Introduction
Gaming is a really popular hobby and it’s something we’ve talked about before.
With that said, we’ve only talked about it as an activity rather than delving into all the little nitty-gritty questions that people tend to ask online.
In this article, we plan to go deeper and answer all those really specific questions that you all seem to ask on Google and on other search engines too.
In fact, we reckon that gaming is becoming more popular and more entrenched in pop culture which means we’re inevitably going to start asking more questions about it as a pastime.
As you might have expected, some old stereotypes still thrive to this day about gamers and we’ll try to address some of those questions as best we can.
In case you didn’t know, we also have a dedicated gaming section where we talk about gaming as a hobby and other gaming-specific topics such as streaming.
Top Gaming Related Questions Answered (11 Popular Gaming Questions Solved)
1. Are Gamers Smarter?
Intelligence and “smartness” are rather broad terms, and in fact, are better thought of more as different areas that you can excel at.
For example, you might have high emotional intelligence (having empathy and able to express emotions) or alternatively, you might be really good at pattern recognition.
All of these different traits can be advantageous in some capacity but some might be better for gaming or conversely, for other areas of life too.
We really don’t want to go down the rabbit hole on this one as it’s a deeper question than it may seem on the surface.
To answer then, gaming as an activity seems to attract certain personalities or types of people that are generally thought of as being smart or “geeky”.
Whether gamers are actually smarter or not is going to vary from person to person and we couldn’t find any studies that were robust enough to conclusively provide an answer.
We think the idea that gamers are smarter is based more on perceptions rather than being based on absolute truth.
2. Are Gamers Athletes? (Or Considered Sports People)
Since the rise of esports, there’ve been thousands of topics and debates discussing whether pro gamers or gamers can be classed as athletes.
In a traditional sense, gamers aren’t athletes as they aren’t doing anything physical.
You wouldn’t call a chess master an athlete but you may call them a great sportsperson.
It’s a bit of a grey area but we think sportsmanship and being an athlete are two separate things.
3. Are Gamers Oppressed?
No, gamers aren’t oppressed unless they live under a dictatorship or in a country with harsh rules.
In fact, most gamers are given great freedoms to express themselves and are able to influence change on quite a grand scale which conclusively proves that gamers are not oppressed.
The closest thing we’ve seen to oppression within gaming probably comes from countries such as China where their game time may be limited or they may be restricted from playing certain games.
Generally speaking, most gamers have quite left-leaning views or at least believe in equality and freedom across the board.
4. Are Gamers Nerds?
Nerds are people who generally lack social skills or might over-indulge in their studies from time to time.
This isn’t limited to gamers though and you can find nerds throughout society who may never have touched a game at all.
To answer then, gamers are and aren’t nerds; it depend on the person.
5. Are Gamers Better Drivers?
A study (1) produced by JMIR concluded that playing games could be an effective tool for improving a person’s mental and physical state which in turn, meant they became better drivers.
In the study, they used the Xbox Kinect to engage the participants in both mental and physical stimulation which are both found to be useful activities for improving driving skills.
Generally speaking, gaming requires lots of skills that are useful in driving such as pattern recognition, alertness, visual cognition, and even hand-eye coordination which means the average gamer is probably better at driving than the average person who does not game.
6. Are Gamers Stupid?
Generally speaking, most gamers aren’t stupid just as most people you come across in life aren’t stupid either.
There’s only a handful of people across the world that may exhibit enough negative qualities to make you think they’re stupid and that’s generally linked to a bad upbringing or getting in with the wrong crowds.
People often forget that gamers are made up of lots of different people with different jobs, different qualities, and different levels of intelligence.
You can’t paint such a large group of people with the same brush just as you can’t say all minimum wage workers are stupid.
7. Are Gamers Attractive? (Or Considered Handsome)
Gaming and gamers are far more attractive these days than they were in the past and that’s because our perceptions around gaming are changing and are becoming more accepted in mainstream society.
In fact, when you think of gamers these days then you’ll probably imagine really successful streamers or big personalities like Pewdiepie rather than basement virgins with no social skills.
With that said, what someone finds attractive is always going to be specific to them and it’s not something you can force.
However, if you really love something but the other person isn’t into it then it just means they probably weren’t meant for you.
8. Are Gamers a Minority?
According to Statista (1), there are around 2.7 billion gamers worldwide which make up about around 30-40% of the world population.
Technically, this makes gamers a minority but a rather large one.
With that said, over time (and as the older generations die out), gamers will likely become the majority as most younger generations will have been exposed to some form of gaming or will partake in it.
The future of gaming is exciting and is one that is rapidly growing and becoming far more socially acceptable.
9. Are Gamers Fast Typers?
Gamers are much faster typers than the average person, especially if they’ve been playing PC games.
This is because PC games often require you to use a keyboard to interface with the game and to allow you to communicate with other players online.
It’s not uncommon to observe advanced typing speeds in long-term PC gamers of up to 120 words per minute.
10. Are Gamers Good Programmers?
Gamers aren’t necessarily any better at programming than someone who doesn’t play games, however, they probably make better developers as they’ll be familiar with what works and what doesn’t.
In fact, programming is an activity that shares very little in common with gaming and you’ll need to be familiar with some mathematical concepts or will need to be good at problem-solving.
In case you want to know more, we’ve talked about coding as a hobby before. You can also go to Codecademy to learn coding for free.
11. Are Gamers Weird?
Gamers are more likely to be insular or introverted people and that’s why some people think they’re weird.
With that said, gaming is becoming more mainstream so you’re started to see more “typical” extroverted personalities getting on board with this pastime too.
We don’t think you should change your personality or who you are just to appease the needs of others especially if you aren’t hurting anyone.
What someone thinks is weird is always going to vary so we think you’re betting off just being who you are and not worrying about it too much.
Relevant Articles
Don’t forget to check out some of our articles where we also ask fun, gaming-related questions.
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