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I am not convinced that internet and video games are fundamentally different from things you could do before the internet existed. Hanging out with other unemp

• jere 14y ago
  I'm not sure they're fundamentally different, but I do think things are getting more addictive over time. Video games specifically seem especially good at manipulating the reward system. http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
• pessimizer 14y ago
  > I am not convinced that internet and video games are fundamentally different from things you could do before the internet existed. They're not, they're just a lot easier. The effort that it takes to get high and go to the beach with friends is massive compared to the effort it takes load a video game and join a server. When I was an aimless teenager type in the late 80s/early-mid 90s, people would eventually stop hanging out due to fatigue, and the idea that getting a job and going to work every day might be easier than running the streets hustling up something to break the boredom of existence. The notable exceptions to this were binge drinkers and drug addicts, who, if they had a steady way to score, would end up stuck in that life for the next 20 years. >Slackers have been around for ever. Are there fundamentally more today? Who knows? Sounds like a research question rather than just an opportunity for handwaving.