Would young men be rioting in the streets if they didn’t have video games to pacify them?
Hear me out.
We are seeing record levels of young men unemployed and living with their parents: The future for them is bleak. Saddled with college debt, they can barely get a job that pays miimum wage, while living independently is forever out of reach.
I feel like at other points of history, there would be more social unrest, but things are exceedingly calm given the economics.
I was watching a video by Healthy Gamer, a gamer bro-turned psychiatrist. He points out that video games are very addictive and seductive because they MIMIC accomplishment. You can grind to get to the next level, you can gain new skills, you are continually put on a treadmill of constant progress. It’s very satisfying in a hollow way, satisfying in a way that might make you forget that society has nothing to offer you but debt and homelessness after you followed all the rules.
Are video games weapons of mass distraction, the metaphysical equivalent of a million Christians being fed to a million lions every day?
If I’m being honest, I’m pretty sure you’ve decided videogames are to blame and have literally no interest in opposing opinions. That is motivated reasoning.
You are rejecting anything that doesn’t fit your worldview outright. You don’t think books can be as addictive as videogames, so you just reject that I spend more time reading books than playing games. Then you call me silly for suggesting it. You are obviously here in bad faith.
There is no point discussing anything with you.
By bringing evidence and time lines? Like what, I should’ve agreed that endocrine disrupting chemics are to blame despite being around for decades before the fall in teenage sex?
Or I’m supposed to seriously believe that reading is as common among teens and youth as books? Seriously? If you have any teacher friends, you might bring forward this uhh, interesting idea. Just be ready for some laughter and to explain that yes,it was a serious question.
I mean, on books being as common as books, is that actually a serious thought? Maybe google for half a second?
That didn’t happen? Believe it or not, you’re not every or even average youth. Weird huh?
Considering they directly affect hormonal development, yes. It would take approximately a generation for the effects to begin. Probably more than that for the effects to become noticeable. Which lines up with the data pretty well, considering rates of sex have been dropping steadily since the 80s. Your assertion that that happened “in the last decade or two” is just you being wrong.
As far as books, you asked me a specific question: Do I read more than I game? I said yes. You said that was stupid and evidence of me being silly. Don’t ask for an anecdote and then treat it as data.
And yes, the fact that you are repeatedly using the phrase “motivated reasoning” pretty much out of the blue makes me think you’ve got some guilty conscience going on. Feel free to have a bad day, Jack Thompson.