Starcraft 2 is good our brain? But not make a schizoid?
SC2 is so good for your brain, researchers use it to study how the brain works.
SC2 bolsters visual processing speed and cognitive flexibility (ability to switch from thinking about one thing to another):
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0070350
SC2 increases brain connectivity and bolsters visuospatial cognition (aka spatial reasoning):
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hbm.24208
SC2 reveals (and helps fight) age related cognitive motor decline:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094215#s3
The last one is interesting because the brain switches from rapid feedback learning to delayed feedback learning as you age. Rapid feedback learning is when you try something and get immediate feedback. So you try to micro and your units die and you can immediately see the mistake that you made. Delayed feedback learning is when the feedback comes at a much later stage - you try something, but donât get the results until days or weeks or months later.
This is quite interesting because it meshes with a lot of other research. For example, homework doesnât seem to help children because the feedback they receive is too delayed. They make a mistake and then they receive feedback a week later after the teacher has graded it and by that time theyâve forgotten the specifics of the problem. Feedback for children and young adults needs to be instant, aka as soon as they make the mistake.
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yes
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Thank you for respond
Double edged sword.
On one side it absolutely helps with cognitive abilities, tehbatz covers this very well.
On the other, it also tends to promote extreme hubris - now this is less to do with the activity and more to do with the individual, but generally, you notice how the higher in a league, the more arrogant and pig headed players get? Not that all players in higher leagues suffer from this but it does seem to be a trend.
To that end, itâs very important to be humble when it comes to sc2, regardless of how good or bad you are at the game, you can always end up surprised by something you were mistaken about previously.
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These days I was watching Grubby streaming sc2 because he is wholesome, even when he had a higher potential and probably bigger raw skill than the people on the chat, he read every single of advice because he asumed he was âânewââ at the game and know nothing, instead of jumping into the ladder like an old glory he started like a true bronze in terms of wanting to git gud and always respected the opponents.
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Grubby is one of the best gamers out there for this imo and while I find him kinda boring to watch, I wholly support him being a level headed bro who understands that learning is a continual process.
Neuro is also pretty boss for that, the dude has a very positive mindset when it comes to improving - and heâs not afraid to call out people who are being dumb about playing the blame game without being a butthead about it.
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Neuro is really nice, but Iâm not sure if he is like that or is larping, but is probably both options.
Unless you play terran yes âŠ
As terran you will lose your hair very soon and get
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in a few year âŠ
No, noobs will forever have a big mouth even if they are gold/bronz league. So the hubris u describe is no matter what league. At least upper leaguers cover it but lower leaguers cover it with what⊠with the Hidden profile option, see. the difference between cover and cover lmao
Tod is the opposite of that, GM chat try to teach him and get a ban. And I agree with him, forum rules here need to be like that, for those hidden profiles with big mouth.
This study also doesnât mention how multitasking is dangerous for the brain, increases recall time and reduces intelligence. Human brain was build to focus only at one thing at the time !!! There are some benefits for flexibility, however it impacts memory and iq. There are so many articles about multi tasking being harmful. But more research needs to be done, it is still probably more harmful than do good. It is very bad for a brain to have constantly switch between tasks !
Doing physics, or learn speed reading, would do you 10 x times more good. This game isnât even rts, it is just about apm and couple timmingsâŠ
Cognitive flexibility != multitasking. Cognitive flexibility is your ability to think about two things at once and to switch between them. For example you can have a pile of cards that you are supposed to sort into two piles. Cards with a square are to be sorted by color, while cards with circles are to be sorted by the size of the circle. Each time you draw a new card, your brain has to decide which rule set applies and then to apply it. The ability to do this well is cognitive flexibility. There is no multitasking involved.
Sc2 stresses this skill to the max. You have like 50 different things you have to take into consideration when making decisions. Is it better to attack with drones, burrow them, run away, evo block, etc? That answer depends on like 50 different things you have to keep track of and remember and apply correctly to this situation.
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It probably doesnât make much of a difference either way.
At least to not any significant manner.
If someone wants to justify playing a strategy game as a way increasing so-so skill then they can find solace in thatâŠbut at the end of the day, it probably makes very little difference in any significant skills.
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is linked to studies showing sc2 has a significant impact on not just useful skills, but critical skills.
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proceeds to claim that sc2 has no impact on any useful skill.
This is called fact denial and it puts you in the same category as flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers.
What strategy game wouldnât be connected to useful/critical skills? Many things can be connected to useful/critical skills.
I think SC2 can help with critical skills, etcâŠbut I would just be careful with overdoing that thought.
There is a reason why researchers use SC2 and not checkers or tic tac toe. If you canât tell the difference, then I wouldnât be able to explain it to you anyway.
Itâs not a matter of âthinkâ. There is compelling research that shows that it does. In the studies linked above, it shows a wide array of CRITICAL functions benefit from RTS games - weâre talking visual processing speed, the ability to filter out noise in the inputs, spatial reasoning, short term memory, cognitive flexibility. These are things that decide if you live or die when things go wrong when you are in your car. These are the things decide how good you are at math. Etc. Your ability to filter out visual data that isnât relevant to your situation is CRITICAL to tasks like driving. The same for visual processing speed. How fast you recognize a problem decides how fast you hit the brakes or do other maneuvers. Cognitive flexibility is CRITICAL to mathematics as is spatial reasoning.
Thereâs so many other things are vastly more efficient than SC2 for âcritical skillsâ.
Iâm sure SC2 is fine for it, but letâs not pretend you learn more about critical skills playing SC2 than participating in highly academic events or even casually reading a scientific journal.
Thatâs quite obviously not true. You can sit through a thousand university lectures but you will never bolster the speed of your visual processing by doing so, for example. SC2 bolsters your ability to make decisions under pressure with limited time while being spammed with loads of information that you have to efficiently filter while also training your fine motor skills. Academics usually do the exact opposite. Fine motor skills are irrelevant and itâs in a tranquil setting where they break concepts down and feed them to you bite by bite only as fast as you can chew.
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Okay. What have you done with Batz and who are you?
Visual processing might increase. However, I will say âbeing under stress and learning how do so-so skillâ is just a meh thing. 1v1 laddering is the least anxious thing in the world.
Having to give a chemistry thesis presentation, dealing with attending physicians and how rough they can be to resident physicians in surgery rooms, etc. are much more stressful condition than a video game could ever simulate.
This isnât to say SC2 doesnât do the things you mention. Iâm sure they do, but I do think there are many more efficient ways to to most of the skills you mentioned.