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Basic human needs? Food? Water? Shelter? If video games satisfy me like even a run would, I wouldn't run. If I play a video game for more than 10 minutes, I fe

Basic human needs? Food? Water? Shelter? If video games satisfy me like even a run would, I wouldn't run. If I play a video game for more than 10 minutes, I feel like I'm wasting my life. Go outside, do something actually incredible. Meet people. Make mistakes. Stop living in someone else's imagined world. Learn fully how to be your own human self. Videogames couldn't be more apt for the analogy of shadows on the wall. There's real problems in the world that need to be solved? Checking out and staring at pretty patterns of light is a total cop out.

Gracana 10y ago
Running is bad for your knees. You should learn to do better and more substantive things with your life. Eat a vegetable. Watch a pigeon. Cure world hunger.
- edem 10y ago
  Or do HIIT training instead of running around for hours...
- nradov 10y ago
  False. Running is not bad for your knees. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.22939/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.22939/abstrac...
crgt 10y ago
Real problems...like HTML email themes? That's a lot of snark directed at other folks' hobbies from someone that seems to get paid for making spam pretty. Glass houses and all that.
- edem 10y ago
  This. I really like your way of thinking.
edem 10y ago
You obviously haven't played a single game. I feel sorry for everyone who haven't played games like Mass Effect or Half-Life or Dwarf Fortress even. Playing the right games is way better than watching a movie or a series. Not to mention the benefits of mental exercises some games present to you (Talos Principle for example). You are also making the mistake of comparing apples to oranges. Running is good (although not so effective) for your health while gaming is good for a wide variety of things: creative thinking (Minecraft), problem solving skills (Talos Principle), interactive movies (Quantic Dream games), etc. Your dismissive blanket statement not only annoys gamers but also makes you look dumb because only someone with zero gaming experience can say something like this.
BigChiefSmokem 10y ago
Video games are a gateway to deep abstraction and a strong imagination, as well as preparing the brain for math and logical problem solving. Einstein loved to use games and puzzles to demonstrate mathematical theorems.
Delmania 10y ago
> Basic human needs? Food? Water? Shelter? Meaning, accomplishments, social interactions. > If video games satisfy me like even a run would, I wouldn't run. If I play a video game for more than 10 minutes, I feel like I'm wasting my life. If I run for more than 10 minutes, I feel like I am wasting my life because cardio won't help me build muscle and it's incredibly boring. > Go outside, do something actually incredible. Meet people. Make mistakes. You can do that and play video games. In fact, in various online games, you can do both and still have insightful experiences. > Stop living in someone else's imagined world. Learn fully how to be your own human self. While your second sentence is trite garbage, you can learn a lot about yourself by playing video games. Additionally, living in someone else's imagined world can spark your own creativity. Look around for the art and music people have created based off video games, it's incredible. We have orchestras playing the soundtrack to games. We have people who have built businesses from playing video games. > Videogames couldn't be more apt for the analogy of shadows on the wall. There's real problems in the world that need to be solved? Checking out and staring at pretty patterns of light is a total cop out. What problems are you solving? World hunger? Human and sex trafficking? Domestic abuse? Drug abuse?
sethrin 10y ago
Video games let us be our ideal selves. We call them 'ideals' because they don't exist in this world, only a notional one. Ideals are by definition unattainable, and they can in point of fact be pretty far from reality. Sometimes reality sucks, and again in point of fact, it pretty much sucks most of the time for most people. There's not a lot that can be done to fix all the things that are ugly about reality, but video games and movies can take us to a better place. It's great that you are healthy and have the ability to run. If we can infer a bit, it seems you are successful enough in your own life that you can consider helping other people. From that perspective, video games are certainly a waste of time and effort. Certainly in an ideal world we would all feel similarly. I am poor and do not enjoy perfect health. I'm doing what I can about those things, but there isn't some magic 'fix my body and career' option I'm afraid; things take time. Until then, escapism helps me stay sane. I could probably pay some therapist $120/hr to equivalent purpose, but video games are cheaper and more fun. I am happy that you do not need video games. I would encourage you to think more fully on circumstances where they might represent a necessity (at the least in the restricted sense of "something is necessary, this is something").

Gracana 10y ago

Running is bad for your knees. You should learn to do better and more substantive things with your life. Eat a vegetable. Watch a pigeon. Cure world hunger.

edem 10y ago
Or do HIIT training instead of running around for hours...
nradov 10y ago
False. Running is not bad for your knees. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.22939/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.22939/abstrac...

crgt 10y ago

Real problems...like HTML email themes? That's a lot of snark directed at other folks' hobbies from someone that seems to get paid for making spam pretty. Glass houses and all that.

edem 10y ago
This. I really like your way of thinking.

edem 10y ago

You obviously haven't played a single game. I feel sorry for everyone who haven't played games like Mass Effect or Half-Life or Dwarf Fortress even. Playing the right games is way better than watching a movie or a series. Not to mention the benefits of mental exercises some games present to you (Talos Principle for example). You are also making the mistake of comparing apples to oranges. Running is good (although not so effective) for your health while gaming is good for a wide variety of things: creative thinking (Minecraft), problem solving skills (Talos Principle), interactive movies (Quantic Dream games), etc. Your dismissive blanket statement not only annoys gamers but also makes you look dumb because only someone with zero gaming experience can say something like this.

BigChiefSmokem 10y ago

Video games are a gateway to deep abstraction and a strong imagination, as well as preparing the brain for math and logical problem solving. Einstein loved to use games and puzzles to demonstrate mathematical theorems.

Delmania 10y ago

> Basic human needs? Food? Water? Shelter? Meaning, accomplishments, social interactions. > If video games satisfy me like even a run would, I wouldn't run. If I play a video game for more than 10 minutes, I feel like I'm wasting my life. If I run for more than 10 minutes, I feel like I am wasting my life because cardio won't help me build muscle and it's incredibly boring. > Go outside, do something actually incredible. Meet people. Make mistakes. You can do that and play video games. In fact, in various online games, you can do both and still have insightful experiences. > Stop living in someone else's imagined world. Learn fully how to be your own human self. While your second sentence is trite garbage, you can learn a lot about yourself by playing video games. Additionally, living in someone else's imagined world can spark your own creativity. Look around for the art and music people have created based off video games, it's incredible. We have orchestras playing the soundtrack to games. We have people who have built businesses from playing video games. > Videogames couldn't be more apt for the analogy of shadows on the wall. There's real problems in the world that need to be solved? Checking out and staring at pretty patterns of light is a total cop out. What problems are you solving? World hunger? Human and sex trafficking? Domestic abuse? Drug abuse?

sethrin 10y ago

Video games let us be our ideal selves. We call them 'ideals' because they don't exist in this world, only a notional one. Ideals are by definition unattainable, and they can in point of fact be pretty far from reality. Sometimes reality sucks, and again in point of fact, it pretty much sucks most of the time for most people. There's not a lot that can be done to fix all the things that are ugly about reality, but video games and movies can take us to a better place. It's great that you are healthy and have the ability to run. If we can infer a bit, it seems you are successful enough in your own life that you can consider helping other people. From that perspective, video games are certainly a waste of time and effort. Certainly in an ideal world we would all feel similarly. I am poor and do not enjoy perfect health. I'm doing what I can about those things, but there isn't some magic 'fix my body and career' option I'm afraid; things take time. Until then, escapism helps me stay sane. I could probably pay some therapist $120/hr to equivalent purpose, but video games are cheaper and more fun. I am happy that you do not need video games. I would encourage you to think more fully on circumstances where they might represent a necessity (at the least in the restricted sense of "something is necessary, this is something").