The real message of video games is that everything's a pattern

by phil on Thursday May 13, 2010 1:37 AM
video games

The real message of video games is that everything's a pattern. Sometimes pattern-training could save your life: my friend Jessica said that if her car was swerving out-of-control on an icy road, she'd know what to do faster and better because of years of hand-eye-coordination training in video games. Sometimes, pattern-training could save you from bankruptcy, as gamers have a more visceral understanding of what its like to extrapolate a velocity or sense how an exponential growth plays out.

We fear that the pleasure from playing video games is akin to the pleasure from gambling. But if children naturally gravitate toward play as a way to drive skill acquisition, then why would we give that up as we age?

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