Friday, June 30, 2006
And, no, it has not escaped me that...
...at this point in our nascent knowledge of the brain, ascribing the ability to assign an age to a sawbuck video game is the height of hubris. I think it's meant to be, however serious the original idea was. Brain Age's originator, of all people, is probably excrutiatingly aware that we are nowhere near declaring, with any certainty, of what a "healthy", "well-execised" brain of any age is capable. We have some ideas based on fast; slow; specific, narrow tasks; regulating complexity. But, we're still really out of our league in this.
We still can not answer, with any certainty, the question, "Is the state of my mother's brain the best that she could have done? The best that her community could have made of her?" Nor does anyone yet have a definitive answer to these questions: "Am I harming, maintaining the status quo or helping my mother, mentally? Which should I be doing?"
Bottom line? We're keeping the game.
Later.
We still can not answer, with any certainty, the question, "Is the state of my mother's brain the best that she could have done? The best that her community could have made of her?" Nor does anyone yet have a definitive answer to these questions: "Am I harming, maintaining the status quo or helping my mother, mentally? Which should I be doing?"
Bottom line? We're keeping the game.
Later.
Comments:
<< Home
originally posted by Deb Peterson: Sat Jul 01, 06:23:00 PM 2006
Hear, hear! But it might also be interesting to play anthropologist and look at the game the way some have looked at, say, IQ tests: as a subjective cultural standard (can you tell we discussed ideas like this in class this past semester??!). The important thing is that it engages your Mom, and that makes it more than worth it.
Post a Comment
Hear, hear! But it might also be interesting to play anthropologist and look at the game the way some have looked at, say, IQ tests: as a subjective cultural standard (can you tell we discussed ideas like this in class this past semester??!). The important thing is that it engages your Mom, and that makes it more than worth it.
<< Home
