h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1. Could we turn a trend to our advantage, and teach advanced concepts via the medium of gaming?

You mean like using flight simulators to train pilots?
http://www.airforce-technology.com/news/news65450.html

"The US Air Force has awarded a $35m contract to Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC) to provide an Authentic Tactical Flight Simulator-400 (ATFS-400).

"The ATFS-400 merges ETC's virtual battle space, motion-based technologies, G-Pointing, and other ETC technology to provide a genuine flight experience in a ground-based simulator, enabling pilots to improve their tactical skills at 1/28 of the cost of flying the aircraft."

Or like using surgery simulators to train medical students?
http://www.theage.com.au/national/surgery-simulator-feels-more-real-20080629-2yvh.html

"A WORLD-FIRST surgery simulator, invented by the University of Melbourne and CSIRO, gives students unprecedentedly realistic practice at operations.

"The simulator allows students to "feel" the bone and flesh under their virtual drill, using force-feedback pens. It also enables them to see the operation through a 3-D microscope that shows a live, animated model of the anatomy they are operating on."

Based on this, I'm going to go with "YES" on the first question, and skip to the last:

As original gamers now hit middle age, is it time to embrace all aspects of gaming as a daily part of our lives?

Okay, speaking as someone who believes that a kitchen table makes an excellent gaming platform and who loves computer games, one benefit of gaming is that I, when faced with a problem in RL, try different solutions. Sometimes my solutions are very different solutions. Such a problem-solving approach can be beneficial, but it's never dull.

We humans do learn and gain skills through play. We did before the computer. Now that the computer is here, we will continue to do so, with or without it. It's our nature.


HN

Great examples!