The Ultimate Video Game Addiction hub! Immortality, Escape and Responsibility
Why are video games addictive?
I will not bore you with mundane details! You have heard the numbers and heard about dopamine. Here's a different spin on video game addiction
Kids, games, immortality
Kids will always play games. Every generation has its own games, toys and fun activities.
In the past, as kids matured, they put their toys aside, leaving them on dusty shelves, in chests or giving them away. They then proceeded to have their own lives.
Games and playing serve some evolutionary purpose. All baby animals play, but eventually they mature and stop playing. Just like that, little kids outgrow their toys and put them aside.
Our parents still believe and hope that we will put video games aside. They do not know yet. They put down their toys and so did their parents. They do not know any other way.
How is our generation different? Why do primitive, but pretty video games hold our attention for so long? Our parents do not know. We do not know yet. Yet we feel the pull. The impulse to play, even after many years.
But there are warning signs. Bread crumbs at a keyboard and dirty dishes piling up next to a monitor. These are easy to miss. And then there's a shift in consciousness.
Nobody knows when video games become more than just fun and games. I sure missed this moment and so did my parents. When games become larger than life, there is a problem!
Do you know what's different about a video game? In a game, you are immortal. You can always restart and get another chance.
A player can lose or die, but the player will respawn.
Life, Death, Respawn. Mistakes are forgiven and there's another chance at greatness.
There's no respawn in real life, we all have 1 shot at living. Could it be that the survival instinct helps us choose something with less danger? Something small, comfortable and easier to comprehend?
Modern games go one step further. They allow you to save your progress. The process of playing becomes even more comfortable.
There's no losing in games like that. There's less discomfort than in real life. And so we keep playing.
We are immortal and unbeatable, and it is difficult to give this up.
Immortality used to be a domain of the chosen ones - artists, sculptors, architects, philosophers and kings. They live through their works. In games, we are the chosen ones.
Tiny virtual worlds offer players an opportunity to leave their impact on the tiny world or make a name for themselves. It is still possible and requires significant effort.
This is why I refused to buy items in game for a long time. Now I do, because virtual worlds are colliding with the real world. To be somebody in the virtual world you need to be somebody in the real world.
I tried to escape the real world and live in a virtual realm. I got addicted.
Now I find myself wishing to escape the virtual realm. I want to quit, but I cannot.
When a virtual world is slowly advancing, how does one deal with that?
When you cannot change a situation, you have to change your mind. If you cannot avoid something, take control of that.
Awareness is the first step. Too much of a good thing makes it poisonous.
Too much of food, drink, sleep or play is bad.
Too little of food, drink, sleep or play is worse.
I do not know the next step, but the goal is balance.
Without awareness you can get hopelessly addicted to video games...
