Posted on 04/20/2009 9:53:52 AM PDT by Nachum
A new study concludes that children can become addicted to playing video games, with some skimping on homework, lying about how much they play and struggling, without success, when they try to cut back.
In what is described as the first nationally representative study in the United States on the subject, researcher Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University found that 8.5 percent of American youths ages 8 to 18 who play video games show multiple signs of behavioral addiction.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
New study? This has been evident since the days of Pong and Pacman three decades ago.
Teenagers doing something they enjoy instead of things they don't enjoy. Yep, that's the textbook definition of addiction.
There’s lots of adults addicted too.
this is not by accident. What does it portend for the future of these addictions? That is the question?
Not funny or to be taken lightly. There is purpose behind these games ... more than simply selling them for profits.
[puts on left loony hat]
The games are meant to increase the hand-eye coordination, reflexes and situational awareness so that the government is essentially training soldiers from a young age.
[hat off]
Seriously, today the best person you want as a UAV pilot is the high-scorer on realistic flight-based games. Real pilots will miss having the physical feedback of flying. Kind of like how The Last Starfighter used a video game for recruitment.
...and if you watch sports all the time, you are a “sports enthusiast.”
I can stop anytime I want to...
Lord, this is my son. He starts twitching if he can’t get to his XBox360.
I played that game every day for hours after class. No telling how much I dropped into that machine.
I "hit the wall" on score. I just couldn't get past a certain amount.
Until I started dreaming about playing the game.
I would play that game in my sleep!
After I started dreaming about it the score popped over the "wall" and I could play the game all night long on one quarter.
If you, literally, dream about it, is it addiction?
One of the best uses I have observed to come from the game mentality and training is ...
The operator of the drones in Iraq are actually siting in a tiny room somewhere many miles away looking at the targets the drones fly over ...
which can then be hit by the missile the drone is carrying. Safely. It is the sitting in a tiny room somewhere he trained for by playing these games. IE
My premise is that the article does not describe true video game addiction. Teenagers wanting to play the Xbox or PS3 rather than doing homework is normal, not an addiction. In contrast, there have been reported cases in Asia of people playing games for extremely long stretches—48 hours or more—and dying as a result of personal neglect. THAT is addiction.
As for Predator drone operation, you’re confusing the timeline of events. The military invented a control system that could be easily picked up on by recruits who grew up playing video games. The video games were not invented for purpose of military training, nor would they be very effective in doing so. Further, the concept of the military having to adapt its technology and tactics to the mentality and attitudes of soldiers it deploys is nothing new. Patton complained about low attention spans during WW2.
Video games, being unique to themselves, should be examined individually and not as a whole group.
Mine too.
Of course there is some entertainment to these games. Look at Las Vegas ... games with bright lights, and maybe winning lots of money ...
My point is there is a direction to these games that has to do with preparing a whole generation to sit in small cubicles, or in their rooms, and work from home, and no longer go to the offices downtown.
It has been spoken of for about 15 years that I know of ... or noticed myself. They desire to eliminate all the driving to a central ares to work, etc. Pollution from all the cars, etc.
Sorry, if I come off as too suspicious ... it is rather that I have lived long enough to see the signs of coming change and how it works.
I only hope that no one decides to fund a study about Freeping
I might be addicted if I had enough time to play video games, but they get in the way of housework, taking care of kids, and reading.
Definitely that 55 y/o kid in my house ; )
Addiction is the point I am discussing not the occasional player. One of my grandchildren was unable to lay down his game boy etc. ... that was how it started ... now he is an expert at “Hero Guitar”. Almost as if he is captured by the process.
That is the point ... the powers that be are involved. I fear you may take the whole thing a bit too lightly..
Watch and consider. I hope I am mistaken. I do not believe so.
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