Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Video Games Can Save the World

Some people believe that video games are destructive, that they eat up a person’s time, and that violence in video games make children become violent adults. This is about as far from the truth as possible. Yes, there are video games that have mindless violence where the players slaughters helpless innocents, but it’s just a video game. It isn’t real. What is real, is that gamers develop an ability to make decisions. Gamers, at least gamers who play action-packed games, can make decisions substantially faster than non-gamers. This includes both visual and auditory sections in the decision making portion of the study.  
(http://news.discovery.com/tech/video-games-decision-making.html)
Not only can video games speed up decision making, but they can also bring out the best in people. In MTV’s online game Darfur is Dying, players play as refugees risking their lives to fetch water. This media led players to bond together. When a group of racists attacked a virtual refugee camp, one player organized a group of online heroes to secure the camp, making it safe for the rest of the players. But that isn’t the best part. That same player then flew to Africa the next year to help unload aid for the poor. He also helped raise $7,500 for a Ghanaian orphanage. Games show that people don't need to save the whole world, just a small part of it.
-Steven Philips

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