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The gaming industry would like to have a word... In a sense, companies are right now incentived to develop the most effective 'digital crack', because anything

by mckirk 5y ago

The gaming industry would like to have a word... In a sense, companies are right now incentived to develop the most effective 'digital crack', because anything that hijacks the reward pathway of the brain more effectively leads to more profit. It'll be quite interesting to see how the public discourse around this will progress, since digital entertainment isn't as easy to publicly mark as 'bad' as drugs were. On the other hand, China is sending quite clear signals that it's theoretically possible to legislate against e.g. video games -- though only after you've already established an intrusive 'social credit' system, which I hope we won't see in the west any time soon.

asdff 5y ago
Digital crack is a perfect way to describe this. I'm sure someone clever enough can write some great legislation for this. The issue is that so many industries are beholden to relying on digital crack. You might get one senator who wants this, then 99 others who are getting flooded with calls from every major employer in their district telling them to vote no. I wish we had stronger government that wasn't so susceptible to having anything good for the public exploited to make a few people very wealthy. Then again we've never had this sort of public first government in the history of our nation, its sort of always been like this out of design whenever I learn more about our history.
MetaWhirledPeas 5y ago
> The gaming industry would like to have a word And I would like to have a word with them. They've been given free reign to turn our kids into absolute digital junkies (this is coming from a self-diagnosed sometimes-addict who realizes these kids are on another level), deliberately dangling carrots that reward 24/7 engagement in the activity. > digital entertainment isn't as easy to publicly mark as 'bad' as drugs were Definitely true. We need a way to differentiate between Super Mario Brothers and Mega Crack Force Gacha Legends Online.
- mckirk 5y ago
  I agree completely. I've had the chance to slowly grow up with video games and witness their evolution, and still it's really hard to withdraw myself from the allure of 'just one more round of Apex Legends' and the like. And why should I try so hard, they are great games, after all! It's decades of development in 'addictiveness tuning' unleashed upon the brain as a stationary target... I really feel sorry for the kids that never knew anything else.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  Completely true, I think the mobile sector is the worst offender. That said, people can perfectly spend insane amounts of time on titles that doesn't employ these mechanisms. But the industry got far worse in more recent years.

by mckirk 5y ago

asdff 5y ago

Digital crack is a perfect way to describe this. I'm sure someone clever enough can write some great legislation for this. The issue is that so many industries are beholden to relying on digital crack. You might get one senator who wants this, then 99 others who are getting flooded with calls from every major employer in their district telling them to vote no. I wish we had stronger government that wasn't so susceptible to having anything good for the public exploited to make a few people very wealthy. Then again we've never had this sort of public first government in the history of our nation, its sort of always been like this out of design whenever I learn more about our history.

MetaWhirledPeas 5y ago

> The gaming industry would like to have a word And I would like to have a word with them. They've been given free reign to turn our kids into absolute digital junkies (this is coming from a self-diagnosed sometimes-addict who realizes these kids are on another level), deliberately dangling carrots that reward 24/7 engagement in the activity. > digital entertainment isn't as easy to publicly mark as 'bad' as drugs were Definitely true. We need a way to differentiate between Super Mario Brothers and Mega Crack Force Gacha Legends Online.

mckirk 5y ago
I agree completely. I've had the chance to slowly grow up with video games and witness their evolution, and still it's really hard to withdraw myself from the allure of 'just one more round of Apex Legends' and the like. And why should I try so hard, they are great games, after all! It's decades of development in 'addictiveness tuning' unleashed upon the brain as a stationary target... I really feel sorry for the kids that never knew anything else.
raxxorrax 5y ago
Completely true, I think the mobile sector is the worst offender. That said, people can perfectly spend insane amounts of time on titles that doesn't employ these mechanisms. But the industry got far worse in more recent years.