4 ms·

plenty of games have tremendous educational value, and I'm sure every pro-gaming argument you ever thought of which didn't involve hacking still remains as vali

plenty of games have tremendous educational value, and I'm sure every pro-gaming argument you ever thought of which didn't involve hacking still remains as valid as ever. tetris teaches geometry, word games teach vocabulary, strategy games teach strategy - I don't even understand how you got upvoted. you kind of just sound like the guy who hates his favorite band because they got popular. kids can get so much more attention from figuring out a hack today than ever before. when I figured out a hack as a kid, the best-case scenario would be that my nerdy friends were the only ones who noticed. but a decade ago, having the best CSS hack on MySpace was something everybody in school would know about. today, being able to hack your phone is one of the coolest things a kid could ever brag about. software is eating the world, so competence with computers is becoming indistinguishable from competence, period. the fact that iOS does not provide you with a shell account can't change that fundamental fact. this popular iOS game was co-developed by a five-year-old girl and her father: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissy%27s_Magical_Ponycorn_Adventure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissy%27s_Magical_Ponycorn_Adve... I think you need to let the kids walk on your lawn a little, dude.

michaelbuddy 12y ago
Tetris teaches geometry? Bit of a stretch there. It may use geometry but it's not teaching anything I ever learned in geometry. Wife loves Tetris and she can't geometry for nothin'
- tessierashpool 12y ago
  "Even computer games that were not developed with the explicit intent to provide such training, such as Block Out and several versions of Tetris, have been found to contribute to enhancing spatial skills." http://web.jhu.edu/cty/STBguide.pdf http://web.jhu.edu/cty/STBguide.pdf
  - wutbrodo 12y ago
    I can see how he was confused by the conflation of "teaches geometry" and "improves spatial skills" (though I can of course see how you could say the former and mean the latter).
    - tessierashpool 12y ago
      well, yeah. I tend to check Hacker News in the morning, while I'm making my espresso, and my precision sometimes suffers accordingly. sorry, I'd probably get a lot more upvotes if that weren't the case.
  - munro 12y ago
    Where have they been found? This doesn't prove your claim that Tetris teaches geometry, or anything really, there's no data. I'm sure it does have some affect though, like playing a lot of Tetris improves your ability to play Tetris. :) Unrelated, I notice the Tetris effect [1] strongly when I play RTS games too long. I still see the game when I go to bed, and I get weird urges to perform the actions of the game when I'm not playing. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect

michaelbuddy 12y ago

Tetris teaches geometry? Bit of a stretch there. It may use geometry but it's not teaching anything I ever learned in geometry. Wife loves Tetris and she can't geometry for nothin'

tessierashpool 12y ago
"Even computer games that were not developed with the explicit intent to provide such training, such as Block Out and several versions of Tetris, have been found to contribute to enhancing spatial skills." http://web.jhu.edu/cty/STBguide.pdf http://web.jhu.edu/cty/STBguide.pdf
- wutbrodo 12y ago
  I can see how he was confused by the conflation of "teaches geometry" and "improves spatial skills" (though I can of course see how you could say the former and mean the latter).
  - tessierashpool 12y ago
    well, yeah. I tend to check Hacker News in the morning, while I'm making my espresso, and my precision sometimes suffers accordingly. sorry, I'd probably get a lot more upvotes if that weren't the case.
- munro 12y ago
  Where have they been found? This doesn't prove your claim that Tetris teaches geometry, or anything really, there's no data. I'm sure it does have some affect though, like playing a lot of Tetris improves your ability to play Tetris. :) Unrelated, I notice the Tetris effect [1] strongly when I play RTS games too long. I still see the game when I go to bed, and I get weird urges to perform the actions of the game when I'm not playing. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect