Video games are loved by so many people of different ages, backgrounds, social statuses, and interests. You don’t need to belong to a certain target group in order to love playing video games. You do, however, need to find the right games that fit your taste. But, video games aren’t just for having fun and enjoying your free time. While they are primarily entertaining, there’s a whole different side to gaming. It can shape our thinking.
If you’re confused about how gaming can shape thinking, but want to learn more, just keep reading. Below, you’ll find a list of 6 impressive ways video games influence how we think.
Let’s take a closer look together.
Improve Cognitive Flexibility
Our brain is a mysterious thing, that nobody’s ever going to be able to fully understand. But, there are ways for us to improve how it works and nurture it to become more agile and responsive.
And, video games can help us train our brains and improve our cognitive flexibility. Specifically, we’re talking about strategic video games that require planning, multitasking, and organizing.
While we’re playing these video games, we’re teaching our brain to:
- prioritize tasks
- organize ideas
- make judgment calls
- analyze the situation properly
And, all of these skills are worth a lot in real life.
Thus, gaming helps shape our thinking and teaches us how to make better decisions and get the maximum out of ourselves. Strategic video games are a great tool for practicing and improving cognitive flexibility.
Boost Your Energy Levels
When you’re trying to make a decision, set a goal, or shape a plan, you need to have your brain working at full speed. But, stress and exhaustion can do their trick and have you unable to think clearly.
This is why you need some help to get your energy levels up and start thinking clearly again.
Gaming is a great way for you to:
- relax your mind
- give yourself a reason to be happy
- boost your energy levels
The only thing you need to do is choose a game that fits your taste and makes you uplifted and happy. The game must help you recharge your battery and boost your brainpower.
After a session of playing your favorite game, your brain will be ready to start working on more serious and demanding tasks. It’s the perfect way to prepare your brain for some serious thinking.
Improve Your Imagination & Creativity
Our thinking is greatly shaped by the depth of our creative and imaginative side. If we’re neglecting our creativity instead of nurturing it, we’re limiting our brain capacity and depriving ourselves of some truly unique thinking.
Gaming is a good way to improve your imagination and creativity. It can help us:
- explore different scenarios
- get lost in a world other than our real world
- receive and process different ideas
While we’re playing puzzle games or strategy games, we’re allowing ourselves to be creative and look at things differently. We can forget about the rational and get lost in the irrational.
And this will positively influence how we think in everyday situations. We’ll be able to get more creative and use our imagination to solve problems, communicate, work, or socialize.
Upgrade Attention Span
Our attention span is another cognitive skill that can be altered for the better or for the worse. if we neglect it and leave our brain inactive most of the time, our attention span will degrade.
But, if we constantly assign our brain new tasks and activities to do, it will become better and better every day.
The more we practice, the better attention span we’ll have.
And, video games can once again help you upgrade this important segment of your mental activity. Here’s how it works:
- we play games that demand our full attention
- we learn how to focus and concentrate as we follow the game story
- we look at how to pay attention to small details
- we endure these tasks more than before
Over time, we become better at finding focus and maintaining a stable attention span. We can then apply these new cognitive notions to our daily routines, and ensure we’re performing better at them.
This way, we’ll learn how to perform better at regular tasks and not let our brain wander around while we’re trying to focus.
Develop Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to fully analyze and understand a situation and the circumstances that surround it. Then, after gathering all the important information, you’re able to make the best decision or take a certain action.
In other words, critical thinking helps us make better decisions.
And, critical thinking is a very valuable trait that can help you in your personal and professional life. But, it’s not something you can easily acquire.
Luckily, gaming can help you practice and improve your critical thinking skills. Here’s how:
- there are video games that contain strategizing, planning, deciding, analyzing, or conceptualizing
- while playing them, you’re learning how to handle all of the above-mentioned processes
- you’re also giving your brain different examples of hypothetical situations that might happen to you sooner or later
As you’re playing, you’re learning how to act, think, and perform during these situations which will later be applicable to other real-life situations.
We strongly recommend that you share your positive gaming experiences with other people to learn from. You can do it in a form of a blog post or article, and you can look here for professional writing help.
Battle Depression
If you’re struggling with minor mental health issues such as anxiety or tension, you should find a way to battle it. If you don’t it may grow into a more serious problem such as depression.
And, people who enjoy playing games claim that gaming has these positive effects on their mental health:
- removes stress
- clears their head
- removes negativity
- reduce stress
Gaming is a great way to help your mind fight everyday stress and clear your head from all the roaming ideas and thoughts.
This way, you’ll be ready to focus on the things that truly matter to you.
Final Thoughts
The most common stereotype about gaming is that it’s something only antisocial people do, and it damages their brains. Naturally, anything you do in excess can hurt you and damage your well-being. But, if you play games moderately, you’ll be able to enjoy all the positive effects it can have on your brain.
Hopefully, our list above helped you realize how gaming can shape your thinking. Think about it the next time you’re playing your favorite video game, and share it with a gamer friend.
