Socialization Via Videogames, by Bryan Caplan

When people argue that school is great for teaching socialization, I've often casually remarked, "Compared to what?  School is a lot better for socialization than staying home alone playing videogames, but that's a really low bar."  But EconLog reader Joe Munson interestingly argues that I'm underrating videogames.  Reprinted with his permission:

Hey Bryan,



As a long time reader of your blog, and fellow strange person, I really
enjoyed your book, though I can't help but notice that you often say in
interviews school might help socialization more than video games, but I must
respectfully disagree, especially now with the new online cooperation intensive
games. Overwatch and StarCraft 2 are the most prominent examples, but there are
more. I've always thought video games were under-respected, and as someone who
couldn't get off high school to attend video games tournaments, and was
prevented (or at least unnecessarily hampered) from transitioning from semi-pro
to pro player.  



I now happily sell various financial products for a fortune 500 company, and
will soon be happily teaching English as a foreign language, but I'll always be
a bit annoyed at the school system that prevented me from practicing for the
job I really wanted: gaming.



Since these types of jobs are highly competitive and short-lived, I suppose its
possible school saved me from disappointment, but it certainly didn't improve
my social skills, as I communicated (via speaking and typing) more during my
video game sessions than during school! 



I don't even recall one high school group project that didn't turn into the guy
who cares most does all the work project. 

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