Chapter 10 of Mix it Up

In this last chapter of the book, Grazian covers a lot of ways in which technology affects our lives on a day to day basis. He opens the chapter by using the example of the Nigerian e-mail scam, showing the reader that just by opening your e-mail and taking it seriously, you can essentially lose a good bit of money if not all of it. This was also done since the 16th century (and probably longer) in a scam regarding a Spanish Prisoner unjustly put in captivity. The quick pace of the internet has changed the way we absorb what we are reading. Research suggests that due to the flashy advertisements online and scanning headlines, nowadays we no longer read as thoroughly as we used to and do not concentrate deeply on the material. Online gambling has left people broke, and because of portable technology, people no longer interact as much as they used to. Second Life and World of Warcraft have given people the opportunity to live life as another person that they are able to design, avatars, and anything done in normal everyday life can now be done in Second Life as well, including getting a blow job. Online news, although it allows people to get their news rather quickly and conveniently, many newspapers are now going out of business.

What I appreciated most about this chapter and Grazian's views was that he gives both the positive and negative. For example, he talks about what the skills gained through playing video games. I had always thought of video games as a mindless activity, but according to Grazian, it helps with "development of cognitive skills" and decision making (198). He also includes that the organization skills gained through gaming may be utilized in the professional world as well. Even online gambling like poker, although the author talks about the down side of people's, especially college student's obsession with the game, he also says the those who play these online games master a sort of yogic focus.

My question is then purely subjective. Do you think the good of playing video games outweigh the bad? In America do we just have an exceptionally bad view of video games which makes us consistently look at them negatively and consider them just a waste of time? Is gaming actually an activity that can be just as productive as other recreational activities only in a different way? I would be very interested to hear whatever you have to say about this.
A. Gorno