Elon Musk says to get smart you can play video games, or stay dumb
Elon Musk thinks there are only two choices when it comes to video games: either you play them and get smarter, or skip them and “be dumb”. Yes, while you might get a scolding from your parents for wasting time on video games, the world’s richest person thinks video games can, in fact, make humans smarter. And it’s not just Musk’s claim. His suggestion came in reaction to a study that found frequent video gamers performed better on cognitive tests than non-gamers.
Reacting to a study titled “Characterizing the cognitive and mental health benefits of exercise and video game playing”, which revealed that frequent gamers performed on cognitive tests similarly to non-gamers who were around 13.7 years younger, Musk wrote, “Play video games or be dumb! Those are your only 2 choices (Face with Tears of Joy emoji).”
While Musk’s post on X brought game lovers on the platform together, with people sharing more studies and memes around their love for video games, the particular study Musk highlighted is a little more nuanced. The research, published in PLOS ONE, looked at the relationship between video gaming, physical activity, cognitive performance and mental health.
During the study, the researchers wanted to understand whether two common lifestyle habits: physical activity and playing video games, were associated with different aspects of brain health.
For this online study– it was published in 2025, more than 2,600 people initially signed up. After removing duplicate, incomplete and unusual responses, the researchers were left with 923 participants for the final analysis. Their average age was about 55 years.
After the selection, participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their physical activity and gaming habits and take a series of cognitive tests covering areas including memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, verbal abilities and visuospatial skills.
The results were interesting. People who spent more time playing video games generally performed better in the cognitive tests, especially in areas such as memory and reasoning.
Meanwhile, the study found that frequent gamers, those who played a particular type of game for at least five hours a week, performed better in cognitive tests than their age might suggest. On average, their performance was similar to that of people who were 13.7 years younger. For infrequent gamers, the difference was around 5.2 years younger.
But that does not mean video games literally make someone’s brain 13.7 years younger. Researchers note that the figure is simply a way of describing the difference in cognitive-test performance in relation to age. More importantly, the study was cross-sectional, meaning the researchers looked at people’s gaming habits and cognitive performance at one point in time rather than following them over several years.
So, the research shows an association, not proof that gaming makes people smarter.
As for exercise, it appeared to have almost the opposite relationship. People who met the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a week did not show significantly better cognitive performance, but they were more likely to report better mental health, including fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.
In other words, the researchers are not saying you should ditch exercise and pick up a controller. Their conclusion is that different activities may be linked to different aspects of brain health, gaming with cognitive performance and physical activity with mental wellbeing.- EndsPublished By: Divya BhatiPublished On: Sep 15, 2026 11:38 ISTAlso Read | OpenAI is reading ChatGPT chats, humans look at what people say to AIAlso Read | Not just OpenAI and Anthropic, even Zoho wooing developers with AI toolsAlso Read | Government issues alert for Android users, asks them to update phones ASAP
