Comments on: Video Game Training Makes You Faster, Better

By: Richard N. Landers

Richard N. Landers — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:57:31 +0000

You are committing an ecological fallacy. You cannot generalize from comparisons of group means to any particular individual (including yourself). This is akin to saying “men are taller than women” (which is true) and assuming any particular man will be taller than any particular woman (which is not true).

Gamers have faster reaction times than non-gamers. But we cannot assume that any particular gamer will have faster reaction times than any particular non-gamer.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:46:17 +0000

I play games and sports. Would that mean if a soccer ball came right for my face, i’d be able to doge it alot faster than the average athlete or a simple person who does not play sports nor videogames?

By: Tristan Verboven

Tristan Verboven — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:01:08 +0000

The details of my assertion are laid out in the above mentioned article. Videogames offer no benefit beyond traditional skills training or any other experience that I know of. They do however offer a new approach to learning that may shed some of the limitations that come from traditional pedagogy and classroom design. My particular concern is the moral education that can potentially come from a video game platform. It is important not to think of videogames or anything else as a magic wand, nor a force of evil. The fact is that kids are interested in them and motivated by them. It is up to us as teachers to harness this opportunity.

By: Richard N. Landers

Richard N. Landers — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:48:31 +0000

“Engage the brain on all levels” is pretty vague – if you’re claiming video games offer some unique benefit beyond traditional skills training, there is no evidence to that effect. And certainly all games teach you something, but the question is whether that something is useful, valuable, or done more effectively than through traditional means.

By: Tristan Verboven

Tristan Verboven — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:36:29 +0000

Videogames offer far more educational possibilities that simple eye-hand coordination and psyco-motor occupational training. They engage the brain on all levels and need to be taken more seriously. Even if they are never adopted into schools, it is important to realize that as long as people are playing them they are being educated by them.

Please check out this article on the moral implications of videogame use http://wp.me/ptcfd-J

By: Richard N. Landers

Richard N. Landers — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:51:52 +0000

It’s all about finding someone that cares. Video games have an industry to promote them, and legions of devoted fans. Are there any useful shark by-products? Something where cultivating a large healthy shark population would be valuable? Shark saliva the key to curing cancer, perhaps?

By: WhySharksMatter

WhySharksMatter — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:39:41 +0000

Though it’s reassuring to see that my hours in front of a Playstation 2 haven’t been wasted, I can’t help but feel angry that these guys got a grant and I can’t seem to fund my research on the conservation of a threatened species…