Thursday, October 4, 2007

Addiction to games food, or fun?

"Those who are most susceptible to becoming addicted to online games tend to be isolated, lonely, prone to boredom or have little interest in sex. Other important factors include low self-esteem and a poor body image."

This quote originates from a article contributed by Terri Wells found here:
http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Opinions/Online-Gaming-Addiction-Myth-or-Reality/

Are we to believe that the weak among us are the most susceptible to a newer from of addiction, that of online gaming? I feel that an online gaming addiction is easy to develop, easy to exaggerate, and just as easy to stop. The last few days I have considered things in my life that I am addicted too so I could compare them to a gamers addiction.

First addiction on the list is food. Food is required to sustain life yet most people have not attempted to sue a dairy farm for producing a perfect cheese or bottle of milk. Many of the readers that may eventually view this blog may be addicted to eating. Would stopping a gaming addiction be easier or harder than a literal food addiction?

This thought of addiction is not intended to be long and all encompassing so all other forms of entertainment have been lumped into the category "fun." Sports, gambling, reading, television, and other hobbies all have victims whose lives they claim. Addiction claims them when they place "fun" as a higher priority than work, school or family. I think every single person if questioned would honestly answer they were addicted or spent too much time with a particular item of the "fun" category.

To sum up, I disagree with the initial statement that those individuals with dull lives are the primary victims of a online gaming addiction. Rather, I would argue that the competitive among us and the excitement seekers are the first to engage in a race to the end of a game or the quest to become the greatest. Further, priorities will always pull at man and the claim of addiction is at best a rationalization of something that has been broken, is being broken and will always be broken by others.

1 comment:

Bret said...

Dude - welcome to the blog world. With this and being on linked-in, it's like you are going to be a father and in the workforce or something. I will watch your blog and comment. Peace out BP.