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I'm happy you got all of that from video-games and in no way I'm advocating against video games for everyone. But, in my life, I credit sports for everything y

I'm happy you got all of that from video-games and in no way I'm advocating against video games for everyone. But, in my life, I credit sports for everything you said. With the added benefit of a healthy neurology and biology in general. Something video games - and the digital world, as a whole - have been demonstrated to be detrimental. I mean, by serious studies.

Retric 4y ago
Studies don’t investigate something as complex as the total impact of video games or anything else in all contexts. You get individual studies of the impact in terms of say specific reflexes or some aspect of depression for some subset of games, but you would need a comprehensive set of studies for every single context to build a holistic picture which we simply don’t have. Occasionally it’s enough to find major downsides such as with smoking’s really negative health impacts and say it’s not worth it. But for most things, including video games, there isn’t a single overwhelming downside just some negatives and other positives. People want a black and white world where they can say “_ is good/bad,” but in the real world meat, carbs, video games etc isn’t that simple they are good and bad at the same time. Many people would be better off by reducing meat and carb consumption but that doesn’t mean a worldwide ban on consuming them is a good idea.
- rmbyrro 4y ago
  > Studies don’t investigate something as complex as the total impact of video games or anything else in all contexts. Why not? What's the purpose of saying it's good for cognitive performance if cognitive performance isn't tested seriously? Try at least two or three dimensions of it. Outside the video gaming context of course. Otherwise just say: video gaming is good for getting better at video gaming. That would be an honest conclusion.
  - Retric 4y ago
    > Why not? Because there are simply far to many variables involved. On one dimension you have type of game, but that variety impacts everything else. Mario Party and Call of Duty for example may impact peoples emotions differently. Tetris and StarCraft are both test actions per minute in a different way which may mean different things for reflexes etc. Hours per week are another dimension, someone spending a few minutes per day playing Wordle is obviously different than someone who only works a part time job to have more time for their MMO addiction. Finances is another dimension with actual free games being well free but some people spending their life savings on loot boxes in “Free to Play” games. Degree of socialization is again varies wildly with a surprising number of marriages starting from MMO’s but single player games obvious don’t have that. Exercise is another with some people getting a real workout playing beat saber and others getting embolisms from sitting to long with their addiction. Etc etc.
cromd 4y ago
Are you including “basic economics” in the list of things sports taught you? Curious how that would be learned.
- rmbyrro 4y ago
  If you look closely, it isn't hard to see that sports became major industries, collectivelly moving trillions of Dollars worldwide every year. If you are interested in economics, you can learn a lot from it. In an intersection with behavioral economics, you can even learn a lot of business from observing sports.
rkuykendall-com 4y ago
I agree that the digital world can have detrimental effects, but I don't think it's alone in that. I have many friends, a brother, and a wife who also credit sports for all of the above, with the added benefit of a the trauma and lifelong pain from the injury that forced them to quit. Books honestly seem like a complete win. Hopefully my daughter will benefit from the safest parts of all 3.
- rmbyrro 4y ago
  Agree that reading books is a great habit to take. It's sad that an injury from a physical exercise can cause a lot of trauma indeed, but I don't think practicing it is inherently bad because of that. An accident can happen related to anything in life. People die from coconuts or tree branches falling upon their heads. We won't say trees or coconuts are inherently bad because of that.

Retric 4y ago

Studies don’t investigate something as complex as the total impact of video games or anything else in all contexts. You get individual studies of the impact in terms of say specific reflexes or some aspect of depression for some subset of games, but you would need a comprehensive set of studies for every single context to build a holistic picture which we simply don’t have. Occasionally it’s enough to find major downsides such as with smoking’s really negative health impacts and say it’s not worth it. But for most things, including video games, there isn’t a single overwhelming downside just some negatives and other positives. People want a black and white world where they can say “_ is good/bad,” but in the real world meat, carbs, video games etc isn’t that simple they are good and bad at the same time. Many people would be better off by reducing meat and carb consumption but that doesn’t mean a worldwide ban on consuming them is a good idea.

rmbyrro 4y ago
> Studies don’t investigate something as complex as the total impact of video games or anything else in all contexts. Why not? What's the purpose of saying it's good for cognitive performance if cognitive performance isn't tested seriously? Try at least two or three dimensions of it. Outside the video gaming context of course. Otherwise just say: video gaming is good for getting better at video gaming. That would be an honest conclusion.
- Retric 4y ago
  > Why not? Because there are simply far to many variables involved. On one dimension you have type of game, but that variety impacts everything else. Mario Party and Call of Duty for example may impact peoples emotions differently. Tetris and StarCraft are both test actions per minute in a different way which may mean different things for reflexes etc. Hours per week are another dimension, someone spending a few minutes per day playing Wordle is obviously different than someone who only works a part time job to have more time for their MMO addiction. Finances is another dimension with actual free games being well free but some people spending their life savings on loot boxes in “Free to Play” games. Degree of socialization is again varies wildly with a surprising number of marriages starting from MMO’s but single player games obvious don’t have that. Exercise is another with some people getting a real workout playing beat saber and others getting embolisms from sitting to long with their addiction. Etc etc.

cromd 4y ago

Are you including “basic economics” in the list of things sports taught you? Curious how that would be learned.

rmbyrro 4y ago
If you look closely, it isn't hard to see that sports became major industries, collectivelly moving trillions of Dollars worldwide every year. If you are interested in economics, you can learn a lot from it. In an intersection with behavioral economics, you can even learn a lot of business from observing sports.

rkuykendall-com 4y ago

I agree that the digital world can have detrimental effects, but I don't think it's alone in that. I have many friends, a brother, and a wife who also credit sports for all of the above, with the added benefit of a the trauma and lifelong pain from the injury that forced them to quit. Books honestly seem like a complete win. Hopefully my daughter will benefit from the safest parts of all 3.

rmbyrro 4y ago
Agree that reading books is a great habit to take. It's sad that an injury from a physical exercise can cause a lot of trauma indeed, but I don't think practicing it is inherently bad because of that. An accident can happen related to anything in life. People die from coconuts or tree branches falling upon their heads. We won't say trees or coconuts are inherently bad because of that.