Today, someone posted up on a forum I read a link to an article on an interesting topic: Tetris May Boost Brain Efficiency in Teen Girls. It made me think of my own experience as a 40-year-old woman playing World of Warcraft.
Among the people with whom I play, there are a few older ones. (The vast majority are 29 or below, but there are some in my age range or older.) We've discussed it among ourselves, and we think that playing actually helps keep our minds younger.
It's not the same as Tetris, obviously, but to play the game well, it requires quite a number of skills and attributes.
--A certain amount of research
--Good reflexes
--The ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances
--The ability to work with a team
--A tolerance of others' foibles (in that, I tend to think older players have an advantage.)
--Perseverence
--Planning
--Personal responsibility
--Economic acuity
--The ability to evaluate and make judgement calls
Wow, it actually takes a lot to be able to play the game well, come to think of it. They don't list all this out on the box, or it would scare people away . . . Now that I'm working full-time, I have other opportunities to use my mind a lot, but when I was a stay-at-home mom, after I stopped homeschooling, playing the game gave me a great way to exercise my brain.
The secret of youth, I guess, is play. ;)
