Studying is really boring, while games are really fun. So, how can we change the immersion in smartphone games to help us study better? It may be impossible, but if we compare the two well, we might find a way to gamify studying to some extent. I want to play more games during exams. Studying really stresses me out, and nothing else stresses me out as much as studying does. So, aside from studying, I feel that everything else is fun. The prefrontal cortex perceives things that stimulate it as fun, but if we keep poking it too much, it becomes not stimulation but rather a burden, and the fun disappears. Therefore, not only in studying but also in the work we do in the office...

At first, the amount of work is enjoyable because it's in your area of expertise, but when the workload becomes overwhelming, it can lead to a dislike for the job. This reflects the current pain of my capacity. It's better to have exams or work at certain intervals; do you have any recommendations? This really depends on individual ability. For example, if a person can solve 20 math problems but actually has the capacity to solve 40, they might find those 20 problems enjoyable. However, if that person's capacity is only to solve 10 problems, they would struggle and feel frustrated with the task. Everyone has different capacities, and the most important thing is to first understand your own capacity and divide the work accordingly. It's essential to set aside time for breaks. People without willpower must operate within a system.

I need to establish a system where I study from a certain time to another, then take a break, and after resting, go back to studying. In reality, studying is quite boring, while games are really fun. So, how can we transform the immersion in smartphone games into something that helps us study better? It may seem impossible, but there are commonalities between smartphone game immersion and studying. Both operate on a reward basis. In studying, there are rules within the academic framework, and games actually have much stronger rules than studying. The difference between studying and gaming, however, lies in the timing of the rewards. In studying, even if we work hard for a year, it’s not easy to achieve satisfactory results, while in games, you can receive immediate rewards.

If you work really hard for just a few months, you can achieve a score or reward that is sufficient, which explains the difference in pace. Studying is quite a passive process for us, but gaming is something we genuinely want to do. Additionally, studying is not really fun, whereas gaming is quite enjoyable. One reason for this is that studying puts a lot of pressure on the prefrontal cortex. We have to think, do, memorize, and then bring that memorized information back into our thoughts, which requires a lot of effort. However, gaming does not demand that level of effort. It just lightly nudges our engagement. Unless you are a professional gamer, the level of engagement in gaming is more of a gentle touch on the basic central processes of enjoyment.

When the level of activation of the stimulus is reduced to two, we find it interesting. This indicates that we can truly feel enjoyment. Therefore, rather than torturing the students with endless studying, games are much more enjoyable. If we compare these two differences well, we cannot place games and studying on the same level, but we might be able to gamify studying to some extent. I think that’s a possibility. Currently, we expect children to sit in one place and study for about four hours to be considered diligent students. However, instead of that, if we allow them to study in shorter bursts while gradually reducing the loading related to studying, children can find much more enjoyment in their learning. By reducing the amount of study load and dividing the study into segments, we can provide rewards based on the timing of their study.

It provides a mechanism for rewards. For example, it can be game time, smartphone time, allowance, or even food. If mothers say, If you rank in the top ten in your studies, I'll give you a certain amount of money, such as 70,000 or even hundreds of thousands, I think we should view that positively. I believe that during adolescence, that's all there is. When you're in school, if your mom says, I'll love you more if you rank well, it's a very human and beautiful story filled with faith, hope, and love. But when you're in the second year of middle school, if your mom says, I'll love you more if you rank well, does that really resonate? We need to live in reality. According to our research, even if someone plays games for 12 to 14 hours a day, if they do it systematically, with a plan, and within a system where they can understand cause and effect, we refer to those individuals as professional gamers.

Paying attention to the lack of planning and indiscriminate actions, we refer to this as game pain, which is characterized by a failure to connect cause and effect, leading to actions that are taken without thought. Even if individuals spend a lot of time playing the same games, those experiencing game pain show significant activation in the basal ganglia, which is centered around the enjoyment of the game. In contrast, professional gamers, while playing the same games, exhibit increased activation in the prefrontal cortex. This suggests that they view gaming as a cognitive and functional stimulus, allowing them to develop strategies and enhance their performance abilities. We have discovered that professional gamers must possess certain innate qualities. This includes the level of prefrontal cortex activation for multitasking or processing external stimuli, as well as the speed of cognitive processing in the brain.

You need to ride the wave, and as I mentioned earlier, unlike game pain, external stimuli must be processed through training in various matches. These elements must be integrated for one to truly become a professional gamer. Gaming is a culture, but drugs cannot be a culture. Therefore, the idea that playing games too much causes the brain to deteriorate or that intelligence decreases from excessive gaming is a ridiculous notion that circulates in society. In fact, people say that drinking alcohol deteriorates the brain, yet many fathers drink a lot, and there aren't many cases where their brains actually deteriorate from it. However, if someone consumes alcohol in absurd amounts over an extended period, it can lead to real brain atrophy and deterioration, which is a phenomenon that occurs over a very long time.

For a very long time, it needs to progress for changes in the brain to occur. We played games diligently for about one or two years, and as a result, the brain deteriorated, leading to a beast brain and making us foolish. If we become addicted to games, it poses a cultural risk for children. The leisure activities that children engage in can be likened to drug use, as they can become addictive. In that sense, I argue that games are not drugs. Additionally, since games are a part of culture, it is important to rehearse how to manage them for children. For example, when children attend music or taekwondo academies, if a child loves taekwondo, we don't tell them to practice for two hours a day by splitting it into 30 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch, and 30 minutes before bed.

When we go to practice Taekwondo in the afternoon, we enjoy it and then go back to our daily lives. It's the same with games; since they are a form of culture, instead of just allowing small moments of play, if we treat games as a leisure culture—like attending Taekwondo, abacus classes, or math academies—children can fully embrace it as part of their leisure activities. Therefore, I believe it is wrong to treat games like a drug, prohibiting them or preventing access. I think it would be better to set specific times for gaming, rather than just limiting it to two hours. In my opinion, having a fixed schedule for gaming, rather than a few hours a day, is much more beneficial for children.

If they want to do it at any time, then how can we manage that? Parents, teachers, hospitals, or centers need to regulate their lifestyle patterns and provide proper management. However, it is true that if training does not start from a young age, it becomes difficult. When children reach their teenage years and rebel, playing games excessively and going against their parents' guidance, it often stems from behaviors that began to show in elementary school. Many parents overlook these signs out of convenience, which leads to a snowball effect later on. Therefore, it is essential to view gaming as a part of culture from a young age and help children regulate it, integrating it into their lives. This becomes a practice for them to learn how to manage their interests within their daily routines.

If it is maintained, and besides their games, they also need to study, exercise, and engage in music, art, and physical activities. They need to do these things without interfering with their time. If they can dedicate a certain amount of time, whether it’s 30 minutes, an hour, or two hours, I don’t mind. In fact, the children who really struggle come to our clinic, and we see that. Then we say to the parents, Let’s get some help. We tell the child, From tomorrow, your mom is going to wake you up by yelling at you. She’ll throw a towel soaked in water on your face to wake you up really harshly. Your mom doesn’t want to do this, but she is doing it to help you. The child accepts this. But before that, the mom was already doing it. That is helping you.

When we talk about help, children often accept it when it comes from one source, but they perceive it as criticism when it comes from another. This is because they think the first instance is not help but blame. However, when they enter the consultation room and receive the message that it is indeed help and not criticism, they tend to accept it to some extent. They need to find a sense of reality regarding how much their performance has declined and how much their daily lives have been disrupted. If they cannot find that sense of reality, they should definitely seek help from a nearby counseling center or hospital. If a child who hasn't been studying wants to start studying, what should they do? They need to attend a study academy. What is that? It's professional help. The reason to seek professional help is to understand how to practice, how to perform, and the order of the books related to those activities.

I know what it means to know the order of the book. These days, I'm a bit interested. Recently, when I was interested, I had to go through the processes to raise that interest. So, it’s important to get help from experts.

정신과 의사가 말하는 '재미없는 공부를 게임처럼 만드는 법'  (한덕현 정신건강의학과 교수 3부)

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