Gamers are underachievers.

While the notion of a "gamer" as opposed to a "non-gamer" is in many ways a nonsensical way of classifying human beings there are many who adopt the mantle of "gamer" and wear it with pride; a symbol of who they are as an individual and the values to which they cling. When some, then, critique the hobby of gaming as a less than holy and noble pursuit these "gamers" then let loose verbal torrents on their piddly little blogs.

Last night Obama's Victory Speech included the following passage:

I know how hard it will be to alleviate poverty that has built up over centuries, how hard it will be to fix schools, because changing our schools will require not just money, but a change in attitudes.
We're going to have to parent better, and turn off the television set, and put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children, and that's going to take some time.

Tori Floyd over at Kotaku apparently heard this and became pissy:

I'm fairly certain my prime minister doesn't know what a video game is, so for now, Canada is safe. But it's scary when a potential leader of a country so passively attributes video games with failure. It sounds like yet another instance of a politician not fully understanding what he's talking about, and jumping on the bandwagon, proliferating the popular sentiment that "video games are evil."

If we maintain that the logical rules governing tautologies are correct then sensationalism is sensationalism; the claims that "all video games are evil" and "all video games are good" are two sides to the same sensationalist coin. They are not views based upon reality but rather the rhetorical stances maintained by individuals clinging to a personal bias.

I spend about four hours a night playing World of Warcraft. For the past few weekends I have played WoW from 9:15 a.m. until midnight on Saturday and Sunday each week. So, arguably, I am a "gamer", an individual who invests a significant amount of time and effort into video games. Fully acknowledging how much time I spend playing World of Warcraft I will still openly admit that World of Warcraft is a waste of time given the vast number of other things I could do with my time.

Now, certainly we can (and must) assess the value of any given use of time within a context since all values are contextual. Bowling skills are valuable at a bowling tournament. Dog raising skills are useful at a dog show. But bowling skills are useless at a dog show; dog raising skills are useless at a bowling tournament.

With regard to video games and the value thereof the context within which the value is found is indicative of the value of the activity as a whole. Within the context of Disgaea leveling a character is beneficial. Within the context of World of Warcraft obtaining gear with higher stats is beneficial.

But what is the value of that Disgaea character, that WoW character, within the much larger context of life?

This is the point at which the "video games are useful" argument fails. While it is true that video games are not evil it is also not the case that video games are useful, beneficial uses of one's time.

And I think that is Obama's point. It is not the case that there is some evil component to video games. Rather, if one has a free hour of time is it best to spend that hour playing Guitar Hero or to spend that hour working in a soup kitchen, tutoring a student, volunteering at a retirement home or recycling facility?

Yes, individuals need hobbies. Yes, individuals require an amount of relaxation in their lives. Within the context of relaxation certainly bowling, dog raising, gaming, etc. are all valuable options to individuals who find such activities relaxing; no one is making the claim that one ought always to work.

But Obama's point, and I think the stance maintained by any reasonable individual, is that if we are to better the world in which we live the manner in which we spend our non-work time ought to be spent on activities that truly better ourselves and our communities. We ought to turn off the tv and read a book. We ought to turn off Guitar Hero and volunteer in a soup kitchen. We ought to uninstall WoW and tutor failing students. These are simply factual statements based upon reality and the world in which we live.

So while many of us will continue to knowingly waste our lives in front of computers and televisions I think it best to at least freely admit that we are being lazy jackasses rather than flock to our idiotic little blogs and argue that somehow we are noble seekers of truth virtuously bettering ourselves, our communities, and the world in which we live through our accumulation of phat lootz, character levels, and achievement points on Xbox Live.