Video games are often fun and entertaining, you could even argue they relieve stress and offer some escapism. We could bullshit our way into various examples of positive dopamine rushes games provide but if we can the bullshit and are real about it they aren't productive in any meaningful way.
If you take the potential we have all probably wasted in MMORPGs alone the collective members of this board could probably have cured cancer, invented flying cars, and explored the stars, or at least created a VR version of EQ by now.
this, but:
Productivity is overrated in a dystopian landscape, though. Look at our destructive and often diabolical world. We've been waiting for the tides to turn our entire life, right? Now we're old, and quite frankly we don't even want to 'get ours' anymore.
We'll be 'getting ours' and in the VR landscape when we're in nursing homes taking 20 minute breaks to use the restroom.
In addition, for us to have fallen prey to this type of unfolding, one where we could have done X but instead wasted our time with Y (the video game) - maybe we could chaulk it up to unluck, or our environment, or maybe our parents.
I got addicted to these games at 13 or so. I don't know if a 13 year old has the opportunity to fight against addictions easily by themselves.
You find yourself finally with the maturity to do so and you're either A) so deep into it that its nearly impossible B) So deep into it that alternates no longer exist or C) You're too old and 'inventing' is behind you.
That's exactly kind of why I made this thread.
A sort of 'yea brother here, we're fucked, we got the short end of shit - whether via parenting, influences, environment'. It's just how it happened for us, we got addicted to these dopamine drips and our lives went wasted. We shoot the shit for video games that dont even come out, it's like wasted squared, where not only our our lives ruined, but we dont even get ours in the context we're supposed to be getting ours (these shallow gaming drips).
I find myself in 'slightly' opportunity based events that could unfold, and I don't even take them. I'm so butthurt and upset about things. I don't even want mine if it were handed on a silver spoon. It's super cringe to be like ThAnKs DaD aNd MoM. But no, wait, how the fuck is my 12-13 year old ass going to face video game addiction when all my friends were rocking sol A everquest and showing me shit asking me to jump in with them? like 75% of my homies back in the day would literally ignore me because of their addiction to starcraft original and everquest vanilla then kunark, I just fell prey to the same shit they fell prey to.
Anyways, clown on me all you want for this post, I don't mind. I'm called terrible shit here daily heh.