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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zOg4fe9L4

My thoughts:

As someone who grew up playing a TON of games... I honestly feel like it developed my cognitive thinking skills far more than any amount of schooling ever did... During my school years I often felt that I was intellectually a lot more capable
than many of my peers (I hope that doesn't come across as big headed, maybe some of you can relate?) and I'm convinced it came from the thousands of hours I spent challenging my mind with games -video and traditional- across many different genres. Academically I didn't do that well, my grades were never top of the class, but it wasn't because I couldn't achieve them, it was because I just wasnt interested in filling my head with a bunch of information that often times I felt would be of no use to me in the real world and since leaving I certainly haven't been wrong about that. When was the last time you used trigonometry?

Playing certain games is literally Like taking your brain to the gym, they have actually performed brain scans that show grey matter/cell growth in certain regions when games are introduced to someones regime. Interestingly I would say Over the past few years where I have spent much less time gaming (Long periods of periods no gaming at all actually) and instead more time consuming - mindlessness browsing the web,youtube videos,social media etc etc my intelligence and thinking skills are not what they once were. Consumption is a very passive mode of using your brain, that doesn't really challenge it, you can increase wisdom through consumption (if you have a good memory) but not intelligence IMO. To use the gym analogy again I would say its the same as someone who works out for years then stops, muscles are metabolically expensive to maintain to it gets rid of them if they arnt being used and they atrophy, the same happens within the brain. Fortunately we now know that brain matter can be built at any age if you challenge it in the right way, so if you arnt as capable as you once were it seems its possible to restore what you once had.

One thing I would say about modern gaming though... is the games are FAR too easy and you will not reap the same kind of benefits as the games from the past that presented a much higher degree of challenge., Which is why I dont really care for most of them... I grew up playing games on the NES/SNES and arcade era and if you played the games from those times you will know they were brutally hard, especially for my 11-12 year old self. And For me a big part of gaming was always overcoming the challenges each game would present/mastering the mechanics and the great feeling of accomplishment when you did... you just dont get that from 99% of video games these days and thus I am bored playing them. There are still games like that being produced but they are the minority. Its one thing that got me back into tabletop gaming, as with wargames/magic the gathering etc theres always a good amount of depth, deep thinking, challenge involved (if you have like minded competitive opponents) to give your mind a good workout and have fun whilst doing it. The fun part is essential too, ever tried those brain training games? They get boring real fast because they dont have interesting art styles, , music, story and everything else that well made games have to keep you engaged for extended periods of time and keep you coming back for more.

In my mind is the problem with todays education system, is that its too focused on increasing ones knowledge and while thats a good thing to have.. its worth less in todays world where everyone's walking around with a encyclopedia in their pocket and can google the answer to just about anything, that same stuff you are made to memorise and then regurgitate in an exam room ... the real value of a good brain these days is the kind that certain games help develop and strengthen.

Just to pick out one small part (from an otherwise largely agreeable post) you can increase knowledge through consumption, but neither wisdom nor intelligence.

As they say, knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

 Azreal13 wrote:
As they say, knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

I'll always remember how Gary Gygax described intelligence and wisdom in the AD&D Player's Handbook -- intelligence is knowing that cigarettes are bad for you, and wisdom is not smoking them

I had a neighbour a few years younger than me but was interested in warhammer all the same. I remember using making army lists to help teach arithmetic.

As someone who grew up playing a TON of games... I honestly feel like it developed my cognitive thinking skills far more than any amount of schooling ever did

Im the opposite. At a younger age, booze, girls, grunge rock and general malaise, didnt affect my appreciation of GW games at all.

However post 30 (especially with the advent of tactic forums online/discussions and blogs) I have definitely learned to be more analytical / methodical and procedural.

Having said that, maybe thats just all the job

But no, I think games did help to a degree