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If it's not video games it will be TV or movies, if not that then books, if not that than online social media, if not that then something else. I've argued the

If it's not video games it will be TV or movies, if not that then books, if not that than online social media, if not that then something else. I've argued the point before that video games, TV, movies, books, social media, etc. can all have equal value and merit, but I'm not sure I really believe it. It seems rational, but something about reading books or Hacker News just feels more valuable than anything I've seen on TV. Maybe I'm watching the wrong stuff.

jerf 16y ago
I would argue they can have equal merit, and correspondingly, they can have equal worthlessness as well. It really isn't the medium, per se. For the record I'm a parent, but my kid is 2 and there's one in the oven, so like I said, no great font of wisdom, I've just been pondering the problem. But I do observe that one problem is that there is probably an unavoidable phase of consumption of "childish things". I played a lot of video games as a kid, but you know, I turned out alright, and looking back I can not honestly say that I would be in a very different place if I had instead been doing "worthwhile" things. In the excellent Hardy Boys story today on HN, adults go back and read their beloved books of their youth and discover they are tripe. Is there necessarily a way around that? I'd be surprised. You can't become a person of taste and discrimination without acquiring taste and discrimination and that necessarily entails a period during which you do not have taste and discrimination. Is there anybody who does not essentially "fritter away" their childhood? (Yes, but not very many, and even fewer of them do it by their own choice.) Do we not often feel sorry for those who have been forced to "not fritter" away their childhood, do we not often feel sorry for the 15 year old forced to play piano four hours a day, even if it produces spectacular results? Am I the only one who looks at the top-level gymnasts and feel a bit sorry for them? But that's just more questions, not answers. I'm not convinced anyone really has answers. Who can prove that playing a lot of video games is actually a bad thing? People mostly just assume it without proof.

jerf 16y ago

I would argue they can have equal merit, and correspondingly, they can have equal worthlessness as well. It really isn't the medium, per se. For the record I'm a parent, but my kid is 2 and there's one in the oven, so like I said, no great font of wisdom, I've just been pondering the problem. But I do observe that one problem is that there is probably an unavoidable phase of consumption of "childish things". I played a lot of video games as a kid, but you know, I turned out alright, and looking back I can not honestly say that I would be in a very different place if I had instead been doing "worthwhile" things. In the excellent Hardy Boys story today on HN, adults go back and read their beloved books of their youth and discover they are tripe. Is there necessarily a way around that? I'd be surprised. You can't become a person of taste and discrimination without acquiring taste and discrimination and that necessarily entails a period during which you do not have taste and discrimination. Is there anybody who does not essentially "fritter away" their childhood? (Yes, but not very many, and even fewer of them do it by their own choice.) Do we not often feel sorry for those who have been forced to "not fritter" away their childhood, do we not often feel sorry for the 15 year old forced to play piano four hours a day, even if it produces spectacular results? Am I the only one who looks at the top-level gymnasts and feel a bit sorry for them? But that's just more questions, not answers. I'm not convinced anyone really has answers. Who can prove that playing a lot of video games is actually a bad thing? People mostly just assume it without proof.