Gaming is not inherently a superior form of entertainment. It is inherently one of the most empowering forms of entertainment in the world. Not video games alone but all games.

If books, movies, plays, etc are the pedagogic form of entertainment than games are androgogic.

Basically pedagogy follows teacher/master led learning and focus. It engages by at its core telling you what is important.

Androgogy follows student/self led learning and focus. It’s a style that traditionally is aimed at adults but has a real focus of those that can be self engaged. They’re more enterprising in the pursuit of knowledge, fun, anything that they deem significant.

This doesn’t mean you’re stupid because you need a teacher while someone else can absorb a manual. It also doesn’t mean that you’re dull because the Lions/Lifetime mean more to you than Mario or Call of Duty.

It just means that you prefer different entertainment. Games, video games, are not exclusively one thing and books another. It’s just that each format seems to naturally tilt to one side of the equation at its core.

Can the plot of a book be changed when you reread it? No. Can how you interact or focus on it change? Yes. Any avid reader can tell you that their approach to the content can change how it is enjoyed. Just like any gamer that autopilots and chain trades games at Gamestop can tell you that gaming can be just as much of a singular experience as any movie.

Games are not superior but I’d argue that the medium has the potential to be the greatest form of entertainment in the world and is one of the greatest tools available to man.

[Reposted with my own permission]