Balance

War Craft, Maple story, Runescape, up to the latest Star Craft 2… All of these games are not foreign to us. We see people discussing about the latest updates, change logs and game play every day. Computer game technology has already become a part of our life. However, computer games are usually portrayed in a negative light and are associated with adverse impacts like bad eyesight, addiction, and bad results. A typical scenario would be that of a parent chiding her child due to bad results, using ‘computer games are bad for you” as an excuse. To be fair, I must admit that computer games can and will result in negative impacts on the user. However, most of these cases are due to the user’s inability to control themselves and strike a balance between play and work. Balance is essential in everything we do. Everyone knows that too much of something is always bad for you; too much drugs can kill you, too much computer games can kill you, too much water can kill you, and even too much studying can kill you…

It is very easy to condemn computer games by listing out all its bad points, but what I will be doing in this post is to try and point out that computer games may not be as bad as it seems as long as a balance is established. Up to now, the issue of computer games is still often debated. There are many pros from playing these games, but many cons too. Many parents, especially those from the older generation rejects computer games and forbid their child to play them, saying that the violence and probable addiction and damage are risky. However, recent medical studies have shown that computer games can be helpful in our lives.

Besides improving their logical thinking ability and decision making, computer gaming also benefits the player’s hand and eye coordination and improves his reflexes. Further studies have shown that computer games might also be able to treat people with various learning and language disabilities. This reveals something about computer games; there can be a good side to it too, if used in moderation. However, some people still think that computer games are bad and unproductive as they fail to see the possible benefits of it. However, as technology continues advancing, our society will come to a point where computer technology can no longer be avoided. At that point of time, we will have to change our viewpoints and accept computer technology as part of our lives and do our best to strike a balance between them.

Many people feel that studying is good for you. Of course, everyone knows that studying is good for your intellectual growth, but to a certain extent, as always. Just like computer games, excessive studying might not actually prove as beneficial as some may think. The law of diminishing returns can be applied here – The tendency for continuing application of effort or skill towards a particular object or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved. Certainly, studying is good, but has it occurred to you that studying for 3 hours may be better than studying for 8 hours? I am not implying that we should not study more, but I am merely suggesting the importance of moderation in our current society.

Computer gaming needs moderation, studying needs moderation, then why not make these two into a two-in-one pack which could prove more beneficial and effective than only one? People say “study smart, not hard”, but what does this actually mean? A person who studies smart would balance work and play to maximize his efficiency, but a person who merely works hard could be the guy who studies for 8 hours straight. Which is more effective? Hence, I feel that computer technology should be accepted as a part of our lives and not be constantly rejected by people as it could prove to be beneficial to us and that we should help ourselves by balancing playing and studying together to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.