The Causal Effect of Studying on Academic Performance

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Check out the most recent BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy. Apparently, having a roommate with a video game has the effect equal to reducing your ACT by 3.88. Maybe I should mention this in my SOP.

[Thesus]

Here's the link: http://economics.uwo.ca/faculty/Stin...usaleffect.pdf

The 'metrics is actually fairly readable, I was surprised. Guess I'll leave the PS2 behind when I move south!

[Golden Rule]

Originally Posted by Thesus

Guess I'll leave the PS2 behind when I move south!

You know if you do that, you'll end up downloading an emulator... there is no escape.

[YoungEconomist]

Originally Posted by Golden Rule

You know if you do that, you'll end up downloading an emulator... there is no escape.

LOL! About 5 minutes ago I was playing Mario Bros. 3 on an emulator.

[Canuckonomist]

Apparently you can download the full version of GTA 1 and 2. That has been a guilty pleasure of mine lately.

[YoungEconomist]

I have to add something about video games in grad school. First of all, most of us will obviously have very little time for anything other than studying first year, so video games will probably not get much attention. With that said, out of the many things we can do with our leisure time, playing a few hours of video games is one of the least harmful (to our life as a PhD student). For example, it's always really fun to go out and have a few beers (or other alcholic drinks) with friends. I definitely like doing this more than playing video games, but I sometimes have to pay for it. Such as, I drink more than I intended and/or I stay up later than I intended, meaning that my leisure time has also made me less productive the next day. This is why I believe things like video games are not so bad in grad school. You pick up the controller, lose yourself for a couple hours and then go to sleep (or even get back to studying if you want).

[asianeconomist]

Can't we invent a game like GTA that'll teach us economics as we play along. For instance, one of the missions could be to predict the future rate of crime in the city by using an ARCH model.

[mbonheur]

Originally Posted by asianeconomist

Can't we invent a game like GTA that'll teach us economics as we play along. For instance, one of the missions could be to predict the future rate of crime in the city by using an ARCH model.

The GTA series is known for its realism, so I don't think it would be possible to incorporate models with so-called predictive power.

[Golden Rule]

Originally Posted by YoungEconomist

With that said, out of the many things we can do with our leisure time, playing a few hours of video games is one of the least harmful (to our life as a PhD student).

I would generally agree, since there's a lot of peer pressure involved and you can lose control. Of course you need some self-control with any leisure activity. I never play any new games, because I'd get addicted. But I confess every now and then when I'm stuck on an economics question and feeling incapable of anything, it somehow feels good to prove to myself that I can still play Contra as well as I did nearly 20 years ago, or Mario Kart as well as in college, but we're talking 15-minute breaks here, not hours and hours. Similarly watching a few regular TV shows weekly is fine because that's contained, but I have no self-control with watching TV series on DVDs. Also, feeling that you're obligated to always make the best possible use of your NetFlix queue is also generally not a good idea. Never got one myself, but I feel I've seen it before.

[YoungEconomist]

Originally Posted by Golden Rule

but we're talking 15-minute breaks here, not hours and hours.

Sometimes you gotta take a couple hour break from studying. At least I do anyway.