How about everybody reads Catcher in the Rye? Might be good for the whole media induced violence discussion, right?
Obama: "Turn off the video games and pick up a book."
- Thread starter Saucycarpdog
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Wow. I am impressed with how much you misunderstood what I wrote. This has nothing to do with the argument, but because of the smugly superior tone in your response I see no other way than to give you a response in turn.funguy2121 said:The Renaissance. Also known as the Enlightenment. It wasn't the first, either; about two millennia before the time of Leonardo, there were people like Socrates and Aristotle. Though some of the more famous ones (Plato) never actually wrote anything, like the Renaissance, these developments had a pretty decent impact on society. Like the computer, the cell phone, the video games, mathematics, property rights, the concept of freedom, and all sciences. And how did this knowledge spread? Look, if it makes you feel hip and modern, you can read Dostoyevski on a Kindle. As long as you read Dostoyevski. Until you do, you won't make my Christmas listFelix said:
Also, I take issue with your interpretation of those eras/decades. I don't think those are very accurate.
Yes, books aren't new and as you say there was books long before the Renaissance or indeed the middle ages. However, because the vast majority of people alive before the middle ages were completely illiterate, books were of no real importance to the general population. And even if you could read, books were comparatively rare, since all books were written by hand before the printing press was invented in the 15th century.
And I take offence at the notion that I need to "feel hip and modern" because that isn't what this is about. Neither am I opposed to books or reading in general. My query was about the fascination with books over every other media. Shakespeare is a great example. Kids in school are forced to READ his works, even though the man was a playwright.
Also, I take issue with your name. I don't find you very fun guy at all.
Yeah you are right! I didn't mean one should simply indulge in games or books! Both have lots to offer! But games can act as a very good medium for teaching and encouraging learning because, I feel, that it is a more compelling medium for children. But that's not to say that going out and experiencing "the world outside" is any less educating. A good example of this is when I was 10 (I think) I remember playing Age Of Empires 2 and wanting to learn more so I went and read some books about Joan of Arc. Then when we went to France on a family holiday my mother took me to see the church of saint Catherine de Fierbois where Joan found her famous sword. Games that encouraged learning through books that subsequently took me outside the house to learn even more!Dexiro said:
I'm not saying that books should be ignored! I'm just saying that maybe Obama was demonizing games a little too much because they really can inspire learning and creativity.
I think the message of Obamas adress has been lost in the quote. "Everyone of us can encourage our children to put down a videogame and pick up a book".
It is not about excessive gaming, but about spending time together. Talk to each other at the dinnertable, go to the movies together - or even play those video games together.
It's about encouraging our children to learn something valuable instead of wasting their time. That said, playing games isn't always wastefull at all.
If more parents understood the games their children played, they might have less of a problem with supposedly violent games. I certainly think it would help against the raging "video games are the devil" trolling.
In my youth, I spent about one day preparing and running an online roleplaying group each week. My mother asked my about why I needed to be undesturbed during that time and if I didn't spend too much time on the computer while the weather was great outside etc. I explained that I knew I had to prepare dilligently for my audience, that I had to get my notes in order and to answer questions of new players well before the weekly event.
She said she was proud that I took the work so serious and that I was pretty much like her before her meetings.
I expect many parents of today to have grown up around videogames and arcades, so I think todays children might even have a better chance of connecting with their parents through games then us back in the days of yore.
It is not about excessive gaming, but about spending time together. Talk to each other at the dinnertable, go to the movies together - or even play those video games together.
It's about encouraging our children to learn something valuable instead of wasting their time. That said, playing games isn't always wastefull at all.
If more parents understood the games their children played, they might have less of a problem with supposedly violent games. I certainly think it would help against the raging "video games are the devil" trolling.
In my youth, I spent about one day preparing and running an online roleplaying group each week. My mother asked my about why I needed to be undesturbed during that time and if I didn't spend too much time on the computer while the weather was great outside etc. I explained that I knew I had to prepare dilligently for my audience, that I had to get my notes in order and to answer questions of new players well before the weekly event.
She said she was proud that I took the work so serious and that I was pretty much like her before her meetings.
I expect many parents of today to have grown up around videogames and arcades, so I think todays children might even have a better chance of connecting with their parents through games then us back in the days of yore.
I it me or I think that Jack Thompson told him to do that, if so WE ARE ALL DOOMED, DOOMED!!!
Im being serious about that.
Im being serious about that.
I think that it's important to recognize that even though you might *enjoy* games, someone who dares to say something critical about them isn't necessarily out to destroy your hobby. The experience of reading a book is totally different from that of playing a game, and there are things that the process of reading can do for you that games really can't.
Games totally can tell stories well-- engagingly and artfully-- but there's way more chaff than wheat out there. It's an immature medium and, so far, it seems to lack something like a Lolita or anything like that.
Games totally can tell stories well-- engagingly and artfully-- but there's way more chaff than wheat out there. It's an immature medium and, so far, it seems to lack something like a Lolita or anything like that.
Amusing idea especially since I do both anyway 
But I get the idea, there are a lot of young people who haven't read any books on their own initiative. I find this is mainly because the school system makes them perceive books as boring. When I was in school I hated the reading material we were given in English class (It was either very poor quality or just too early for kids our age to read) but my parents managed to convince me to try and read The Hobbit which I enjoyed.
Anyway It's wrong to simply say "Stop playing videogames" but there is a point to reading book as well.
But I get the idea, there are a lot of young people who haven't read any books on their own initiative. I find this is mainly because the school system makes them perceive books as boring. When I was in school I hated the reading material we were given in English class (It was either very poor quality or just too early for kids our age to read) but my parents managed to convince me to try and read The Hobbit which I enjoyed.Anyway It's wrong to simply say "Stop playing videogames" but there is a point to reading book as well.
Yes he did say one damn thing about art. He mentioned books and games, quite clearly both are artforms. And saying that one is more worthy than another is stupid.Tdc2182 said:
And what do you mean "Healthy for me"? Books aren't any more or less healthy for me than video games.
It's not about a daily dose and I surely don't need to go read a book. It's about saying one form of art is superior to another when it's pretty doubtful that this guy has even forayed into gaming as an artform very much.
It's totally unqualified and absurd. Get over it.
Fine. I'll read it again.666Chaos said:
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Well wouldn't ya know it, it didn't spontaneously change since last I read it. Craziness.
Again, he implied that reading a book is immediately a better way to spend your time than playing a video game, any video game, for any amount of time, which he is unqualified to say.