[jonmc12]

"I have found that, in general, our brains our smarter than we are. They want what they want, and if my brain wants to spend a while in front of a computer screen stabbing orcs, who am I to tell it it shouldn’t?"

I have several problems with this statement, starting with the fact that it was derived from a rationalization of the author's own habits, not a meaningful empirical observation.

Further, this is a formula for addiction. Games, porn, gambling, food cravings and drugs are all similar in that they self-enforce a habit through perceived short-term rewards.

Self-discipline is what allows one to accomplish goals. And, it means adapting your brain so that it can supress these hormone driven urges and take action that measurably moves your progress towards a rationally derived goal.

I'm all about some R&R, and fun / entertainment / addictions all have their place. Personally, I become a gamer for about 1 month every 2 years. I even think this author probably has more self-disciplne than he lets on judging by his writing and the history of games he has created. However, the message this article conveys is destructive.

Rationality and self-discipline use a different part of your brain than cravings for short-term rewards. Before you rationalize a time wasting habit, make sure you have adapted your mind to have the self-discipline to switch back and forth. Some people with particularly addition-oriented genetics really should fully abstain from mind-whittling activities if they want to accomplish anything in their life.

My point of view also assumes you are someone who wants to accomplish some substantial goal(s) in your lifetime. If you choose to live a lifestyle of fun / bliss, by all means, whittle away..

[lhorie]

The takeaway for me wasn't so much that he was trying to rationalize wasting time instead of being productive, but rather that we all do waste time sometimes one way or another and that playing games isn't a "bad" way of wasting time.

[jonmc12]

I would agree with you if not for the last 2 paragraphs. Combine the quote I referenced above with "it's good and healthy and productive for us to like to play computer games".

Its just a reckless way to say 'we all waste time..' - not without making the distinction of the need for self-discipline and noting that there are some people that are very prone to addiction. I have an extended family member who's life outside of games has been completely destroyed by a sustained addiction to video games. He has stated repeatedly that he would rather be dead than give up gaming.

This is a real problem for a percentage of the population, and that percentage is increasing as video games are being engineered to be more and more addictive.

[lhorie]

The whole "who am I to tell my brain otherwise" seemed to meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and you kinda sound like you're twisting that to try to push your agenda... (no offense intended, I do think addictions in general are bad).

FWIW, just to put things into a bit of perspective, I recall reading some stats saying that the average american spends something like 5 hours per day in front of a TV. (And numbers for, say, surfing the web during work hours weren't particularly exemplary either.)

Regarding social withdrawal, and things like hikikomori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori), perhaps the issue isn't so much of self-discipline, but one of social environment, e.g surely such gamers must develop above average game playing skills, but they might not want to put similar effort into real life challenges because of fear of the unknown, or out of spite of parental/social pressure, etc.