"Video games aren't big mental exercises. Then again, neither is reading a book in and of itself, or watching a movie, or talking to somebody. You get what you

"Video games aren't big mental exercises. Then again, neither is reading a book in and of itself, or watching a movie, or talking to somebody. You get what you want to out of it." Agreed. Also, some books are stimulating, but some are really vapid. Generalizing about any medium as a whole is probably a bad idea, except in relation to the factors shaping it. For example, I think that media which makes money by holding your attention long enough to expose you to ads (some tv and blogs, most magazines) have a strong incentive to produce content that grabs your attention but isn't necessarily deep.