As a senior citizen on the downhill side of 70, one would think computers would be somewhat of a mystery. However my curiosity and fascination with computers began in the early 1980’s with the Texas Instrument TI-99, for those of you that don’t remember that particular model, be thankful; because the term, user friendly had not yet been coined. However this article is not about the computers themselves, but rather an area I had never ventured into; computer games, after all, they were something for kids to become totally addicted to, not adults, and especially not senior citizens. As parents and grandparents we are supposed to be the ones with enough wisdom to explain the perils of the time spent at these user friendly machines, rather than having an older daughter tell you; “Dad you spend way too much time playing that stupid game. What kind of an influence do you think that has on the kids?” And yes, I discovered MMORPG’s, (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games), what a mouth full. MMORPG’s are simply games that one can purchase, download to their computer, and pay a monthly fee to play. The more popular games can be the most expensive to purchase, and cost in the area of $15.00 a month to play. Which one can justify the monthly fee by rationalizing that it’s rather inexpensive when you consider that $15.00 or so gives you 24/7 for an entire month’s entertainment. Hey, you can’t even go to a movie for that today; forget about seeing it over and over for an entire month, anytime of the day or night for that initial free.
So where am I going with all this? Am I defending the hours, and hours of time spent in front of a computer, playing online games with your online community and friends who can be scattered across the country, and even around the world? Yes I am, or at least I hope I will be able to make some sense out of it as far as senior citizens go.
Computer games range in difficultly to play and master from extremely simple, to extremely complex, so complex that at first you think you would never be able to master them. This is something only kids can master, after all their brains are like sponges and they learn fast. You’re right in that thinking to some degree, as kids we do tend to learn faster, and learn and learn until we hit an age where we simply don’t need, or want to learn any more. We have learned all that we need to take us through the rest of our lives. All the years of learning, all the years of that thinking; we don’t have to do it anymore; well my friends this is the thinking that makes our brains stagnate, and after time learning new tasks becomes much more difficult. It’s no different than becoming physically docile and having our muscles waste away, so we exercise daily to stay in shape and prevent that from happening. What about our brains? What happens when we become mentally docile? How do we exercise our brains to prevent that from happening? Thinking to our brains, is akin to physical exercise for our muscles. Thinking is how we exercise our brains. Ok; see where I’m headed?
I either write on a daily basis for anyone willing to pay my fee, or can be found working on my own projects, articles and short stories, or one of three novels I have in the works. With the research and reading and actual writing involved in putting an article or story together, one would think that’s a lot of exercise for our brains, and to some extent you’re right. But what about learning new tasks? I may have learned something I didn’t know before, like exactly how high Mt. Washington is, or how deep the Japanese Trench is, however I learned that using skills I have already polished over the years, not by learning new ones.
On the other hand; I am still very involved in computer games, ( yes at 67 years old) and what I’ve discovered is they keep you thinking every second, and the more complex games take a lot more thought and concentration, thus making you exercise that grey matter to its maximum potential. It’s mental exercise; and a lot of it. As I mentioned; computer games keep you thinking, plus there is so much to remember, ah, another key, memory. My memory is as I remember it 25 years ago, (no pun there) and those moments of CRS are for the most part a thing of the past. Can I attribute this all to computer games? Absolutely not, although my day is filled with mental exercise in one form or another, whether it be writing, research, or playing an MMORPG’s. What I’m trying to illustrate here is not that you run out and purchase an expensive gaming computer, but rather find some sort of mental exercise that suits you. Reading a few hours a day, writing if you’re so inclined and yes; if you really want to challenge that grey matter try an MMORPG. And who knows, as some articles and research show, mental exercise can ward off the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. We exercise to stay fit and healthy, why not exercise our brains to the same extent?
J. Francis © 2011
