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Yeah, there's definitely a lot of truth in that. Still, the bit about the guy who went to law school and decided not to practice, opting instead to play video g

Yeah, there's definitely a lot of truth in that. Still, the bit about the guy who went to law school and decided not to practice, opting instead to play video games, and for whom finances were no biggie because parents... Jiminy Christmas, WTF is up with that.

x0x0 10y ago
Right, but the author spent three paragraphs on Chris from Ipswitch who's a contractor in the health-sector who rarely gets work and can't get an employer to help train him. It's not exactly like Chris is running away from some lucrative alternative to spend his time playing videogames. I'm sympathetic to the idea that many of these games are skinner boxes that our brains have relatively few defenses against, but Chris is a stupid example. I'd also guess that many people who trash video games would happily say watching baseball, perhaps playing baseball, opera, or chess are somehow superior. It's not like those have much intrinsic value in them besides the enjoyment they may generate for the participant.
- mos_basik 10y ago
  as far as stupid examples go, I was surprised at how low the quoted hours played were (the couple of times they were mentioned). the largest was 600 hours of KSP. I have more than 1000 hours each in Dota 2 and Eve Online. I'm not sure if I'm significantly more addicted than the interviewees or I play fewer games longer than them. I know I don't game hop much, but still. Worrying. At least I have a dev job I'm happy with that scratches my problem-solving itch and that I partially got because of experience I gained writing tools for Eve. Haven't been playing anything as much these days because when I get home from work, I'm usually ready to take off my thinking cap for a while and most of my games very much require me to keep it on.
polm23 10y ago
America has a surplus of lawyers, which makes running a successful practice or getting a job as a new graduate harder than it's ever been. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/A-glut-of-lawyers-dims-job-prospects-for-many-7099998.php http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/A-glut-of-l...

x0x0 10y ago

Right, but the author spent three paragraphs on Chris from Ipswitch who's a contractor in the health-sector who rarely gets work and can't get an employer to help train him. It's not exactly like Chris is running away from some lucrative alternative to spend his time playing videogames. I'm sympathetic to the idea that many of these games are skinner boxes that our brains have relatively few defenses against, but Chris is a stupid example. I'd also guess that many people who trash video games would happily say watching baseball, perhaps playing baseball, opera, or chess are somehow superior. It's not like those have much intrinsic value in them besides the enjoyment they may generate for the participant.

mos_basik 10y ago
as far as stupid examples go, I was surprised at how low the quoted hours played were (the couple of times they were mentioned). the largest was 600 hours of KSP. I have more than 1000 hours each in Dota 2 and Eve Online. I'm not sure if I'm significantly more addicted than the interviewees or I play fewer games longer than them. I know I don't game hop much, but still. Worrying. At least I have a dev job I'm happy with that scratches my problem-solving itch and that I partially got because of experience I gained writing tools for Eve. Haven't been playing anything as much these days because when I get home from work, I'm usually ready to take off my thinking cap for a while and most of my games very much require me to keep it on.

polm23 10y ago

America has a surplus of lawyers, which makes running a successful practice or getting a job as a new graduate harder than it's ever been. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/A-glut-of-lawyers-dims-job-prospects-for-many-7099998.php http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/A-glut-of-l...