5 ms·

I don't think that what applies to 5σ mind can be generalised to the general population. While we surely should derive joy and playful pleasure from all things

I don't think that what applies to 5σ mind can be generalised to the general population. While we surely should derive joy and playful pleasure from all things in life, that should be the result and not the goal in my opinion. Otherwise we end up with adults spending ridiculous hours playing video games, chasing that beautiful feeling they gave them when they were kids, all the while avoiding real life.

Ancapistani 3y ago
> adults spending ridiculous hours playing video games What do you consider to be "ridiculous hours"? There are definitely times when I end up playing online games for >20h/week. That's well above the median I'm sure... but how many hours per week did my parent's generation spend on average watching TV? My dad is retired now, and spends probably ~40h / week in his shop just... tinkering. How is my playing War Thunder any less "real life" than him rebuilding his 124th Coleman lantern? People need a way to recover from the stresses of everyday life. I don't understand why gaming in particular is so often discounted, while various other non-productive pursuits are readily accepted.
- neilv 3y ago
  > How is my playing War Thunder any less "real life" than him rebuilding his 124th Coleman lantern? The video game doesn't expose you to as much thorium?
_aavaa_ 3y ago
> chasing that beautiful feeling they gave them when they were kids, all the while avoiding real life. What you're describing is a coping mechanisms to a life they don't wish to face. It does not make them any more of an adult if they instead chose gambling, drinking, illegal drugs, shopping, or any another method of escape.
DayDollar 3y ago
while also remaining capable of creativity, not locked into corsetts of thought, contributing to the economy insteadof cruising and taking.
mordae 3y ago
Real life under capitalism is overrated. It is somewhat hard to find an engaging game after 35, since you have already played everything there was and know all the tropes. Maybe if we did not have a school system that completely kills any innate curiosity in people, they might do something real instead of virtual. Well, one can dream.
- nottorp 3y ago
  > It is somewhat hard to find an engaging game after 35, since you have already played everything there was and know all the tropes. Same for TV but i don't think people stop watching those indistinguishable series. So you can still play different games with similar mechanics because of the different setting.
- 1827163 3y ago
  I think once you escape the system you don't find games or other distractions enjoyable anymore. When you're fully actualized and are capable of "going your own path", satisfaction then comes from making things and trying to improve the world. That is if you don't want to have children, as is the case with me. I think we've been conditioned from childhood to get a job, work for the corporate world and chase material goods. All of those further the interests of those in power. Update: Wild foraging, living with nature, moving to another country, or doing what hunter gatherers did. Running your own business. Camping out in the wild, while still making money from something. There are so many other options, you need to be creative about it... Anyway @NoMoreNicks I've flagged your post and I'm closing this HN account down (by deleting the password)....
  - NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
    > I think we've been conditioned from childhood to get a job, This is a hilariously millennial take on how life works. For the past million years or longer, humans learned (and quickly) that if you didn't want to starve you'd need to work to avoid that. The means to avoid starvation have changed. We're no longer hunter gatherers, and few of us are subsistence farmers--and I can have some sympathy for those who would prefer those occupations--but the truth of the matter is that nothing more than the details have changed in all that time. People weren't "conditioning" you to get a job. They were gently introducing you to reality. It seems a little too gently, by the looks of it. > All of those further the interests of those in power. Huh? It furthers the interests of those who don't want to starve. But you've never even been hungry, not really, and so it's all still highly theoretical for you.
Hendrikto 3y ago
> chasing that beautiful feeling […], all the while avoiding real life. The pursuit of happiness IS real life…
- switchbak 3y ago
  Pretty much everything is life. The hedonistic pursuit of dopamine, in isolation from others in the way he was describing doesn’t sound like the best way to spend that precious resource though. But to each their own, I just get a gross feeling after I’ve spent too long engaged like that. But movies are arguably even more passive and empty, and I like those!

Ancapistani 3y ago

> adults spending ridiculous hours playing video games What do you consider to be "ridiculous hours"? There are definitely times when I end up playing online games for >20h/week. That's well above the median I'm sure... but how many hours per week did my parent's generation spend on average watching TV? My dad is retired now, and spends probably ~40h / week in his shop just... tinkering. How is my playing War Thunder any less "real life" than him rebuilding his 124th Coleman lantern? People need a way to recover from the stresses of everyday life. I don't understand why gaming in particular is so often discounted, while various other non-productive pursuits are readily accepted.

neilv 3y ago
> How is my playing War Thunder any less "real life" than him rebuilding his 124th Coleman lantern? The video game doesn't expose you to as much thorium?

_aavaa_ 3y ago

> chasing that beautiful feeling they gave them when they were kids, all the while avoiding real life. What you're describing is a coping mechanisms to a life they don't wish to face. It does not make them any more of an adult if they instead chose gambling, drinking, illegal drugs, shopping, or any another method of escape.

DayDollar 3y ago

while also remaining capable of creativity, not locked into corsetts of thought, contributing to the economy insteadof cruising and taking.

mordae 3y ago

Real life under capitalism is overrated. It is somewhat hard to find an engaging game after 35, since you have already played everything there was and know all the tropes. Maybe if we did not have a school system that completely kills any innate curiosity in people, they might do something real instead of virtual. Well, one can dream.

nottorp 3y ago
> It is somewhat hard to find an engaging game after 35, since you have already played everything there was and know all the tropes. Same for TV but i don't think people stop watching those indistinguishable series. So you can still play different games with similar mechanics because of the different setting.
1827163 3y ago
I think once you escape the system you don't find games or other distractions enjoyable anymore. When you're fully actualized and are capable of "going your own path", satisfaction then comes from making things and trying to improve the world. That is if you don't want to have children, as is the case with me. I think we've been conditioned from childhood to get a job, work for the corporate world and chase material goods. All of those further the interests of those in power. Update: Wild foraging, living with nature, moving to another country, or doing what hunter gatherers did. Running your own business. Camping out in the wild, while still making money from something. There are so many other options, you need to be creative about it... Anyway @NoMoreNicks I've flagged your post and I'm closing this HN account down (by deleting the password)....
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  > I think we've been conditioned from childhood to get a job, This is a hilariously millennial take on how life works. For the past million years or longer, humans learned (and quickly) that if you didn't want to starve you'd need to work to avoid that. The means to avoid starvation have changed. We're no longer hunter gatherers, and few of us are subsistence farmers--and I can have some sympathy for those who would prefer those occupations--but the truth of the matter is that nothing more than the details have changed in all that time. People weren't "conditioning" you to get a job. They were gently introducing you to reality. It seems a little too gently, by the looks of it. > All of those further the interests of those in power. Huh? It furthers the interests of those who don't want to starve. But you've never even been hungry, not really, and so it's all still highly theoretical for you.

Hendrikto 3y ago

> chasing that beautiful feeling […], all the while avoiding real life. The pursuit of happiness IS real life…

switchbak 3y ago
Pretty much everything is life. The hedonistic pursuit of dopamine, in isolation from others in the way he was describing doesn’t sound like the best way to spend that precious resource though. But to each their own, I just get a gross feeling after I’ve spent too long engaged like that. But movies are arguably even more passive and empty, and I like those!