17
Nov
2014
Nov
2014
Technology {Discussion}
categories: Assignments, Unit 08
I had a hard time understanding the TED talk about gaming. Mainly because I couldn’t see how increasing the amount of time spent online gaming could possibly be beneficial. She claims that “Three billion hours a week is not nearly enough game play to solve the world’s most urgent problems” and that using the skills people learn while gaming, it could help solve real-world problems (Jane McGonigal, TED talk). I honestly don’t see how that is possible. I don’t think using the skills in online gaming could help solve any real-world issue. I believe it does the opposite: it hinders people’s ability to interact in the real-world.
Please comment and let me know your opinions on this issue! I’m very interested in what you all think!
yutingw@uoregon.edu
November 18, 2014 at 5:32 pm (10 years ago)I can totally see why you feel so unbelievable about the time people spend on video games every day because I can’t understand it either. I think it is because I am not a game player, and I can’t feel how attractive the fake online world is. However, I think I could understand why Jane McGonigal came up with these ideas. We can’t deny that there are a huge number of online game players all over the world, and the power behind this population is potentially huge. So I guess what she meat was we could try to use this kind of power to solve real world problems someday, and I think that could be great if we really can.
Devan
November 18, 2014 at 7:03 pm (10 years ago)I agree with you when you say that spending more time on gaming would not be beneficial. I think that Jane McGonigal may be making the claim that people learn some things in video games that have a connection to societal problems we are facing. Maybe she thinks that being thrown into a virtual world where you are not in a live-or-die situation, where the decisions you make in the game do not directly affect your life, is some what beneficial in promoting creative thinking. However, I do not agree that we should spend more time gaming. I think people should go out and live in the real world and experience reality instead of participating in a made-up “reality.” They should go and spend the time they use gaming and use it in a productive manner – interacting with people face to face and living real life.
Fisher
November 19, 2014 at 12:01 pm (10 years ago)I agree with the fact that you do not believe that you could solve real world issues by spending 30 billion hours weekly by playing video games. However I do understand the point that was made in the Ted video, and how one could agree with the argument that was made. I believe that rather than spending billions of hours playing videos those hours should be dedicated to research and travel to understand the see for yourself what is truly going on in the world, rather than getting lost in a fantasy world. I do not think that 30 or more billion hours a week will make any difference in the real world, it may have an impact on the fantasy world of the game but not the real world. Reality should take up someones free time, rather than a fantasy world. No problems will get solved, and world crisis will not get solved in people just start gaming.