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I am often distressed by the time, energy, and resources people consume in an attempt to escape reality (i.e. video games, films, alcohol, and drugs). Reading

by nickff 13y ago

I am often distressed by the time, energy, and resources people consume in an attempt to escape reality (i.e. video games, films, alcohol, and drugs). Reading about endeavors like this renews my optimism for the future.

Swannie 13y ago
''escape reality (i.e. video games, films, alcohol, and drugs'' ...TV, YouTube, Hacker News, works of fiction...
eksith 13y ago
You shouldn't poo-poo escapism wholesale. Granted, the vast majority of them are used for complete non-productive rubbish, but recreation and inspiration can go hand-in-hand. After all, film and video games (and, of course, the TV series that came before) were the inspiration for this as well, no?
- andrewflnr 13y ago
  They're not poo-pooing it wholesale. Recreation has its place, but some people clearly go too far and spend too much time on it. That's what GP is worried about.
vosper 13y ago
People need a break, and video games, films, alcohol and drugs can provide those (just like hiking, gardening, and photography). There's nothing like a bit of downtime to let your mind turn things over in the background. And with regard to film, alcohol, and drugs specifically - these can all be tools to gain a different perspective on reality, they're not necessarily mindless escapism.
- nickff 13y ago
  I partially agree with you, especially in the case of documentary films; and would further add that books (of literature, fiction, and non-fiction), plays, and operas are very powerful tools for understanding the world. From what I can see, these tools are generally not being used to help people "gain a different perspective on reality", as large portions of the populace do not read a book, or try to understand what any character in fiction is experiencing. As to the drugs and alcohol, I need not point out that stumbling masses of people in the streets after midnight is more indicative of their use as a soma rather than an instrument of introspection.
  - solistice 13y ago
    Drugs can be used as a tool for introspection (psychoactive drugs for example. They can also be used as a means to counter the stress coming from other areas in life, if they are used with care (alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, maybe even cocaine, which is pushing it). And then there's the variety that acts like shocking your pleasure centrum (meth, crack, and various other hard hard drugs). Aside from the third case, I'd argue against drugs being a waste of time. Unless you abuse them, they can actually increase your quality of life.
DanielStraight 13y ago
For another take of video games, I recommend this TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_gi...
ohyes 13y ago
I take issue with video games and film being a waste. The entire idea of a warp-drive comes from science fiction and people daydreaming/trying to escape their current reality. The Hyperloop is directly out of Heinlein. Subterranean cannons on the moon as a public transport device... Without escapism we lose the essence of human creativity, imagining a future that is different from the present. Do you think we would have bothered to build rockets and go to space/the moon if science fiction hadn't whetted the public's curiosity? If anything, the problem is that current escapism kind of sucks and we need to do it better. edit:lose/loose
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
Jach 13y ago
Well, a lot of people still consider the whole notion of trying to warp space to get around the lightspeed issue as nothing more than an attempt at escaping reality. ;) Also some people really like doing math as much as other people like watching Game of Thrones.
superuser2 13y ago
One of my favorite points from Ira Glass's lecture: Ideas come from other ideas. There is no such thing as creativity in a vacuum. Your output of ideas is related to the quantity and quality of information you take in. HN is a good bit better for that than reality TV, but not all resource consumption is bad. This endeavor in particular smells of a fairly cheesy "waste of time" low-budget, low-brow television show.

by nickff 13y ago

Swannie 13y ago

''escape reality (i.e. video games, films, alcohol, and drugs'' ...TV, YouTube, Hacker News, works of fiction...

eksith 13y ago

You shouldn't poo-poo escapism wholesale. Granted, the vast majority of them are used for complete non-productive rubbish, but recreation and inspiration can go hand-in-hand. After all, film and video games (and, of course, the TV series that came before) were the inspiration for this as well, no?

andrewflnr 13y ago
They're not poo-pooing it wholesale. Recreation has its place, but some people clearly go too far and spend too much time on it. That's what GP is worried about.

vosper 13y ago

People need a break, and video games, films, alcohol and drugs can provide those (just like hiking, gardening, and photography). There's nothing like a bit of downtime to let your mind turn things over in the background. And with regard to film, alcohol, and drugs specifically - these can all be tools to gain a different perspective on reality, they're not necessarily mindless escapism.

nickff 13y ago
I partially agree with you, especially in the case of documentary films; and would further add that books (of literature, fiction, and non-fiction), plays, and operas are very powerful tools for understanding the world. From what I can see, these tools are generally not being used to help people "gain a different perspective on reality", as large portions of the populace do not read a book, or try to understand what any character in fiction is experiencing. As to the drugs and alcohol, I need not point out that stumbling masses of people in the streets after midnight is more indicative of their use as a soma rather than an instrument of introspection.
- solistice 13y ago
  Drugs can be used as a tool for introspection (psychoactive drugs for example. They can also be used as a means to counter the stress coming from other areas in life, if they are used with care (alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, maybe even cocaine, which is pushing it). And then there's the variety that acts like shocking your pleasure centrum (meth, crack, and various other hard hard drugs). Aside from the third case, I'd argue against drugs being a waste of time. Unless you abuse them, they can actually increase your quality of life.

DanielStraight 13y ago

For another take of video games, I recommend this TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life.html http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_gi...

ohyes 13y ago

I take issue with video games and film being a waste. The entire idea of a warp-drive comes from science fiction and people daydreaming/trying to escape their current reality. The Hyperloop is directly out of Heinlein. Subterranean cannons on the moon as a public transport device... Without escapism we lose the essence of human creativity, imagining a future that is different from the present. Do you think we would have bothered to build rockets and go to space/the moon if science fiction hadn't whetted the public's curiosity? If anything, the problem is that current escapism kind of sucks and we need to do it better. edit:lose/loose

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

Jach 13y ago

Well, a lot of people still consider the whole notion of trying to warp space to get around the lightspeed issue as nothing more than an attempt at escaping reality. ;) Also some people really like doing math as much as other people like watching Game of Thrones.

superuser2 13y ago

One of my favorite points from Ira Glass's lecture: Ideas come from other ideas. There is no such thing as creativity in a vacuum. Your output of ideas is related to the quantity and quality of information you take in. HN is a good bit better for that than reality TV, but not all resource consumption is bad. This endeavor in particular smells of a fairly cheesy "waste of time" low-budget, low-brow television show.