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So you think you would have not been successful as a software developer if your video game time was limited to 2hrs/day? Nor that you might have been able to u

So you think you would have not been successful as a software developer if your video game time was limited to 2hrs/day? Nor that you might have been able to use that time to develop physical fitness or other life skills?

manfredo 8y ago
Well, 2 hours a day is probably close to what I averaged when I was a kid. So it probably wouldn't have changed anything - but only because a 2 hour a week limit wouldn't actually change my time spent on gaming by a significant degree. 2 hours a day is still a lot, it's 14 hours a week. About twice what most kids spend on homework. If video game time were limited more substantially, I doubt I would have suffered directly. However I may have not found my passion for technology. If nothing else, this would have significantly reduced my economic opportunities. Not many other industries were someone under 25 can expect to make over $200k (including equity, mind you). True, money doesn't buy happiness of self-worth. Financial instability is a common cause of unhappiness and economic power better equips people to find happiness. So in that sense video games unlocked a passion that has allowed my employment to be both fun and lucrative. As far as physical fitness, it doesn't take much to stay in shape at least for me. I'm not overweight (~170lb, 6'2"), I can run decently well (~5 miles in an hour). Sure, if I spent my time playing video games at the gym I could be much more muscular. But I'm not really sure how that level of fitness would significantly improve my life. My strength is sufficient for essentially all the activities I encounter. I suppose it'd make me more physically attractive, but I'm content with the degree to which women are attracted to me already. I also can't really think of any life skills that I really lack. My dad was pretty handy and passed off a lot of those skills to me. Time spent on gaming didn't inhibit this. Heck if anything it augmented it: e.g. I wanted to lay down Ethernet cable to the game room to play Xbox live so my Dad had me run the cables through the crawlspace and taught me the basics of what modems, routers, and switches are and what they do. That plus other life skills like basic carpentry, changing cars and motorcycles' oil, brake pads, spark plugs. Socially, games also helped me considerably. Making friends with other gamers helped me build a circle of friends that mostly shared the same passion for technology. We helped each other explore that interest, most of them also gravitated towards STEM fields. Academically, games didn't help but it certainly didn't hurt either. I always put academics first, and took something like 10 AP classes and got a near 4.0 GPA. I suppose life could be better if I dedicated all my video game time towards learning programming and software development. But that's essentially relying on the power of retrospect. I didn't find my passion for computer technology until I dove so deep into gaming that I entered modding and amateur game dev circles. Ultimately no one can really know what my life would have been like if I placed my time spent on gaming towards something else. But I do know that it played a pivotal role in helping me find a subject that is both interesting to me and pays very well. That's something that I'm incredibly fortunate to have, and it's not certain I would have found the same success if it weren't for the role video games played in my life.

manfredo 8y ago

Well, 2 hours a day is probably close to what I averaged when I was a kid. So it probably wouldn't have changed anything - but only because a 2 hour a week limit wouldn't actually change my time spent on gaming by a significant degree. 2 hours a day is still a lot, it's 14 hours a week. About twice what most kids spend on homework. If video game time were limited more substantially, I doubt I would have suffered directly. However I may have not found my passion for technology. If nothing else, this would have significantly reduced my economic opportunities. Not many other industries were someone under 25 can expect to make over $200k (including equity, mind you). True, money doesn't buy happiness of self-worth. Financial instability is a common cause of unhappiness and economic power better equips people to find happiness. So in that sense video games unlocked a passion that has allowed my employment to be both fun and lucrative. As far as physical fitness, it doesn't take much to stay in shape at least for me. I'm not overweight (~170lb, 6'2"), I can run decently well (~5 miles in an hour). Sure, if I spent my time playing video games at the gym I could be much more muscular. But I'm not really sure how that level of fitness would significantly improve my life. My strength is sufficient for essentially all the activities I encounter. I suppose it'd make me more physically attractive, but I'm content with the degree to which women are attracted to me already. I also can't really think of any life skills that I really lack. My dad was pretty handy and passed off a lot of those skills to me. Time spent on gaming didn't inhibit this. Heck if anything it augmented it: e.g. I wanted to lay down Ethernet cable to the game room to play Xbox live so my Dad had me run the cables through the crawlspace and taught me the basics of what modems, routers, and switches are and what they do. That plus other life skills like basic carpentry, changing cars and motorcycles' oil, brake pads, spark plugs. Socially, games also helped me considerably. Making friends with other gamers helped me build a circle of friends that mostly shared the same passion for technology. We helped each other explore that interest, most of them also gravitated towards STEM fields. Academically, games didn't help but it certainly didn't hurt either. I always put academics first, and took something like 10 AP classes and got a near 4.0 GPA. I suppose life could be better if I dedicated all my video game time towards learning programming and software development. But that's essentially relying on the power of retrospect. I didn't find my passion for computer technology until I dove so deep into gaming that I entered modding and amateur game dev circles. Ultimately no one can really know what my life would have been like if I placed my time spent on gaming towards something else. But I do know that it played a pivotal role in helping me find a subject that is both interesting to me and pays very well. That's something that I'm incredibly fortunate to have, and it's not certain I would have found the same success if it weren't for the role video games played in my life.