amen!



i consider myself an atheist, but i've exposed myself a great deal to buddhism and hinduism (through practice at temples and a minor in the study of religion).

you should always try to improve yourself, but not at the cost of your ability to continue doing it in the future. and you are ALWAYS good enough - you have nothing to prove to anyone. even in many classical proetestant cosmologies, god's already chosen the saved before they were born, and there's nothing you can do to change it. so lighten up, it's just life.

it means that imagination isn't outwardly productive, but it cultivates a healthy imagination (which, according to william blake, is the most important characteristic of human beings, and according to the american pragmatist school, is what separeates us from (other) animals).

I like that. I think I need it knitted on something. Haha.

My personal belief is that there are people with addictive personalities and without. The former have a high probability of getting addicted to something - not games necessarily, anything. Can be TV. Can be games. Can be clubbing. Something. People without an addictive personality, however, are very unlikely to get really addicted to anything, except for things which cause addiction on a physiological level, such as most drugs.

Video games, in my opinion, get a bad rap simply because they're a relatively new and relatively common item of addiction. Any addiction is bad, but I think game addiction is preferable to alcohol addiction, for instance.

Are video games anti-social? Maybe, in the sense that you play by yourself. But I don't think they're any more anti-social than other such hobbies. A person who really enjoys reading books can said to be anti-social (computers aside, I'm still an avid reader, though somewhat less than I used to be). Likewise, a person who likes to paint/draw. Even writers are anti-social in that way, because writing implies sitting alone at your desk/computer and writing.

I'm not an addicted gamer. Really - sometimes I go for months without really playing anything, and, while I can stay up late in the night playing Civ, it's never a problem for me to pull myself away. But I'm still an anti-social guy then, because I'd much rather read a book or relax listening to some music by myself than go out with anyone except a very small circle of people. Nerd genes.

Well, that settles it. I'm going to lighten up and boot up a game instead of sitting around addicted to JoeUser. I do have an addictive personality. That's why I have strived to avoid the things that really mess you up, like Grand Theft Auto - just kidding, like drugs and alcohol... stuff that can get you into jail. So I guess, in summary, games aren't addictive, people are.

y..yy..you got th..th..the g.g.g.game man, i need my stuff man  

It is also a HUGE industry compared to say, the movie industry. It continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

To ban it forever may be cutting off a very lucrative career choice for him.

my personal belief is that it's not an addictive personality so much as a repulsive society. the world out there is crazy, full of inhumanity and despair, and the people in it can be vindictive, petty, judgmental and small. a lot of time it's simply easier and less painful to stay in and keep to yourself, but that doesn't mean i think it's a good idea to do so.

The world may be crazy, but don't you agree that there are people who are - naturally - inclined to be by themselves. Introverted people, as they're called. I am that way myself. I have a very small circle of people who I can be around a lot and always enjoy their company, but overall, I prefer to limit my contact with most people to when it's necessary, or generally infrequent contact.

The larger question is what are we here for?Are we here for pleasure?Or is there a greater purpose for being here?In a society where basic needs are met when you can play on the computer ,go to a movie, have access to copious amounts of food and such it is possible to spend a greater portion of your time investing in such activities.And I won't even mention the TV which can suck up time.The TV is far to convenient for investing time in people who are not real versus going to a movie which ends eventually.But people also work hard,(for a dollar which buys less), deal with raising families and live in stressful times.It seems like your tossed back and forth between these opposites.There is a difference between joy and fun however.In a situation where an individual is cultivating a relationship with God joy comes from an inner awareness and relationship with God through contemplation and such and keeping your mind turned to Him, but fun depends upon an external event which only lasts as long as your doing that thing.That is the nature of pleasure that it must be continually stoked.
Eventually your guilt will make gaming less fun and I think you will find you can't give your full attention to it even while doing it making you less effective at playing.At least this is what I have found for me.

Ye gods. Self-flagellating, much?

Or, to put it another way - nothing's a waste. Fun's an end, not a means. It really, really doesn't need an ulterior motive.

Or, to put it another another way - in the long run, everything you do is a waste. So it's probably best not to sweat it too much.

You're welcome.

A person's basic needs are served by having food and shelter. The real basic needs are the needs to eat, drink, sleep and use the bathroom. Anything else that we do is because we want to achieve some other goals. But each person sets them for himself. Or it could be a religious question for some.

Most people pursue an education, try to make a good career. That's all to tend to their goals. People want fun. Most people work so they can earn money which they can use to have fun (and, of course, provide for those basic needs). For some people, the work they do is fun - they're lucky. But that's the way it goes. You either do something because you want to or because you have to in order to be able to do what you want to.

Anything done by yourself for fun is, in my book, good, as long as you actually had fun. Why would it be a waste? It's really not any more waste than doing something for fun with others.

I can't believe I wasted the 90 seconds to scan this thread from people I don't know when I could be expanding the Terran Empire. Now to ignore the incredulous looks from my wife and kids as I play Avatar and laugh like a Snathi in an oak grove.

It is also a HUGE industry compared to say, the movie industry. It continues to grow by leaps and bounds. To ban it forever may be cutting off a very lucrative career choice for him.

This is an excellent point.

I don't really think we can ban them forever.  But the kid is 11, he needs to do other things, learn other things right now...not sit in his room for hours on end alone with cyber buddies.

When he is an adult, and chooses to be alone, fine.  But right now I would be neglecting my role of preparing him for the real world, if I let him get lost in the cyber one.

Then the point is flatly wrong.