Dr. Universe: Do video games rot your brain? – Joie, 10, Texas
Dear Joie,
After answering science questions all day, I like to play Mario. It’s relaxing to smash Goombas and zoom down pipes.
I asked my friend Dene Grigar if that’s wrecking my brain. She leads the Digital Technology and Culture program at Washington State University Vancouver.
She told me that sometimes people dismiss new things by calling them harmful.
That often happens with new technology or media. People reacted that way to railroads, telephones, cameras and television. People even freaked out about books. For a long time, books were hard to come by, and regular people couldn’t read. When that changed, folks worried about “reading fever.” They thought reading would rot their brains and harm society. Experts call that a moral panic.
Usually, those attitudes relax when people learn more about the new technology or media.
“The reason people say video games rot your brain is because most people don’t know how to read a game,” Grigar said.
It turns out games are more than cool graphics. They tell stories and use narrative structure – like books. The skills we use to analyze great literature are the same ones we use to analyze great games.
That’s why experts talk about “reading” a game instead of just playing it.
But most people have teachers to guide us as we learn to read and examine literature. We don’t usually get that with video games.
A good way to start reading a game is to look at the character you are playing – your avatar. Notice how they interact with the in-game world. Think about how your choices affect their journey. Compare what they go through with your own experiences in the real world.
When I play Mario, I can just stomp Goombas. Or I can think about how Mario leaves home to track down his kingdom’s kidnapped leader. He jumps and squishes his way across unfamiliar lands. He defeats enemies in dungeons – only to be teleported to a new world with even more bad guys.
Sometimes the real world feels like that, too. We tackle one obstacle, and another one pops up. It takes serious grinding (and maybe help from a tutorial or friend) to keep going. It needs a hero who doesn’t give up.
Virtual reality is new technology. It changes how we experience a game. Dr. Grigar says it could help us visit museums and interact with artifacts–from home or school.
Grigar told me that kind of analysis separates a good game from a not-so-good one.
“What I look for in a quality game isn’t the graphics,” she said. “It’s whether I’m moved to do something thought-provoking. Am I thinking through this story? Do I need to make decisions? Is my brain tasked with doing something useful?”
Making those choices and completing those quests might teach your avatar something about the in-game world. It may show you something about the real one.
The right game – like the right book – could help you level up.
Sincerely,
Dr. Universe
Adults can help kids submit a question at askdruniverse.wsu.edu/ask.
