I took these photos while hiking with Donnie along the some cliffs in Donkin. It’s lobster season in Cape Breton, as you can see by this boat, above.

Via Arts and Letters Daily, I found this Prospect article by Tom Chatfield about the sociology of video games. It is one of the most sensible things I have ever read about the subject. The overarching theme is of the large demographic rift which has sprung up between non-gamers who blame an unreasonable number of actual and potential moral ills of our society on video games, and gamers who react to these accusations by writing off all criticism as based in ignorance and reactionary conservative fear. The article succeeds by seeking out a middle ground between these equally reactionary positions.

For example, Chatfield is knowledgeable enough to respond to the mistaken belief that video games teach no skills beyond hand-eye coordination and reflexes.

Still more elaborate is the science fiction game Eve Online, which involves players ganging together to build spaceships. One of the first of the largest class of such ships took a consortium of around 22 guilds—just under 4,000 players in total—eight months to complete, a task that involved complexities of training, materials, role allocation and management that would put many companies to shame.

And with the credibility he earns with such a defense, he can turn to voicing legitimate fears about the effects of gaming in a calm voice:

Yet beneath the hysterical rhetoric of many objectors, there are eminently reasonable concerns. Spending time playing video games means not spending time on more traditional leisure activities, such as sport, reading or conventional socialising. And, seen from the outside, the benefits of playing thousands of hours of video games can be hard to pinpoint (improvements to hand-eye co-ordination notwithstanding).

[...]

The physiological and psychological mechanisms that electronic games harness are certainly powerful. [...] Like almost all activites we find somehow compulsive, gaming induces our bodies to produce elevated levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine within a part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. Certain kinds of games are, however, especially adept at elevating levels of dopamine over long periods of time via their combination of structured tasks and varied, regular rewards. Gaming is undeniably a problem for some. While there are no agreed-upon statistics, a recent study at Stanford University suggests that men are more likely than women to respond compulsively to games, while a 2007 poll of 1,178 US children and teenagers concluded that 8.5 per cent of youth gamers (aged 8 to 18) could be classified as pathological or clinically “addicted” to playing video games.

Also interesting (and refreshing, for someone who fits some gamer stereotypes and misses others) are these statistics quoted in the article, which would likely shock most non-gamers:

According to the Entertainment Software Association of America, the world’s largest gaming association, the average American video game player is now 35 years old and has been playing games for 12 years, while the average frequent buyer of games is 40. Moreover, 40 per cent of all players are women, with women over 18 representing a far greater portion of the game-playing population (33 per cent) than boys aged 17 or younger (18 per cent). Much of the recent growth in the value of the gaming industry has been driven by the increased diversity and affluence of its consumer base; the hard core of adolescent males are no longer central.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to GTA4.