. In reality, the number of gamers who actually do this are too few to support your argument.

Just as most people use toilets as an outlet for their bodily wastes, most people use video games as entertainment, not education.



Biased and flawed experiments are hardly evidence. Google can help you find "evidence" that the earth is 10,000 years old if you really want to.



Chess isn't a video game. I suppose playing it on a computer does make it a computer game, but I really wouldn't consider that an example.

Of course you wouldn't, being right means you have to take in evidence selectively doesn't it? Take in the stuff that agrees with your unfounded statement, ignore the stuff that contradicts it.

Games are games. It doesn't matter what kind of game you're talking about, games are basically practice situations, as such they're the next best thing to using your brain for something real. They stretch and exercise the brain, they're not brain rot, they're the very opposite in fact, in a world where we learned everything in childhood and nothing new ever pops up they're a continually changing and evolving situation which gives people with the imagination to try new things something to keep their brain from falling into stagnation. And by stagnation i mean brain rot, never trying anything new, never actually using your brain ever and relying on past judgements because it's easier than continually challenging yourself.

My post can be one of those things you ignore if you want, much easier than finding out you're wrong hey?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2943280.stm Is a nice article, but tbh they only tried their experiments with the players that play the least challenging games, i'm pretty sure that the results would be a lot more convincing if they were to test the kind of people that i regularly face.

Researchers do this kind of stuff all the time. They have a hypothesis, they're interested in testing it, but they won't bother reporting it if the results aren't interesting enough. And it's a lot more interesting to hear "video games make you better surgeons!" instead of "video games really are just for entertainment".



People usually play games for entertainment or escapism. This ridiculous notion that video games teach you significant skills or make you smarter is a result of gamers needing to justify pouring hundreds of hours into their games. If video games are the next best thing to doing something real, then maybe you should be doing something real instead.

And really, "a world where we learned everything in childhood and nothing ever new pops up"? If you spent more time in the real world and less time playing video games, you'd find plenty of things to learn, and plenty of chances to exercise your imagination.

Thank you for that insight into the real world Breeze"god", but i don't think you have anything to offer me.

The real world doesn't have the kind of hectic situations that i like to immerse myself into. Believe me, i've tried. I've done jobs that would send most autistics into a deep dark meltdown. I've mastered those situations and i still want more. The only thing that can keep me going is computer games, games which throw stress at me and keep throwing, games where it's decision, decision, decison, decision, as fast as i can think.

The sad thing is, you don't even know what you don't even know! You have absolutely no idea how much of a mental challenge playing certain computer games can be. To say they don't train you in some way is yet another ridiculous unfounded statement coming from you. Do you ever stop? They train you in processing information, as such your ability to process information increases as you get better, how could it be any other way? You're the one with ridiculous notions, ridiculous notions that stop you from opening your eyes to the truth. Don't challenge yourself whatever you do.

Whether it's educational or not I'd still say it's a step up from tv because you are actually interacting and thinking rather than passively watching, not that there is anything wrong with watching tv.

To UnBored: You know, you should probably try hiding your detachment from the real world. You're suffering from a video game addiction, and you need to convince yourself that what you're doing should be mentally and/or physically impressive to others in order to justify your own behavior.

I'm not trying to convince myself or anyone else anything. I don't need to justify anything about myself. I learned long ago that no matter what you do someone isn't going to like it so I don't care what people think of what I do. I do what I enjoy regardless of what people think.

I just don't understand how you can think they are twice as bad as tv. Video games are interactive. TV is a passive form of entertainment.

I say if it makes you happy it's fine. I don't see how video games are any worse than any other solitary entertainment you can do at home such as watching tv, reading, making puzzles, doing crosswords, etc. They all pass the time and give you a bit of fun.

Sheesh, I even edited my post because I thought you might end up thinking that was directed towards you.

It's all about what kinds of things you watch and do. The vast majority of video games are really not educational in any way, while there are a significant amount programs on TV that are at least somewhat educational. Likewise, there's plenty of educational books as well.

And more importantly, people don't spend ridiculous amounts of time watching tv or reading books.

I don't do anything for other people's good opinions, im autistic. Detached from the real world? The real world are playing computer games in increasing numbers, playing computer games online is the most social thing i've ever done for a passtime.



Black and white thinking. Education isn't just about facts and figures. More important than rote memorisation of information is an ability to process and make use of that information. Computer games increase you ability to do that. Therefore computer games are educational.



Erm, aspies do. I've spent 16 hours reading at a time for literally hundreds of days of my life. I can remember a huge amount of detail from the hundreds of movies i've watched. I've got quite a music collection and i can put a name to 95% of it within 2 seconds of a song starting, often much sooner. I still enjoy computer games. In fact, when i was a kid i used to have music playing in the background, a computer game loading and i'd be reading a book while i waited. As far as im concerned games are just another type of mental stimulation.

It's funny that you say you don't like games yet you come onto forums spouting off hoping that people will respond. Isn't this another type of game? Isn't it a little closed minded to dismiss the games that other people like to play when you get fun from doing the same?

Being autistic isn't a justification for making others think poorly of you. How people view you is strongly correlated with how they treat you.

People play computer games. Most of them still aren't addicted to them. And playing computer games online so much is probably one of the reasons there's so many people who have issues with socializing in person.



...Yeah, you wish. The way you process information in the games you play is completely different from the way you need to interpret information in real life sitations. Specifically, you shouldn't be hasty when you're making decisions. "Decision Decision Decision Decision as fast as I can think" tends to lead you into doing things you'll regret later.



...You really shouldn't be reading for 16 hours in a row.



Nice try, but that's not how you use figurative language. And I'm pretty sure I was specifically targeting video games, not games in general.

I play video games. I don't delude myself into thinking I'm getting smarter from it, or that others should be impressed by my gaming skills.

Many people, both autistic and NT, care too much about how they are seen by the rest of the world. We shouldn't let other people's opinion of us get in the way of doing what we want (within reason though, not like we should run around naked if we want or something )

I've learnt a lot about socializing in person through socializing in MMORPG's. I've done my fair share of experiments that would not be feasible in a live interaction, and it is also a lower pressure environment where I could learn stuff without being overwhelmed, and then apply and tweak it for live interactions after getting the basics.

Different situations call for different ways of information processing. In some, quick thinking is necessary. In some it isn't. But videogames do give that skill to think fast and accurately.

I'll give that to you, videogames are entertainment. And spending too many hours a day on entertainment is very improductive. But there are many kinds of videogames, as there are many kinds of entertainment. Some of them would be comparable to watching a very good show or reading a masterpiece, and then you've got Jersey Shore and Farmville. if I spent a whole day playing Portal, or reading Lord of the Rings, I wouldn't argue how it improved my puzzle-solving skills or how reading is good, that would still be a mostly wasted day, which is not that bad as long as I don't do that every day, but as far as entertainment goes, it could be much worse than videogames.

your premise fails on one thing, it ony takes a single exception to disprove a theory, in this case a blatant assumption

besides do a google scholar search for all the hundreds of studies proving your point if you really want to sway anyone.

others here have already had plenty of actual counter arguments, still unadressed.



again there is no difference between various formats of fiction,
you can say there is a difference in how one engages in them.
we can quickly agree that there is a difference between factional and fictional materials, that however is no way to compare anything, its a wrong leap of logic.
essentially what you are arguing could be taken to mean that there should be no entertainment at all, in any format, if its fictional, its clearly ridicoulous.

if not please come with an actual argument to seperate the various forms of fiction.

i think you should try looking at how little you obviosuly know about video games and take a look at the dunning effect.

you are the one making the assertion so the burden of proof lies on you in the end, show us how and why computer games are by their very nature bad, remember a single exception and its bull.