Video Games Are GOOD!

J.J. Jackson* | February 22, 2007

Uh oh. After years of being told that playing videogames rots your brain and leads to violence in our youth now we are being told that videogames actually make better surgeons.

It is the ultimate excuse for every video-gamer accused of spending too long hunched over a console: “I’m not addicted. I’m just honing my surgical skills.”

A study has found a direct link between skill at video gaming and skill at keyhole, or laparoscopic, surgery. Young surgeons who spent at least three hours a week playing video games in the past made 37% fewer errors, were 27% faster, and scored 42% better overall than surgeons who had never played a video game at all.

To be honest, I do not doubt it. Videogames work on fine motor skills in the hand (sometimes called “twitch relexes”) and I have no doubt that it leads to finer control and quick reactions to problems once recognized by the brain.

Videogames are not that bad. Personally I could type pretty well when I graduated college but I was able to double my typing rate just by playing MMORPGs like Everquest which required quick communication in the days before online group speak/call programs became prevalent and where you could just talk into a headset and communicate.

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