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Video games are making you waste your life away if -

Aug 25, 2011 9:27PM PDT

- you play more than 8 hours a week.

Common myths associated with video games:
1. It relieves stress because it distracts you.
a. This is so far from the psychological truth it's not even funny. If you want to release stress, then exercise or read a book. The difference between a book and a video game is that books actually force you to use intellect and your imagination while video games simply provide the imagination for you. Providing imagination and using your own imagination are two very different things.
2. Hand-eye coordination.
a. Yeah...lmao what a horrible excuse to display the "positive" effects of playing video games. Technically the only positive effects for playing video games would be the profit that companies make from the sales, not to mention how effectively it distracts people from the REAL WORLD. Distracting people makes it easier for politicians, businessmen, and other people that run things to manipulate the masses into doing what they want you to do. Want to improve hand-eye coordiation? Play some basketball or baseball. These hobbies will help you to ACTUALLY release stress, increase hand-eye coordination, and stay physically healthy, unlike video games.
b. If you want to play a game that actually forces you to use intellect, then play a puzzle or strategy game (and I don't mean Starcraft).
3. People tend to start taking video games too seriously, start to confuse the digital world with the real world.
a. http://www.gamersmark.com/node/1333 . Enough said.

Final note: This post wasn't intended to demonize video games. It's ok if you play them for less than 8 hours a week, it's not ok (ok means healthy and productive) to play them 10-20 hours a week like the no-life average gamer does. Study psychology and you will begin to understand just how ineffective video games are for releasing stress. Watch a unfortunately serious gamer play sometime, you will see how frustrated the game makes him and how the frustration only continues after he/she is done play the video game.
For the record, Dance Dance Revolution is a decent video game because it actually requires physical movement. Puzzle & strategy games (not including the Starcraft games) are decent because they actually require the use of intellect. All in all, don't insult yourself by beginning to take video games seriously and playing them too often. Be a healthy and productive person by only playing 8 hours or less a week. Get a challenging job (no video games aren't challenging, unless you have the I.Q. of a rock), never stop learning, and be productive (create/invent something, write a book, something other than mindless video game playing!).

Discussion is locked

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What was the point of this?
Aug 25, 2011 11:37PM PDT

What was the point of this? To impress us with your poorly thought out and argued Psych 101 level analysis of video games?

There's actually some contradictory research as to whether exercising to relieve stress is actually as healthy as we think. Stress triggers the fight of flight autonomic response in our body, so does exercising. So, you can argue that all you're doing is increasing testosterone and adrenaline levels in the blood, which is very hard on your body for a prolonged period of time.

If you're reading a book, you're usually even more stationary than playing a video game, so that means you're not getting any exercise. I have nothing against reading books, I love my Kindle, but let's at least be honest about it: you're exercising your mind at the expense of the rest of your body.

The hand eye coordination is true, just to a very limited extent.

Video games can also have a number of positive social elements. Someone with a generalized social anxiety disorder might be able to find some level of companionship with people in say World of Warcraft. The separation afforded by the video game, may be enough to allow them to open up a little, and develop some kind of relationship with other people. It may not be the most healthy of relationships, but it is better than social isolation.

I could go on, but have to go to work. So, I'll just say that your analysis is half baked at best. One of the things you learn about psychology once you get past Psych 101, is that you can't just stop when you find an answer that fits your particular opinion on a subject. You have to follow the trail to wherever it leads, and accept that sometimes your hypothesis going in was flat wrong.

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Moderation
Aug 31, 2011 10:30PM PDT

I think that most problems that people have who are wasting their life playing videogames are not due to the games. Sure, using them in an escapist way is not helping, but then there are other ways to be escapist, too. You must find the right measure, and then videogames can even be an art form, like watching a good movie.

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? to the OP
Sep 17, 2011 9:51PM PDT

Have you ever played a video game?

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I'd bet $5
Sep 17, 2011 11:36PM PDT

I'd bet $5 the OP was someone who took a Psych 101 class from a professor who has some research grant studying the negative effects on video games. So the professor couldn't resist spending a lecture or two talking about the topic of their research, and being an impressionable young freshman in college, the OP dutifully wrote everything down, figuring they'd come here (and I'd be willing to bet we could find this same basic post on other forums across the Internet) to share this great revelation they experienced.

There are so many flaws in the basic thesis and supporting arguments, you could spend probably a good couple of days picking it apart. You can see what I did in the 20 or so minutes I had before I needed to leave for work. That's barely scratching the surface. Considering the OP hasn't been back since, at least to post, it's probably safe to consider them a one off moron. Someone with some narcissistic tendencies who thinks A) other people have never before come to the same general conclusions as them, and B) thinks other people give two craps. You know, the things you probably cringe at as you look back at your teenage years. Where you just have to hope you were never THAT stupid, but deep down, know that you probably were.

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Seriously?
Sep 25, 2011 6:54AM PDT

First off, what got your panties in a bunch? Second, not everyone has an obsessive personality. Those cases are EXTREME cases that shouldn't generalize the average gamer. Most people can actually play a video game without killing themselves or sacrificing a social life. Maybe YOU can't, but most normal people can. Yes, I agree video games generally do not relieve stress, but I don't play them to relieve stress, I play because it's FUN, and after a hard days work I like to take a break and have FUN. I'm sorry if I don't find excercise or reading a book fun. So seriously get a life, or better yet go read a book........