Games or Books?

Johnson, S.(2011). Games. In S. Cohen, 50 Essays (pg. 196-202). Boston: Bedford St. Martins.

Summary: In the excerpt "Games," taken from "Everything Bad is Good for You," by Steven Johnson, he highlights some of the positives and negatives that video games have in contrast with books. He first mentions a common argument used against video games: that while they can promote good hand-eye coordination, they can also promote aggression and violence in response to conflict, eventually pointing out that they believe most are "a colossal waste of time." They support reading, saying it exercises people's ability to learn, concentrate, focus, and store information. He tries to reveal the prejudice against games by creating a hypothetical instance where books came after video games, and shows how if games had come first, books would likely be looked at as a negative influence. He argues that while reading strengthens attention span, memory, and the ability to follow threads, that video games strengthen other mental skills just as important. Throughout all of this, he encourages both games and reading, pointing out the best qualities in both, rather than bashing one and supporting another.

Games can be rage-inducing and hard. Especially online.

I myself am an avid gamer, and I've heard these kinds of arguments many times, and I have to say that I agree with them to an extent. Video games, in my experience, work many important places of the brain, but also many more unimportant, if not negative places as well. Now, if you're a gamer that plays with friends or single-player games alone, it's not that bad. But if you play games online, you will understand that it is no place for a child. If and when I have children, I am definitely going to restrict many areas of gaming that I myself have gone through-- it can be that bad, and I don't see it getting better. Now, not to say all online interaction is bad, if you look past that, there are definitely good people who play games that I would not mind my child playing a game with, but at times, those people can feel like a rarity. For the capacity of video games themselves, there are many good qualities that they can bring: increased reaction time, better problem solving, improved creativity, great teamwork, and more*. Reading, for me, is a love-hate relationship. If somebody suggests a good book to me that I end up enjoying, I will be sucked up in the story line for hours upon hours, soaking up everything in the book with great recollection. If I am required to read a book I end up not enjoying, it can take hours upon hours to achieve what I am supposed to get finished-- Both ending up in much wasted time that could have been spent more productively. Not to say that books are bad, but that in my experience, as a gamer, I can't get myself to sit with one unless it thoroughly intrigues me. I do know people are who readers more so than they are gamers, and I see them in no way worse than me, if not better.

*Feel free to ask me some time, explaining my opinion on video games is much simper one-on-one.