“You can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you.”
Barbara Sher
My dad loved to play cards. The more complex the game, the better. Pinochle was his absolute favorite. Although he didn’t always win, he always amazed those around him with his ability to vividly recall the entire sequence of a game and at the end, know which cards were in play. His mind remained extremely sharp into his last years in his 80’s. I know that deck of cards, and his daily crossword puzzle was a big factor. Beyond the pure fun and great social interaction of playing games, there can be many other advantages to getting in the game- be it card, board, computer or even virtual.
I really shouldn’t be surprised that games are being used to improve numerous real life situations. After all, Alfred (my dad) helped me understand mathematical probability equations with some coins and a deck of cards. In fact, he also used magic tricks to help me learn to think critically and develop my hand-eye coordination. Also, early in my surgical training and career I was drawn to a then new field- arthroscopic knee surgery- in which a tiny periscope was placed into the knee and work was done through tiny incisions while watching a monitor. This was in stark contrast to the other prevalent types of surgery involving large open incisions and direct visualization of your surgical field. I found that I was able to learn the new type of surgery quicker than many of my more experienced elder teachers. I often would say that it took a video game type mentality and 3-D coordination to excel at arthroscopic surgery, something that my teachers never really experienced, since my generation was the first to play Pac-Man, Breakout, and Space Invaders. My “Game Boy” theory was recently confirmed when a scientific study showed that surgeons in training who played video games learned faster, and performed better at laproscopic (similar to arthroscopy) surgical procedures. Virtual training and surgery is here to stay. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and Touch of Life Technologies (Tol.Tech) have even developed an arthroscopic surgery virtual reality knee arthroscopy simulator to enhance orthopaedic surgical training, education and ultimately patient outcomes. Also, the Pentagon recently awarded $12 million in grants to develop a robotic “trauma pod” for use on the frontlines in combat so that a surgeon far, far away from that battlefield can attend to wounded soldiers including suturing battle wounds. That robot already exists (da Vinci robot) and it is being modified for this new futuristic application. There are many surgeons who are skeptical about these new uses of technology and I would remind them of a comment that appeared in 1844 in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. “Stethoscopes will ruin the practice of medicine. How stupid is it having a full grown man with tubes in his ears finding out if a man had pneumonia”.
So you don’t get caught sounding silly, and behind the times, consider some of the uses of games/technology to help your health, education, family and business:
- At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, children awaiting surgery were found to have lower anxiety and stress levels when given a Game Boy in lieu of traditional medications and tranquilizers
- Around the nation, in many After-School All-Stars programs (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Foundation for at-risk inner-city children), kids play chess to build confidence and improve decision making. They also practice stress reduction, teamwork and conflict resolution by learning to juggle.
- Mazda North American has a virtual sales room computer game to train its sales force, putting them in a variety of extremely realistic sales interactions.
- Fortune 500 companies have opened their minds to game-based learning and training allowing employees the down time needed to move up. Richardson’s extremely creative and effective interactive e-learning modules (Richardson.com) have set the standard in the sales training industry.
- Pilots and astronauts routinely hone their skills in extremely realistic flight simulators including high G-forces, flips, pressure changes, and fortunately, real air sickness bags when needed
So learning can indeed be fun, but a few words of caution are in order. I don’t suggest gambling when games are used to learn. That can be a very costly lesson. Also, although children can gain some skills with video and other games be careful to limit their time exposure. Like television, many games encourage sedentary behavior which our kids need much much less of. Reading, learning and physical activity should also take up at least 90% of their free time- that doesn’t leave much time for the Xbox. Also monitor the content of their games and make sure it is age appropriate.
FitTip
As they say at the Olympics, “let the games begin”. Sometimes a little fun can go a long way. Find time to play, it will come back to you in spades, even if cards aren’t your game.
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