Why is 'reading' considered as a productive activity and 'playing videogames' isn't?

[payton]

They are both isolating. They are both (for the most part) not real.
They can both consume massive amounts of time.
There are genuine cognitive benefits to playing reading books and video games as well.

 

[Osculater]

Because you have to think and imagine what you are reading. Your mind creates the GUI

 

[freakroor]

1. according to who?

2. reading a lot of books is a sign of intelligence, playing a lot of video games means nothing.

 

[Kyler Ruxin]

Why is 'reading' considered as a productive activity and 'playing videogames' isn't?​

reading a lot of books is a sign of intelligence, playing a lot of video games means nothing.

according to who?

You, apparently.

 

[freakroor]

Why is 'reading' considered as a productive activity and 'playing videogames' isn't?​

You, apparently.

where did i mention productivity??

 

[Kyler Ruxin]

where did i mention productivity??

you didn't. It's in the title of the thread.

 

[Contempt]

Because you have to think and imagine what you are reading. Your mind creates the GUI

...no wonder the GUI is always shit

 

[Osculater]

...no wonder the GUI is always shit

Use more brain power, bro

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

You can actually learn a lot from video games, especially with a lot of information being given to you for you to read. You can learn about history of mankind through video games like Civilization.

 

[moreorless87]

Depends what your reading.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

*Depends what you're reading.
*Depends what games you're playing.

I wouldn't want my kid to read -

I wouldn't want my kid to play -

 

[Bacco]

Depends what your reading.

And what you play

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

well, people arent generally 'addicted' to reading the way they get addicted to video games. people also dont typically read the same book over and over and over if they are avid readers. they read new things and gain new knowledge.

people can spend countless hours on a single video game. hopefully, they grow and get better at the game, but theyre likely not exposing themselves to drastically new ideas per unit time spent on the game.


and this is coming from someone who believes video games can have great value to developing minds. but video games can very easily be designed to be highly addicting and become can completely non-productive mind drains. its not so easy to design books to be quite as addicting without all the external sensory stimulation, so even if say a novel has little true intellectual value to the reader, its not going to consume a massive amount of their time.

in the end, the answer to many life questions is moderation.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

It depends.

Some of the greatest stories I've experienced came through videogames. It also can help with reflexes, problem solving and teamwork.

The problem with videogames is that some of them require hours at a time to get anything good out of them. There can also be a lot of useless faff due to the addiction loop, doing the same thing over and over to grind for something else.

 

[William Huggins]

*Depends what you're reading.
*Depends what games you're playing.

I wouldn't want my kid to read -

I wouldn't want my kid to play -

And yet even books like these can give you an insight into the writer, you don't have to agree with what is written but you're gaining knowledge.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

And yet even books like these can give you an insight into the writer, you don't have to agree with what is written but you're gaining knowledge.

That could be said about any book ever written.

'Gaining knowledge?' Not all knowledge is worth learning, and in fact most of it is shit. Just because some knowledge is published is irrelevant toward determining the quality of the knowledge.

 

[Larzon]

I do a lot of both and as fulfilling as a game can be you're rarely learning at the same time.
I hold The Last of Us up with almost any film I've seen as far as the impact it's had on me and how I've continued to think about it.

The actual answer is snobby boomers

 

[moreorless87]

well, people arent generally 'addicted' to reading the way they get addicted to video games. people also dont typically read the same book over and over and over if they are avid readers. they read new things and gain new knowledge.

people can spend countless hours on a single video game. hopefully, they grow and get better at the game, but theyre likely not exposing themselves to drastically new ideas per unit time spent on the game.

and this is coming from someone who believes video games can have great value to developing minds. but video games can very easily be designed to be highly addicting and become can completely non-productive mind drains. its not so easy to design books to be quite as addicting without all the external sensory stimulation, so even if say a novel has little true intellectual value to the reader, its not going to consume a massive amount of their time.

in the end, the answer to many life questions is moderation.

I would say there are definitely people addicted to certain kinds of reading material who re read the same books alot.

Gaming wise I'm not sure I would say "one game" is necessarily a bad sign, you can have addictive games people play for along time which demand very little from them I spose but generally I would say playing a single game a lot tends to be s sign that it allows for a lot of growth of skill and expression, and often that its linked to a wider community of people. I would say actually that "playing a lot of standard games" will often ask less of the gamer, basically playing stuff which is designed to beat once whilst not offering a great deal of challenge and then moving onto something similar.

Honestly though personally what gaming I do I view as almost entirely an anti stress activity rather than some kind of devolpment.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

That could be said about any book ever written.

'Gaining knowledge?' Not all knowledge is worth learning, and in fact most of it is shit. Just because some knowledge is published is irrelevant toward determining the quality of the knowledge.

True. This post just made me dumber.

 

[Slobodan]

Because you have to think and imagine what you are reading. Your mind creates the GUI

Then you have individuals like @lsa who can't read :/