Video games are good for you. Studies have shown that gaming can improve hand-eye coordination, enhance memory and boost visual attention—the ability to interpret what we see around us. The satisfaction of completing a level or mastering a new skill has been shown to contribute to a sense of well-being, and virtual gaming communities have been a vital form of social interaction during the pandemic. Why, then, do video games continue to be blamed for everything from rising rates of obesity and poor academic performance to an increasingly violent society?

Writing in Psychology Today, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic argues that it has a lot to do with old-fashioned technophobia. Video games fall neatly into a Venn diagram of anxieties often exploited by the media: a mistrust of youth culture...