I realize this is a very complex question. Let's use psychology.

At least it gives some purpose, and also practice of the braincells, for rejects and victims of psychopaths in school and elsewhere. The best thing would be for them to get help and the bullies to be evicted (and preferably helped). But as society is as it is, poor and middle class are sifted through the school system only to be come working bees for the rich, and the government. They don't care if someone is bullied to death.

Back in the day, rejects were most likely hounded to insanity by governmental institutions. Today, and back to 20-30 years ago, at least they could use games to have something to keep confidence.

I don't view video games any different than chess. In Norway, we have Magnus Carlsen .. he is being revered as a national hero in the mass media .. yet children and youth that spend a lot of time gaming, are viewed and revered as rejects. The world health organization has acknowledged gaming as a disorder. Why isn't chess viewed the same way? Because when someone makes money on something, that is everything that makes a difference to the government. That is pretty sick. It is the same with gaming though; As long as someone manages to make money on it, they are left to their own device. Which i personally think is equally absurd. The point here is, gamers are getting a lot of unfair negative stigmatization. It is a hobby equal to any other.

But, let's say this .. back in the day, many that may have lead "normal" lives . i.e. gotten a job and been happy with that, in today's society, may spend more time gaming than staying happy with a job... evolving constructive skills, and leading a normal family life.


I simply wonder if gaming has given victims more freedom and thus better mental health, and if this weighs more positive to the entire humanity than people developing gaming "addiction" and thus losing out on life's other opportunities.

What is your verdict?

Not complex at all.
Of coarse it is, just like tv, movies, news, magazines, commercials, etc., etc.
it's all small and subtle so hopefully you dont notice.
But even when you do, if point it out to others they will say "what that? that's tiny and doesn't do much."
They are correct, it is.
But all of it together manipulates.
Just like how ants can take down creatures much bigger than themselves.

This post was edited by sirthom on Aug 18 2022 03:11pm

Video Games began to suffer when it became acceptable and mainstream

I remember back in the early days of gaming 1996-1997 and prior. you got called a nerd or loser for playing games. The "cool kids" didn't play video games, it was seen as a geek activity.

e- Now that it's mainstream. It's a weaponized form of media.

This post was edited by Mondain on Aug 18 2022 03:12pm

I think games can be like an escape for some people. So in this sense, they are good/useful. And I guess people can make the case that some people are "addicted" to games, however that argument can be made about pretty much anything.

Video game "addiction", if it's real at all, very rarely poses a problem to anyone besides the sufferer. This is just a case of the medical community having too many opinions. As long as they don't recommend forcing people to receive treatment, I don't care.

Regarding the addiction aspect... Dopamine, Dopamine, Dopamine (and the other chemicals that release pleasure)

Many videogames are purely built around fueling Dopamine response in the brain.

This is incredibly relevant in mobile games & mobile games for children.

The addiction is absolutely real.

It's the mechanics that are making their way into video games that doing more harm.

Many have become monetized and very good at exploiting people's behaviour. This is becoming even worse now with smartphones. Mobile games are notoriously riddled with microtransactions and games that target those good feelings to exploit it.

This is such an excellent point.

We can see a great example of this... Diablo Immortal and it's Predatory Micro-transactions.

No more predatory than restaurants working hard to come up with food that you can't resist.

Both involve being very good at what they do so that people will hand over their money. There is nothing evil or predatory about it.

Its absolutely predatory. Games are often directed to those that have not fully developed their brain, aka children, which in turn results in harm. Its addictive and can have financial consequences.

The restaurants you cited obviously cause harm as well. The thread is about doing harm, do you think people regularly ingesting addictive cheeseburgers that contribute to your future triple bypass is not harmful? Obviously it is. Look at obesity in North America. Children growing up eating MacDonald creating good memories, studies show that junk food releases dopamine. Now you have children growing up associating Mcdonalds with happy. Of course they're going to continue going there later in life.

This post was edited by SBD on Aug 18 2022 03:50pm

I am not arguing about whether something causes harm or not. I am merely responding to Mondain's charge that some video game developers are being predatory. They are not. They merely design very good games so that people will keep buying games and keep spending their money. This is the business model for pretty much all businesses that have existed.