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No doctor ever advised playing more video games. Exercise is a requirement for good health, especially for the more sedentary job types. I've noticed a lot of t

No doctor ever advised playing more video games. Exercise is a requirement for good health, especially for the more sedentary job types. I've noticed a lot of these types of comments popping up on HN recently. They aren't constructive. Instead they are willfully ignorant and don't add anything to the conversation.

canarypilot 6y ago
So first you malign my choice of how I spend my leisure time with an implicit “my hobby is more wholesome than yours” and now you call me ignorant? I had hoped to add to the conversation by holding a mirror up to your silly “my hobby is better than your hobby” comments by highlighting that there is no “right” amount of time to spend on relaxing and taking care of your well-being. As I’m sure you are aware, mental health is an important component of overall well-being, and you will find that doctors have prescribed treatments involving computer games in a wide ranging number of studies since their popularity began to grow in the late 1980’s. Picking one well cited example at random from a 30 second Google search https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00260/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.0026... . “No doctor ever advised playing more video games” is such a broad brush statement as to be useless to refute. It is factually wrong, and the first statement in our sub-conversation that truly deserves the label “wilfully ignorant” - you can learn more about the topic with a few minutes of searching for “video games therapy”. You are likely aware that not everyone is neurotypical. Some people come alive in their creativity in a video game but struggle to communicate face to face, or struggle with the fine motor control to draw, paint, or write. Video games like Minecraft can become effective communication channels. Doctors and researchers can and do prescribe video games as therapy ( https://psychcentral.com/news/2019/01/28/therapeutic-video-game-may-help-kids-with-adhd-and-autism/141681.html https://psychcentral.com/news/2019/01/28/therapeutic-video-g... ).
- rorykoehler 6y ago
  I never maligned your hobby. I enjoy video games too. That's why I play them.
  - kungato 6y ago
    Did you read your comments? Your posturing was obvious and embarrassing
TeMPOraL 6y ago
They are constructive at least by pointing out that there is a segment of the population that finds physical exercises boring, not pleasant at all. Work, not recreation. > No doctor ever advised playing more video games. No doctor ever advised reading more thermodynamics textbooks either. And that's because it's out of scope. Most of medicine deals with the body. A smaller part deals with emotions. There is no branch of medicine concerned with cerebral skills.
- rorykoehler 6y ago
  Exercise enhances cerebral capacity. More to my point is that exercise is a necessary maintenance activity. It can also be a hobby
ionwake 6y ago
I think this is perhaps the worst comment I’ve seen on ycombinator. Not only do you start with a double negative which is both hard to read and an incorrect statement, but you then ironically don’t add anything meaningful to the conversation. Edit> he edited his comment

canarypilot 6y ago

So first you malign my choice of how I spend my leisure time with an implicit “my hobby is more wholesome than yours” and now you call me ignorant? I had hoped to add to the conversation by holding a mirror up to your silly “my hobby is better than your hobby” comments by highlighting that there is no “right” amount of time to spend on relaxing and taking care of your well-being. As I’m sure you are aware, mental health is an important component of overall well-being, and you will find that doctors have prescribed treatments involving computer games in a wide ranging number of studies since their popularity began to grow in the late 1980’s. Picking one well cited example at random from a 30 second Google search https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00260/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.0026... . “No doctor ever advised playing more video games” is such a broad brush statement as to be useless to refute. It is factually wrong, and the first statement in our sub-conversation that truly deserves the label “wilfully ignorant” - you can learn more about the topic with a few minutes of searching for “video games therapy”. You are likely aware that not everyone is neurotypical. Some people come alive in their creativity in a video game but struggle to communicate face to face, or struggle with the fine motor control to draw, paint, or write. Video games like Minecraft can become effective communication channels. Doctors and researchers can and do prescribe video games as therapy ( https://psychcentral.com/news/2019/01/28/therapeutic-video-game-may-help-kids-with-adhd-and-autism/141681.html https://psychcentral.com/news/2019/01/28/therapeutic-video-g... ).

rorykoehler 6y ago
I never maligned your hobby. I enjoy video games too. That's why I play them.
- kungato 6y ago
  Did you read your comments? Your posturing was obvious and embarrassing

TeMPOraL 6y ago

They are constructive at least by pointing out that there is a segment of the population that finds physical exercises boring, not pleasant at all. Work, not recreation. > No doctor ever advised playing more video games. No doctor ever advised reading more thermodynamics textbooks either. And that's because it's out of scope. Most of medicine deals with the body. A smaller part deals with emotions. There is no branch of medicine concerned with cerebral skills.

rorykoehler 6y ago
Exercise enhances cerebral capacity. More to my point is that exercise is a necessary maintenance activity. It can also be a hobby

ionwake 6y ago

I think this is perhaps the worst comment I’ve seen on ycombinator. Not only do you start with a double negative which is both hard to read and an incorrect statement, but you then ironically don’t add anything meaningful to the conversation. Edit> he edited his comment