Gaming can be really fun, however if there is one downside to it, it is that it isn’t necessarily what you would consider productive. Every time you play a game you are considered wasting your time or running away from your responsibilites because that is the case for many people. Even if you are taking care of all of your responsibilites, have your life in order gaming is merely a leisure activity. So how can gaming be considered productive? Is gaming productive?
What is productive?
First I should state what I understand from the word productive. Something is productive simply if it provides you with valuable skills that help you in the real life and grants you valuable traits. Doing homework is productive because it helps you learn math which will be useful for you to pass the test get a good diploma from high school go to a good university and you know the rest. Also it provides you with a very valuable trait which is being disciplined.
So why is gaming not considered productive?
Gaming is not considered productive because generally all you do is press certain buttons in a certain order to pass a level and you eventually get really good at using the controls which is one skill you learn and it definitely helps you play competitive games competitively but is it useful for any other reason? I can’t think of any use except if you want to be a speed typer and join competitions. if you have any ideas please write a comment down below.
Most games are also focused on a short-term reward cycle, complete a quest get exp and items you keep completing quests and that makes you feel good and you over time level up. Anything that aims at rewarding you with quick and easy goals constantly is something you should generally be wary of. Goals that are hard to attain are more valuable like getting rich, getting strong or becoming an expert at a certain topic.
So in essence gaming is not onsidered productive because it is a leisure activity that you should be playing when you’re giving a break from working to attain your long-term, hard-to-obtain, it-will-bring-you-success goal.
How can gaming be made productive?
By making games a part of the work required to achieve long-term goals we can make games a fun way to learn something and be productive and i’m not talking about those math games on the internet where you write the answer to an equation and your car goes faster. Those are well… too simple, in every way. But those games are definitely productive for children.
For example lets say you want to learn to play the piano, a fighting game can be made where you make a certain move if you’re able to play a certain combination of notes right and on time otherwise you lose. The desire to win and the fun you have seeing your character make awesome moves everytime you play, makes you want to continue learning for way longer than you normally might. So in essence through the usage of gaming’s ability to induce the short-term rewarding system of the brain a person works on a skill which will enable them to attain their long-term goal which is mastering the piano.
Lots of examples can be given here but they all essentially center around the idea of providing the constantly rewarding nature of gaming which is absent on tasks a person might find mundane.
If you have any ideas you would like to add, please do so, I always love hearing creative ideas from other people.
Thank you very much for reading and take care 🙂
