Is Gaming Good for You Harvard?

The answer to whether gaming is good for you, even if you’re a Harvard student, is a resounding yes, as research has shown that video games can have numerous cognitive benefits, including improving visual skills, spatial reasoning, and higher-level thinking, as well as providing mental health benefits such as easing symptoms of depression. Gaming can be a valuable tool for personal growth and development, as long as it is done in moderation, with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending no more than 60 minutes of screen time on school days and 2 hours on non-school days for kids over the age of 6.

Benefits of Gaming

Cognitive Benefits

Gaming has been shown to have numerous cognitive benefits, including improving visual skills, spatial reasoning, and higher-level thinking. These benefits can be attributed to the fact that video games require players to think critically and make quick decisions, which can improve problem-solving skills and enhance cognitive flexibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do people at Harvard play video games?: Yes, Harvard students are not robotic studying machines, they like to play video games, watch TV, and go play a pickup game of basketball like anyone else, but they all also understand and execute the concept of delayed gratification.
2. Does gaming affect GPA?: The amount of time a student spends playing video games has a negative correlation with students’ GPA and SAT scores, as video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease.
3. Does gaming actually help the brain?: Essentially, the more you learn, the more your brain can adapt, and video gaming can increase gray matter in the brain, which provides interconnectivity and allows parts of your brain to communicate with other parts of your brain and advance your self-perception.
4. How many hours of gaming is healthy?: It’s good to set video game time limits by age, with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days for kids over the age of 6.
5. Is 1 hour gaming a day too much?: No, Oxford University believes that 1 hour of gaming every day is better than no gaming at all when discussing personal well-being and mental health.
6. Is 2 hours of gaming too much?: There is no consensus on how much gaming is too much, though most experts agree the limit lies between 2-5 hours a day, with studies showing that as little as one hour a day of screentime is best for young children.
7. Does gaming improve your IQ?: Yes, video games can increase intelligence, with children who spent an above-average amount of time playing video games increasing their intelligence by approximately 2.5 IQ points more than the average.
8. What are the negative effects of gaming?: The negative effects of gaming include dopamine addiction, reduction in motivation, alexithymia and emotional suppression, repetitive stress injuries, and poor mental health.
9. Do gamers have more grey matter?: Yes, gamers who navigate using landmark-based spatial memory have an increase in gray matter, while those who use non-spatial memory have a reduction in gray matter.
10. Do gamers get good grades?: Yes, students who spent equal time playing video games and studying still achieved high grades, with many adopting a ‘work hard, play hard‘ approach and rewarding themselves with gaming time for studying.
11. Does having a high GPA mean you’re smart?: No, GPA should not be used to define a person’s intelligence, as the IQ test was specifically created to gauge intelligence, not GPA.
12. What grades boost GPA?: To attain a higher cumulative GPA, consistently making grades one level above the GPA that you want is necessary, with B grades needed to achieve a C average and A grades needed to achieve a B average.
13. Can I go to Harvard at 30?: Yes, but the odds of being admitted to Harvard diminish quickly after the age of 30, with only 2.7% of students being admitted at exactly 30 years of age.
14. What extracurriculars does Harvard like?: Harvard likes strong extracurriculars, including community service, athletics, music, theater, or any other passions and commitments that students pursue outside of school, with leadership positions being highly valued.
15. What sport is Harvard good at?: Harvard teams are the undisputed title holders in football, hockey, cross-country, and soccer, with the rifle team being the winner of the eastern division of the shooting league and the lacrosse team being the winner of the northern division in its league.