Playing games make you better workers!

Jayanta BhattacharyaDec 12 2005

Henry Jenkins

If you are not a gamer you can be pardoned for thinking that gamers actually waste away their time and they are good-for-nothing else. But Henry Jenkins thinks otherwise. He is not just another man with an opinion. He is the director of Comparative Media Studies, MIT and co-founder of the gaming and learning research initiative - The Education Arcade.

henry jenkins

Just hold on your breath to hear what he says. He says, contrary to popular belief, gamers actually are excellent workers! Gamers can in fact contribute more than an average American Joe.

Jenkins says;

Gamers become very good at making rapid decisions based on limited information. Online games make constant demands on your attention; there are multiple problems emerging at the same time, and players get very good at making reasonable predictions and charting actions based on information as it comes in.

On being asked if gaming impedes people's social skills he says that it actually will increase the social skills of people. He reasoned it thus,

Collaborative play is quickly becoming dominant in this medium. Most people who play alone are just rehearsing the skills they need to participate in group activities. Users of multiplayer or alternative-reality games learn to work with other people over distance, to share knowledge, to resolve disputes quickly, and to stay on task.

Now you have a Jack Thompson on one hand and a Henry Jennings on the other. We don't need to tell you whom gamers will side with, isn't it?

Let us know of your views on this. We shall love to hear from you folks. In the mean time, double your gaming time as you will be doing something useful than the book-nerd next door. *wink*

Thanks GAF