June 7, 2009
Does your favorite leisure activity benefit the world in any meaningful way?
11-year-old Moshe Kai Cavalin, who graduated from East Los Angeles Community College last week, has many interests ranging from astrophysics to the Rat Pack but video games are not among them. How come? The newly-minted holder of an Associates Degree of Liberal Arts explained:
I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way.
Perhaps a rather odd statement coming from a lad whose passions include martial arts, scuba diving and playing piano. He also aspires to be a movie actor.
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen...
Via: NBC Los Angeles
Comments
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Games aren't a waste of time because they keep me from going batshit and rampagalizing.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
of course playing games are a waste of time!
How are you suppose to relax and/or unwind if you don't waste some time!?
sheesh!
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I'll bet that this kid's parents push him really hard and make him spend all his time doing schoolwork and his other activities so he never has time to just be a kid an play a video game. He wouldn't be the first kid I've seen whose parents do that to them. He's probably just parroting his overly-controlling parents' opinion since they've probably never let him have enough time to himself to develop his own ideas.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
"He's probably just parroting his overly-controlling parents' opinion since they've probably never let him have enough time to himself to develop his own ideas."
That statement is one of the most important in this whole list of comments. A kid this smart needs to be able to make his own path, and the only intervention people should put in is to remind him that no matter how smart he is, he can still make mistakes, and due to the power trusted to him due to his intelligence, those mistakes will be big.
Wisdom is such an important factor in these things, and an 11 year old just doesn't have it. He will, maybe 10 or 15 years later, but 11? Someone needs to tell this kid to be patient, above all else.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
So many comments, no time to catch up on reading, so I'll just voice my opinion.
K.. So a kid.. Graduates with a LIBERAL ARTS degree from a COMMUNITY COLLEGE?
No offense, but I'd imagine that anyone with a 6th grade education can probably do that. Get a Bachelor's degree from an Ivy league school, and THEN we can shower you with praise.
But a Liberal Arts Degree from a Community College will just earn you a pat on the back while the rest of the world laughs at the fact that you chose the same route a useless high school dropout would take to get a degree..
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
lol community college
http://www.eliteownage.com/nice
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
"I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way."
...Sort of like a liberal arts degree?
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" - Benjamin Franklin
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
...Or a third testicle.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Well, he is from LA, so chances were he'd be a dick.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I'm sure he will be as much a boon to humanity as actors such as the Baldwin brothers.
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
At the risk of sounding rude, I don't really care about a kid who crapped in his own pants every day less than 10 years ago.
Isn't this the same kid who wants to discover time travel?
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I don't like this kid. At all. Go to Harvard, then come back and hate on games.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Uhhh...Im thinking anti-gaming activists would want to use this kid as ammo,Im hoping he doesnt abuse his intellectual gift by attack people for who they are or that they play video games or something like that?
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Just send him to that kid an old GameBoy and a bunch of old games. In matter of minutes his life will be destroyed by vidjagames...
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I'm gonna be blunt and say this out right.
What a smug little shit.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Your post made my day.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I play games specifically to avoid helping humanity.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I also kick dogs and turn over trashcans.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Hey I'm a 14 year old with an IQ of 140 and I'm finishing highschool a year early! When does my bullshit opinion get in the news.
(sarcasm XD)
We don't need the government, all we need is Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security!
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Do we really care what some little 11 year old bastard says?
When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Having visited 4chan at least once, I can say that yes, we internet people do apparently care about what various 11 year old bastards say. XD
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Kid's been living in a bubble. Wait till he experiences the real world. Then his dreams will shatter.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I remember when it hapened to me. Good times.
We don't need the government, all we need is Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security!
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Reminds me of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_Boy
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Making the world a better place... one Headshot at a time...
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I do hope that this boy learn to respect other people regardless of their form of race, religion, entertainment and sexuality.
To me, that is more important than being smart.
Remember the cartoon Pinky and the Brain?
The Brain was as smart as you can get, but he was never happy and he never got to rule the world.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
it was really more Pinky's fault than smart != happy. Brain would have been happy if his plans weren't foiled
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
People have opinions, some are smarter than others.
It does not take a prodigy to find out that sometimes he might have heard that opinion from someone else, #1 his teacher. #2 his mother or father.
This is not meant to be an attack on the kid, but it is only just a careful summary.
Lets face it, schools teach us what to do except for teaching us to think for ourselves.
So much for education sadly.
Plus even though Videogames are not going to help humanity, it does not change the way I feel about them.
I love playing Videogames, they make me enjoy life.
Other people do other things, like watch TV and the news... yeah...like THAT would ever help humanity.
Does anyone think that #3 should be that this kid has been listening the news a little bit too much?
The kid may be smart, but that is nothing unless if you are happy to be who you are.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Because Doogie said it, it must be true.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
"I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way."
yeah, martial arts, scuba diving and playing piano are really helping humanity!
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"Science asks how, and faith asks why"
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Maybe he uses his martial arts and scuba abilities to fight crime...underwater...and then uses his piano skillz to calm the...fish...
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Wait, he's Aqualad? The only person who's worse than Aquaman? A few notches below Robin?
Wow, sucks to be that kid.
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
What about the wonder twin's pet monkey? :P
And why bother graduating at 11? That means you still have to ask your parents for permission to go to work, and to give a ride to work.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Dude, monkeys rule.
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
What's this?! No video games, degrees only, Final Destination!
EXCELLENT - but...let's go better next time
Ray @ Backloggery | Ray @ Gaming Journals
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
/facepalm
"God, is that you?" "No! It's a me, Mario!"
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Whew, slow news weekend.
And honestly video games have helped humanity, a lot. Gaming has pushed computer technology further and further. In fact if I remember right Id was a company that was pushing some of the first graphics accelerators using Quake.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Don't forget about Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, some various Serious games about world issues like that Middle East game where you are a peace keeper trying to solve the conflict between Isreal and Palistine?
Without Videogames, computers may not be the way they are now.
Without Videogames, there may never be any HD TVs or Blue Ray players.
Without Videogames, we may have mobile phones that struggle to fit inside our pockets.
Without Videogames, other things in life that people take for granted may not have been possible.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
More to the point, entertainment technology can help other tehcnology to advance.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I feel the same way about listening to the Rat Pack.
It must suck living half a century in the past, especially when that time was 40 years before your birth.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Good job at alienating people little kid.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Future politician in action.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Not just any politician, JT.
We don't need the government, all we need is Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security!
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
At least he has good taste in music.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Someone should tell him that it's not feasible to try to help humanity 24/7 noble as it may be. It's perfectly ok to wanna do something just because it'll entertain you (assuming that thing doesn't hurt a non-consenting 3rd party).
All work and no play makes jack a dull boy.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
In my family it's "All work and no play makes Jack a dead boy." (Usually from burnout or suicidal depression, so no flaming please.)
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
You are lucky this isn't 4chan. Lol.
In all seriousness, I totally understand, and both myself and my girlfriend have suffered from various forms of Depression over the past few years. It fucking SUCKS..
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
Right now, a video game is helping my daughter learn to read. I own many games that have taught me lessons from history and many others that teach strategic and tactical thinking. Anyone who believes video games don't help humanity in any way is very ignorant about what video games can do.
This kid's quote just goes to show that academic achievement in one discipline doesn't mean you're not completely ignorant in other areas.
Re: Prodigy Earns Degree, Disses Games
I forgot to mention, what the hell was with the NBC article?
"Pre-Teen Could Probably Beat you up, too"?
Lick his ass harder why don't you...