(Untitled)

[amzrigh]

Okay, just copy/pasting this from an e-mail I just received:

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
Saturday January 19, 2008 8 p.m.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Conductor

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony features award-winning music from titles such as Final Fantasy ®, Silent Hill ®, Battlefield 1942 ™, World of Warcraft ® and The Elder

Comments

[phoenix_seraph]

 
If I understand the research correctly, yes, video games are more harmful than television in most cases.

It's not the medium but the cultural treatment surrounding it.   Historically, television has been a social medium.   Especially when there were only three networks, people watched television in part to give them something to discuss with neighbors, fellow students, co-workers, etc.   Furthermore, even now, significant percentages of adolescents watch televsion in groups rather than alone.   Thus, despite the seeming passivity of television, it has helped individuals develop the social skills necessary for both a functioning society and for an ability to appreciate artistic commentary on human nature.

In addition to that, certain forms of television actually motivate viewers to look beneath the surface, rewarding them with an increased enjoyment of the storyline (this was one of the appeals of the geek favorite Babylon 5).   For example, psychologists have found that requiring patients to watch certain soap operas has actually helped them in their recovery from those mental illnesses which involve a loss of human connection: apparently, the better soap operas replicate (in larger than life form) sophisticated interactive skills, and the larger than life aspects make those skills easier to recognize among the mentally ill.