All things about the media, marketing, business, Japan and other musings by Mike in Tokyo Rogers.
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Professional Sports vs. Video Gaming
I'd like to compare my friend Jake with his son...
Jake was telling me that his son is "computer-game crazy!" Jake was complaining that besides school work, all his son wants to do is hang out with his friends, drink sodas and eat chips and pizzas and play video games.
Jake's son loves gaming.
Jake is not interested in video games and and says they are a total waste of time.
On the other hand, Jake was telling me that he "loves sports!" Besides work, Jake says he likes to hang out with his friends and, drink beer, eat pizzas and fried chicken and watch sports on TV or go to baseball or football games.
Jake loves professional sports on TV...
Jake's son is not interested in professional sports on TV and says they are a total waste of time.
I think video games are a waste of time. I think professional sports are a total waste of time.
Both Jake and his son, would be better off if they didn't enjoy sitting in front of a box all the time.
Jake's son has grown up just like dad... The delivery system for mind-numbing experiences has changed. That's all.
Like they say, the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.
2 comments:
Comments must be succinct & relevant to the story. Comments are checked frequently and abusive, rude or profane comments will be deleted. I’m just one of many bloggers who answer questions online and sometimes for the press. I usually handle questions about Japan, marketing or the economy, so in those areas I’m more likely to make sense and less likely to say something really stupid. If I post something here that you find helpful or interesting, that’s wonderful. This is my personal blog. If you don't like what you have read here then, just like when you go into a restaurant or bar that allows smoking, if you don't like it, there's something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door."
Very true. An even bigger waste of time is politics, where theater and sports are combined to steal trillions from productive citizens.
ReplyDeleteI agree - to a point.
ReplyDeleteVideo games and television are a means of numbing the mind - but again, what you watch on television matters. Sports, reality TV, drama and comedies only could be considered mind-numbing and a waste of time. But what really is wrong with that?
I agree that you should do something rather than sit on your butt all day long. I coach kid's hockey and baseball, and previously coached kids soccer for 10 years.
While I watch hockey and baseball on TV when I can, I will watch a buttload of TV wasters because I need to unclutter my mind. That's how I do it. I can then site down for a couple of hours and write late at night/morning.
There's nothing wrong with TV and video games, as long as it's supplemented with an activity, and as long as it doesn't take away from school work.
You know how it is, Mike - everything in moderation.
The child will learn behavior patterns from the parental units, to be sure... so we do have to set a good example.
I just don't think that video games and TV are all bad.
Yes... it could be time spent doing something else... but both are forms of escapism, no different from reading Treasure Island or Kidnapped! in the old days. Fantasy. Time wasting. Does the dictional story spark creativity? If so, every kid who has read a book would be a write or an inventor or research scientist or an astronaut.
Can it fuel scientific discovery? Sure... but it doesn't in every kid.
Can playing video games inspire kids into computer programming - sure. It's possible. Is it a waste of time then?
Watching sports on TV is NOT going to inspire any adults to become an athlete (I'm pretty sure), but it could inspire a child as well.
Watching sports enabled me to fit into a new culture in Canada. Watching sumo enabled me to fit in better with the folks in Japan... the same with baseball and JSL.
Sports and video games CAN be (not the be-all) a means to allow some kids and adults to fit in socially. Even idle talk around the water-cooler at work.
It should never JUST be about business and work. That's boring to some people, too.
Charity? yeah... maybe we could be doing more of that rather than just watching sports or playing video games.
But I did that growing up - even though my parents didn't care for either. I played and coached sports, and played and taught music, completed university and college.
While I watch a lot of TV (and even play video games, I coach a lot of sports for kids - hundreds of hours a year. TV and the video games helps relax my busy mind. Yeah, it wastes time... then again, I also learned stuff about ancient cultures of Costa Rica last night. I learned stuff about the River Thames the night before. I learned something about a secret Japanese submarine from WWII the night before that. I also watched a hockey game, a basketball game, baseball coaching administration... and yes... I even spent an hour or so playing the video game Skyrim V.
And you know me... when I'm not writing at work, I still find time to write at home for my blogs (plural), one a daily... and you know I don't cheap out... 2,000+ words or way more every day.
Has my mind been corrupted by watching sports and playing video games? Maybe. I do have 7 years of post-secondary education and even I consider myself an under-achiever.
Always enjoy reading your stuff Mike!