viewpoint
These Young Docs Got Game

I recently had the wonderful experience of observing several brilliant young eye surgeons, each possessing remarkable dexterity and touch. One works with me now; others I saw during my travels. I don't think any of them is older than 30. I marveled at the fluidity of their instrument control and wondered whether, before my arthritis kicked in, I ever had their natural skills.

Middle-age surgeons like me deal with only a few simple controls: a handpiece in one hand, a manipulator in the other, and a set of pedals under each foot. I don't have more than a half-dozen things to control at any one time.

"Pas formidable!" sneers the young video game connoisseur. His controller has two four-way directional knobs, four arrow directional buttons that can be pressed singly or together to create eight options, four buttons identified by shapes that function one way when pressed and another when released, each with eight options depending on the arrow combination simultaneously pressed -- and a whole lot more. At least 75 options are selected with split-second timing using, at most, two thumbs and a couple of fingers.

Did you ever wonder how to make a digital snowboarder perform a back flip with a grab? Push the directional buttons to aim the board, press the X button to get him ready and release it just as he crests the hill. Press the button with the square while simultaneously pressing the straight and left arrows, then release the button with the square and press the button with the circle. Don't feel rushed. You have about a half-second to do all that, and perhaps another half to decide where to set up for your next trick and what it will be.

In a two-minute run, our talented game master makes hundreds of split-second decisions and nearly a thousand blurred finger movements before his virtual competitor reaches the bottom.

Watch Them Go

I've tried to play these games. I cannot. I am too old and sluggish.

What job shall our young game player take up that permits him to capitalize on all this experience? Perhaps he might slow down and become an eye surgeon. I worked hard to develop my surgical skills, but the doctors who are going to replace me have developed more eye-hand coordination than I ever dreamed possible. Once they get a few thousand cases under their belts, my staff might gently whisper for me to get out of their way.