Video Games: Programming Executives to Be Followers

Apparently "action video games" make you smart, at least according to one NPR segment.

It turns out that non-gamers use the parietal cortex--an area specialized for visual-spatial processing--while gamers use the frontal cortex--an area specialized for higher cognitive functions like planning, attention, and multitasking. So basically, since the neural networks in the gamer brain's executive centers are being underutilized from a dearth of real-world strategic planning and complex decision-making, this area is being recruited and re-purposed to handle the quick, reactionary planning and decision-making involved in high-stakes mortal combat. In other words, young American brains are being rewired for virtual military training. And since video gaming apparently narrows the gender gap when it comes to performance on spatial cognition tests, little girls can be heartened to know that their future as military drone operators is just as secure as that of their male counterparts. (In my best Spice Girl accent: Geh-ole pahwah!)

This finding is nothing more than confirmation for the people pulling the strings that video games can be used reliably and successfully to program young, malleable brains and entrain our youth to follow orders in an increasingly desensitized context where they're less capable of questioning what they're doing (in the grand scheme of things) and why they're doing it in the first place. What's worse is that video games, in one study (cited in a NYT article), have been linked to increased inability to sleep, which could ultimately have a negative effect on a person's ability to develop a sense of self. All the more reason to use video games to ensure that our future drone operators are indoctrinated to conform to the status quo and follow orders!

The study cited in the NYT article suggests that gaming-induced sleep deprivation could lead to an inability to synthesize information, make connections between ideas, and set priorities. So while the NPR segment's producers are hailing video games' ability to "boost brain power," I'm wondering how much this alleged increase in cognition will serve the American citizenry when its time to make the real-world decisions that matter in the broader society? And since the area designed for executive cognitive processing is being re-purposed to focus on the narrow-minded pursuit of virtual combat, what other brain area(s) will be recruited to handle complex decision-making? Will it be the now underutilized parietal cortex? Some other area? No area at all (and thus no complex decisions being made by the citizenry? I'm sure the Powers that Be would LOVE that last scenario.)

When NPR begins the segment by telling parents to fret not, "video gaming may have real-world benefits for your child's developing brain," you have to wonder who will be at the receiving end of these "real-world benefits"? I already have my sneaking suspicions, but do enough of parents have even an inkling of a clue? Hell, do today's parents ever have a clue? Don't bet your civilian life on it. Our next crop of compliant precision fighters is well on its way.