It was late at night, and a boy was still playing games. The door suddenly opened, and his mother walked in. She placed a bowl of yangchun noodles on the table and said, "Take a break and eat this bowl of noodles while it's hot." The boy grunted in acknowledgment, his eyes never leaving the screen. Afraid of disturbing her son, the mother quietly backed out of the room and gently closed the door. She thought to herself, "Sigh, kids these days really are working so hard; it's already this late and they still can't rest." She lingered at the door for a moment, and as if she still felt uneasy, she gently pushed the door open again.

Sure enough, just as the mother had expected, the moment she stepped out, the boy quietly took out a copy of The Iliad from his drawer and began reading it with great relish. When the mother witnessed this scene, anger welled up within her:

"I've told you so many times, you're not allowed to read books during game time, why won't you listen! What use is there in reading such nonsense! You like history and classical Chinese so much, even if you memorize all the ancient classics, can you understand the ever-changing internet slang? All you do is read, read, read — how are you supposed to interact with your classmates? You can't even get a word in when others are talking! Your guild's ranking has been slipping further and further back, and you don't care at all? I think you're going to read yourself stupid!"

This is just an absurd scene I made up, but through a different lens, perhaps the ideas we are so familiar with would refract different light. Most parents believe that any game is not learning, and anything that is not learning is harmful to a child's growth.

Is that really the case?

A great difference between our children and us is that they may be the first generation of "natives" of the internet age, while we are merely "immigrants" of the internet age. The internet generation loves learning and creating, but they are only interested in things that are "cool."

Learning is human nature. Games have always been one of the most important ways of learning. The reason some complex video games and online games attract children is not because of the shooting and fighting scenes. People who play games can be roughly divided into four types. The first is the "killer" type, who enjoy the killing and violence. They were the earliest fans of video games, but the new generation of gamers is not all like this. The second type is the "explorer" type, who enjoy the novelty games bring, experiencing sensations they can't in reality. The third type is the "socializer," who enjoys interacting with other players. Guild leaders are mostly of this type. The fourth type, which may also be the most numerous, is the "achiever," who seek in games the feeling of growth and self-actualization.

Online games provide players with a vast stage. Large online games all have guilds, and big guilds can have several hundred people. What difference is there between organizing a guild and managing a business? You need to attract a group of like-minded people, who come from different backgrounds and have different personalities. How can you unite them? How do you get everyone to leverage their strengths and cultivate tacit teamwork?

No wonder a Harvard Business Review article once said: "The best indicator of whether a person can manage an internet company is not whether he has an MBA diploma, but whether he has created a level-70 guild." Kids, when you write your resumes in the future, be sure to remember to include your guild achievements from games!

Video games are an industry that encourages innovation. On the one hand, traditional skills can be revitalized here. It requires a large number of talents in computer science, mathematics, painting, sculpture, and all walks of life. On the other hand, it presents unprecedented challenges to innovation: how do you evolve infinite complexity from simple rules? A thousand players should have a thousand different ways of playing and outcomes.

Of course, this is not to say that simply letting children play games every day will help them grow and succeed smoothly. But what is worth reflecting on is: if children all like games and dislike studying, is it the children who have the problem, or is it our school education that has the problem? If Google's search engine understands children's hobbies and dreams better than teachers do, is that the fault of the internet, or the shame of the teachers?

There was a missionary who wanted to spread the gospel among young people. So he registered a World of Warcraft account. In World of Warcraft, there are two factions: the Alliance and the Horde. The missionary found that players who chose the Horde were often angrier and gloomier, and in his eyes, they were the lost sheep most in need of salvation. So, he chose an Undead Priest. While other players went out every day to fight monsters, level up, and do PVP, he would quietly stay in the Undead capital city. Seeing players passing by in a hurry, he would strike up conversations with them. As a result, he developed over a thousand followers in the game.

Where are our educators at this time?