Does Your Game Do Your Brain Good?

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roguerouge

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #1

"Play... is a central part of neurological growth and development--one important way that children build complex, skilled, responsive, socially adept and cognitively flexible brains."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17play.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

 

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Nifft

Penguin Herder

• Feb 17, 2008

• #2

Agree. For the vocabulary, if nothing else.

Cheers, -- N

 

B

Baron Opal

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #3

My son's adding skills have certainly improved.

 

Crothian

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #4

Space Opera helped me understand physics. All I needed then was something to help me understand Space Opera

 

Dave G

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #5

Playing makes me more connected with reality. I know that sounds super cheesy, but it's true.

 

moritheil

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #6

Hmm. Does your brain do your game good?

 

E

ejja_1

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #7

moritheil said:

Hmm. Does your brain do your game good?

Click to expand...

But the real question is does your gaming brain do a zombie good?

 

H

haakon1

Legend

• Feb 17, 2008

• #8

Vocabulary, public speaking (DMing), writing (DMing), and intuitive understanding of probability and statistics are all increased by D&D.

However, it can be a gateway into interest in history and SF, plus possibly the military, and other geeky stuff. As for a gateway into the occult as was claimed in the 1980s, I think that's an interest people either have or don't, and D&D has zero influence on it.

 

moritheil

First Post

• Feb 17, 2008

• #9

ejja_1 said:

But the real question is does your gaming brain do a zombie good?

Click to expand...

"Brain for eat. Not for think." - a zombie.


Realistically, rather than improving your vocational situation, gaming may actually harm it. For example, Israel does not allow gamers to become officers, fearing that their connection to reality is more tenuous than most.

 

krissbeth

First Post

• Feb 18, 2008

• #10

I can't even begin to tell you how much gaming has helped me break a very thick writer's block. Keeping character journals has helped me with my other writing and it has definitely helped me with improving character voice and dialogue. I'm not even a fantasy writer, but just creating and playing with the characters has helped getting the brain pumping in a way that my normal writing exercises have not.

I was really, very creative as a child and I definitely attribute it to my parents' commitment to "playful parenting."

And I think that zombies would find my tasty brains very delicious indeed.