Watching other Gamers Play has become extremely popular in the younger generation. With the highly lucrative world of gaming, more and more is invested in it. New games, better graphics, new stories. Role-playing games have also become extremely popular with millions of players across the world. Younger generations are connecting and turning gameplay into a new hobby or even a business.
But why do so many young people, especially kids, like to watch others play? Instead of actually playing the game, they would rather just stare at the screen.
The logic behind this is that our mirror neurons are responsible for this. Basically, watching others play feels like we are doing the same thing. We react to emotions as our brain adapts to what we see.
There is a lot of evidence that babies use these mirror neurons to copy and learn facial expressions and sounds. General idea is that when we see a facial expression for the first time, mirror neurons fire and give us leads on how to copy the very same thing.
Some evidence says that mirror neurons are involved in an inability to feel empathy. This helps us to relate what we observe in others to our own experiences. The same thing also explains why we love to watch others play games. In these situations, passive psychological involvement is making us feel the highs and lows just as if we were playing.
However, that’s not the only reason. Many said that they like to watch others play in order to learn and perform better. They will gain more experience and learn different strategies. Gamers like to watch other gamers in order to obtain new knowledge.
So now you know that it’s not just a waste of time. It all actually makes sense and it’s just in our nature. When someone asks you why now you can have a scientific explanation.