The single biggest misconception about games is that they're an escapist waste of time. But more than a decade's worth of scientific research shows that gaming is actually one of the most productive ways we can spend time.

No, playing games doesn't help the GDP - our traditional measure of productivity. But games help us produce something more important than economic bottom line: powerful emotions and social relationships that can change our lives--and potentially help us change the world.

Currently there are more than half a billion people worldwide playing online games at least an hour a day -- and 183 million in the US alone. The younger you are, the more likely you are to be a gamer -- 97% of boys under 18 and 94% of girls under 18 report playing videogames regularly. And the average young person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21. That's almost exactly as much time as they spend in a classroom during all of middle school and high school if they have perfect attendance. Most astonishingly, 5 million gamers in the U.S are spending more than 40 hours a week playing games -- the same as a full time job!

awesome, my 1000hours of tf2 are validated.