urprobablyright said:
Gaming doesn't directly help anyone. It degenerates us physically and mentally (you might notice a slight waning in your eyesight and short term memory after three years of WoW) and serves only to increase our interest in certain parts of our personality
First, I'm not sure who you're attacking.. I don't think anyone has made most of the claims you're attempting to disprove.. so I'll leave those alone, as I even agree with you on some of them.
Second, I completely disagree with this quote. I know for a fact that gaming does directly help people. For example, I have been to elderly homes to visit passing relatives and have noticed in their Physical Therapy centers that they have Wiis, I've actually spoken with some of their Physical Therapists and they say that while its not the only thing (certainly) that they use to help patients, that it is a useful tool in some situations.
Hand/Eye coordination is a widely proven benefit, if nothing else.
You also mention that it degenerates the mind, I disagree again. Video games provide some of the most complex and challenging scenarios in any arena. Of course, it depends on the game you play and whether or not you cop out and use GameFAQs, but over all there is still legitimate opportunity to challenge your mind and thinking skills.
Not to mention anything you do that causes you to think, process information, and analyze situations is generally positive for your mind. Gotta keep those synapses firing somehow. Its been shown that elders who tend to continue to play "games" like crossword puzzles, card games, and the like generally stay more mentally sharp as they get older and older. Certainly this makes sense, they are actually using their minds to solve problems, something that some elders simply let fade away.
Now video games are not crossword puzzles and card games, but some would argue that they are more complex than these previously mentioned games. While the content of the game has to be challenging (playing something like Doom 3 has significantly less mental stimulation than say Bejeweled). Every game has a challenge aspect, otherwise it wouldn't be a game. To have a goal, you must have obstacles to meet a goal. Obstacles are meant to be overcome by mental work, so simply by definition games are mentally stimulating.
All of this is not to say, of course, that video games are a "perfect pastime" that will cure you of all of your ailments and make you a super human. No, nothing is. And as always: moderation is the best policy. But you saying video games have no benefits is simply untrue, and along the same lines of the, mostly, ignorant statements made by the media.