Yesterday I was reading an article about video and online gaming culture. At the end of the article, several gaming addicts and their partners or people close to them commented on the effects of this kind of addiction. Reading it, I was surprised at first at how many ordinary people are addicted to online gaming. I mean, these were nice, regular, family people, not computer geeks who hide out in basements and have no friends or significant others.
There were some women, but most of the online game addicts were men. And while I haven't much insight into why women would be addicted to this sort of thing, I think I can understand at least some of the reasons why some men can be addicted to video games. I mean, we sometimes automatically think--video games? and put all the gaming addicts into one box (or dingy basement) and label them all "geeks." But they're not, they're regular people...
So here are my thoughts; some reasons why men can be addicted to video and online games. I write from personal experience; I know about this because I know myself.
One game that I find particularly addictive is called Freeciv. It's got poor graphics and all that stuff, and when you get right to thinking about it, it's not so much fun. You just build an empire and conquer the world or send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri before the year 2000 or something like that. Anyways, the whole reason why I find it addictive is that I get to make big decisions, administer an empire, and while I know that it's a fantasy, it makes me feel competent and in control. It's a fantasy that I'm doing something meaningful and it's easy to get so caught up in it that you can think and believe that you're doing something meaningful and important.
I also like to play real time strategy games, for the same reason.
A different genre I find particularly addictive is the role playing game, also known as RPG. The reason this genre is addictive is that it gives me an adventure with varying degrees of freedom. Not that the freedom in itself is very important, but the fact that I have control over my adventure, my choices govern my adventure. The game presents me with a series of problems that I can solve whichever way I want. And that is pretty significant. Along the way to solving the problems there are always battles to fight.
I think there's something in the male psyche that is starved without adventure (I can't speak for the female psyche--I don't have one.) and these games offer us adventures. Sure, the adventures are artificial, but our world seems to have cut out adventure. For many of us, it's impossible to find real adventures outside of these games. I think these games wouldn't have nearly as much marketability if the real world offered real adventures. Instead, in the real world, I'm finding it hard to find a place for myself. My actions, my decisions have no impact. I don't make a difference--worse, I can't make a difference.
I know... people will say, I do make a difference. And I know what you mean and I can accept that. I make a difference to the people who love me. I hope you know, you make a difference to me too. But...
...I'm talking about BIG difference here. I'm talking about adventures with far-reaching and life-altering consequences. I don't particularly care if people in Thailand know about me or not, the issue is not that I want fame or even money or glory, what I want is to feel like I've done something, accomplished something. Without that feeling, it's so easy to feel bored with the real world.
I don't hate my job. In fact, I have a lot of fun at work and I like my coworkers and I enjoy my work-environment. But I do find it by far the most boring job I have ever had or could ever have. Maybe that's an exaggeration... but the point is that I come to work, make and sell pizzas, and go home. I'm not saying that that's boring, on the contrary, making pizzas could be a very exciting thing. Let's pretend there was video game where you have to build a chain of pizza shops across a city. You have to pick the best locations for your stores, you have to interview and hire employees, you have to manage your stores and compete against other stores. Wow, that would be a great game! It would be addictive too. Isn't that weird? Something so brutally mundane as making and selling pizzas could become a best selling video game. (Ok, I'm not so sure about the best-selling part, but it would definitely turn a profit.)
Do you get the point though? The most exciting thing I've done at my job so far is sheet-outs. I try to make as many sheet-outs as I can in the smallest amount of time possible. That's exciting because I'm racing against time. I have a goal, and deadline, and I'm racing to meet it, working with my whole body, as fast as I can. Another exciting part of my job is when I'm on cash and we have to do a ring-off every half hour. Every day, Manager Colin sets a sales goal (well, he thinks of it as a forecast, I like to think of it as a goal because it makes my job more meaningful) anyways, the ring-offs are exciting because I get to see how we're doing compared to the goal. When we exceed the goal I'm thrilled because I feel like I accomplished something, I feel like I'm a contributing member of a winning team. And I think that's an important feeling. But in the everyday life of the real world, thrills like that are few and far between. In the artificial world of online and video gaming thrills like that are almost unavoidable.
There were some women, but most of the online game addicts were men. And while I haven't much insight into why women would be addicted to this sort of thing, I think I can understand at least some of the reasons why some men can be addicted to video games. I mean, we sometimes automatically think--video games? and put all the gaming addicts into one box (or dingy basement) and label them all "geeks." But they're not, they're regular people...
So here are my thoughts; some reasons why men can be addicted to video and online games. I write from personal experience; I know about this because I know myself.
One game that I find particularly addictive is called Freeciv. It's got poor graphics and all that stuff, and when you get right to thinking about it, it's not so much fun. You just build an empire and conquer the world or send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri before the year 2000 or something like that. Anyways, the whole reason why I find it addictive is that I get to make big decisions, administer an empire, and while I know that it's a fantasy, it makes me feel competent and in control. It's a fantasy that I'm doing something meaningful and it's easy to get so caught up in it that you can think and believe that you're doing something meaningful and important.
I also like to play real time strategy games, for the same reason.
A different genre I find particularly addictive is the role playing game, also known as RPG. The reason this genre is addictive is that it gives me an adventure with varying degrees of freedom. Not that the freedom in itself is very important, but the fact that I have control over my adventure, my choices govern my adventure. The game presents me with a series of problems that I can solve whichever way I want. And that is pretty significant. Along the way to solving the problems there are always battles to fight.
I think there's something in the male psyche that is starved without adventure (I can't speak for the female psyche--I don't have one.) and these games offer us adventures. Sure, the adventures are artificial, but our world seems to have cut out adventure. For many of us, it's impossible to find real adventures outside of these games. I think these games wouldn't have nearly as much marketability if the real world offered real adventures. Instead, in the real world, I'm finding it hard to find a place for myself. My actions, my decisions have no impact. I don't make a difference--worse, I can't make a difference.
I know... people will say, I do make a difference. And I know what you mean and I can accept that. I make a difference to the people who love me. I hope you know, you make a difference to me too. But...
...I'm talking about BIG difference here. I'm talking about adventures with far-reaching and life-altering consequences. I don't particularly care if people in Thailand know about me or not, the issue is not that I want fame or even money or glory, what I want is to feel like I've done something, accomplished something. Without that feeling, it's so easy to feel bored with the real world.
I don't hate my job. In fact, I have a lot of fun at work and I like my coworkers and I enjoy my work-environment. But I do find it by far the most boring job I have ever had or could ever have. Maybe that's an exaggeration... but the point is that I come to work, make and sell pizzas, and go home. I'm not saying that that's boring, on the contrary, making pizzas could be a very exciting thing. Let's pretend there was video game where you have to build a chain of pizza shops across a city. You have to pick the best locations for your stores, you have to interview and hire employees, you have to manage your stores and compete against other stores. Wow, that would be a great game! It would be addictive too. Isn't that weird? Something so brutally mundane as making and selling pizzas could become a best selling video game. (Ok, I'm not so sure about the best-selling part, but it would definitely turn a profit.)
Do you get the point though? The most exciting thing I've done at my job so far is sheet-outs. I try to make as many sheet-outs as I can in the smallest amount of time possible. That's exciting because I'm racing against time. I have a goal, and deadline, and I'm racing to meet it, working with my whole body, as fast as I can. Another exciting part of my job is when I'm on cash and we have to do a ring-off every half hour. Every day, Manager Colin sets a sales goal (well, he thinks of it as a forecast, I like to think of it as a goal because it makes my job more meaningful) anyways, the ring-offs are exciting because I get to see how we're doing compared to the goal. When we exceed the goal I'm thrilled because I feel like I accomplished something, I feel like I'm a contributing member of a winning team. And I think that's an important feeling. But in the everyday life of the real world, thrills like that are few and far between. In the artificial world of online and video gaming thrills like that are almost unavoidable.
I loved this! I, too, ache for adventure! I long to accomplish things. But in the real world, training and practice and all that yucky, boring kind of junk always precedes the adventure. I am a bit of a book addict, because it lets me get to the exciting part in an hour or two without having to do any laundry or study anything. I can be the hero brandishing my sword without ever having had to clean the sword or actually learn how to brandish it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I liked about Narnia. It made me realize that the adventure is there every day. It's not a dragon lurking outside my door - it's something far more devious, dangerous, and frightening... like a sin that I've let grow into a bad habit. The fight will take all my energy, intelligence, and will. All hell steps up to oppose me if I dare pick up the sword of truth. All heaven stands beside me at the ready, awaiting my Father's word. And the consequences of my choices are far-reaching: what I read today, what I think about as I walk to work, what time I get up, who I talk to, and what about, and how I pray - these choices are eternal.
Too scary to think about, actually. I'll deal with the real dragons tomorrow. Got any good books I can borrow?
i totally agree - the adventure is there everyday, invisible. i think that's what i loved about being in zambia - as a group of missionaries, we were always aware of the adventure, the battles - praying together, working together, kind of like a small army. and God felt so real, so present. i know He's just as real here, but why doesn't it feel like it? why does it feel like He's farther away here?
ReplyDeletehere, the adventure feels vague and distant, and boring everydayness feels solid and real.
i want to get that switched around. i know it's not geographical, and that the adventure is just as real here in canada as anywhere, and the army of christians fights the same enemy.
how do you cultivate the awareness?
I loved this. Thank you Patrick for giving us an insight into your "soul". I think we are all motivated by different things. I take joy in building comraderie. I feel like I'm building a giant jig-saw puzzle and every piece gets me closer to the picture. I also enjoy the competition aspect - but only on a limited level: not the same way you do. I can appreciate it though. And I am glad you like your job. It helps to know which parts you enjoy best. I love working with you!!
ReplyDelete"how do you cultivate the awareness?"
ReplyDeleteThere are compensations in every place. For those who face the kind of spiritual dangers that manifest themselves physically, there is a heightened sense of spiritual realities. The spiritual dangers we face here in North America are not that kind, and do not require the same kind of resistance. We face a more subtle enemy, who quietly casts his shadows over our thinking. In compensation, we have incredible freedom of thought and information. We must overcome by making use of that freedom - our free time, our education, and our access to Scripture. These weapons, wielded with commitment and discipline, will clear our minds and restore our sense of spiritual realities.
We can all be energized by a visit to someone else's battle - but if we are to be more than children on the sidelines, there will always a great deal of drudgery that must be got through before the thrill of clashing swords can be ours. Faith isn't David facing Goliath; faith is David learning God while he was stuck in a field with a bunch of old sheep. He was the despised "little brother", left behind with the sheep while his brothers fought for Israel - but it was his recognition of the reality of God amongst the sheep that gave him his experiences with the lion and the bear, that honed his skills with the slingshot and made him fit to fight a Goliath. Joseph, too, was the despised "kid brother" who sat rotting in an Egyptian prison for ten years before he was ready to reign with the Pharoah.
If our lives are boring and dry, it is because God has given us an excess of something that we are to use wisely, to prepare for the day when he will ask us to keep our heads amid the clamour and heat of battle. If we waste our time waiting, we'll have nothing to fight with. (And you can take it from me, because I am the expert on wasting time.)
The reward for those who overcame in Laodicea was the greatest reward of all - God knows how hard it is to fight shadows.