I agree. A lot of the discussion of meaning in the video actually lines up with Dr. Viktor Frankl's approach to psychology, which he called logotherapy. He was a Holocaust survivor, and, in a nutshell, he believed that many, if not most psychological problems stem from a lack of meaning. (note, when he said a lack of meaning, he meant the failure of someone to find that meaning, rather than the objective lack thereof). He outlined his beliefs in the book Man's Search For Meaning. It's a surprisingly short read if you want to learn more.
Man, watching this video is... it's kinda scary, staring into the mirror like that, hearing your words describe me so well. It's also.... kind of motivating. Knowing the problem is the best way to start dealing with it, right? So yeah... For this video, and the part 2 video, thank you guys.
Right? And it's even scaried that, like, I never thought about it on a concious level, and I never reallyy thought of it as a bad thing, the feeling that life doesn't reward the parts of myself I like most and think are best, and that I retreat to games to find meaning and valiation. But when they talk of this it really resonates with me, it even kinda scares me, makes me think of the actual times I've said no to going out with friends because I'd rather stay inside and stuff like that... Man... I love EC
@@dLzzzgaming you just have realise you controll what you do and can stop whenever, no one is forcing you to play games. And have a sleep schedule, they help a whole lot with keeping things in moderation :)
Here's a cool little story. I used to be a fairly smart kid, I was nearly always in the top classes, and my grades were decent enough that I didn't need to worry. But, I didn't have many friends. I was the weird one, the one nobody wanted to play with, minus two consistent friends. I was playing video games, but between homework and studying the for stupid spelling tests, I didn't have much time to properly play them. Then came High School. One of my only friends was off to a different school, and I never got to say goodbye to them because I was sick on the last day. I only had the other friend (Who I will call George) who was in my school, but George was in a different class from mine now because their was two 'equal' top classes. So now I was constantly mocked for having no friends, for being the outcast. So I stopped doing good work, I stopped getting good grades and I stopped doing homework. So I was playing more video games... I was playing many of the power fantasy games, spectacle fighters, easy-ish RPGs, that kind of stuff. And then I was invested. Games got me stuck in, that if I didn't do good enough with the skill I had I would fail. Eventually, sometime in my second year, this started to leak through into my school life. I got back into the higher classes, I started getting better grades, and I started doing homework again. And with thanks to the online games, I was more social, so I got a few more friends, enough to defend me if I got mocked, and few enough that I would do the same for them every time. Video games really did empower me, and they made my life feel better. I salute you video games!
Pie Cake Not at all! Just keep a positive attitude. Don't over analyze.That was my biggest mistake when I was in High School. And know that determination can get you anywhere.
Pie Cake Kayleigh Cook Yep, Kayleigh's got it down here. Just keep moving forward! Something will come along and trip you up. Duh, c'est la vie. What matters is how quickly and how hard you rebound, rather like the two shots in the video where the guy falled into a pit and then came right back with a pole. You're allowed to do that in life, too - except you may have to climb the pit rather than instantly reverting to a checkpoint
Pie Cake There's always something to go between you and your goal. That's the stuff of every story ever written. Sometimes though, there are external factors getting in the way (people mocking you, getting sick, getting into a fight...) Just sort them out don't let them put you out of focus, for you have other cats to cook: the real challenges between you and your goal. Also... the day grades will stop determining your performance, you'll find out that school is nothing like 'real life'. Real life is much more challenging. And oh so much fulfilling :)
And yet, according to RU-vid, this heartwarming story is "Less likable" than that sadistic Hitler reincarnate "Troy Verner" who calls anyone who thinks that video games have more idyllic worlds than real life should be killed.
James just made me tear up a second time when I saw this video after the one before it... This doesn't just apply to video games for me, but the few other things that I tend to get lost in that makes me lose sight of things. The feeling of having no agency and a lack of control..it's just so fitting for what's going on for me personally right now.
I agree completely. Part 2 was the biggest. I nearly cried because this is so bad but so true. What is lives purpose if there is nothing you can do to affect it.
this...really struck me. As I've felt a lot of what was discussed here particularly with the "we're not rewarded for our strengths" part. A large part of high school really pissed me off, being a reasonably well-rounded academic student it irritated me to no end when I found out AFL players on TV earn millions of dollars a game, they literally got paid millions to bash each others brains in and here I am with no athletic skills and well versed in academic abilities that at the time felt like they'd take me nowhere. It didn't help that all the school asshats and jocks could get next to anything they wanted while the nerdy, respectful me got a little A or B on a sheet of paper and a pat on the back. It was horrible, if it weren't for my friends from primary school or my new nerd friends I think I may have just resorted to games to fill that need of my skills being worth something. *sigh* I better stop myself here before I ramble on any further and leave a one-hundred line comment.
shhh shh... its okay.... When I graduated high school, with a job and going to college, i met one of them high school jocks around my workplace, who was just starting out on actually going into work. Serves them right, as I had a head-start on my job, for I could get a higher paying or better job with my # of years in the workplace early thanks to starting early in working. Moral of the story: Start Early in the workplace. Then, you can get the money u need to live later in life.
Kati Steven Here's the funny thing though: I too was playing video games at that time while juggling between work in the real world; a Part-Time Job, if you must ask. Now that I am content with everything I've got compared to them jocks and popular kids, I can now live life the way I must, unlike those who did not start early in the workforce and instead, focused on their popularity when they were young.
CraftySam That's how we all felt at some point. For me it was that I was a good student, too. Grades were great and all I lacked was athletics. But due to harassment in my early school years, I felt like an outsider. I often hid away with games and art... I felt alone and insignificant. Then I created a character based on all the things I wish I had. That is the Alias I now use on the internet. I wanted to be a different gender, because I felt being a girl diminished me. I wanted to be smarter than anyone alive, I wanted to be partly scary and partly cute. And lastly I wanted to be helpful and comforting, but also capable of fighting back hard if someone would mess with me. That made me realize that most of the trades I already had and some of them were awkward. In a sense, this little drawn character that emerged from all the games I have played, stiring up my imagination, was like a reflection of myself that I have never seen in any mirror. It comforted me and my family gave me the last push to overcome this hardship. For the first time, I felt like I mattered for someone. A day after my resolve, I stood up against those that harassed me, smiled and joked as they tried to provoke me or make me cry. The same day I went to the local Arcade and met some others that kept laughing about me behind my bag. I played several games against them and not one of them ever beat me, which made them look at me at a different perspective. School wasn't so bad after that anymore. Now I am working as a Web-Designer and love to learn on my own as much as I can, sharing this knowledge with my family and friends :3
You guys are awesome! I just lost a whole year of college, my parents trust and my girlfriend for being lost in games and stuff. And I know that my choices have put me down for the past year, but now im Working and studying again, i took grip of my life and Im turning it back so I dont hurt anyone else, not even me. My grades are great and my life is coming back to a great restart. Games are still as important as they were to me, but I now understand that my real life needs care too. Thanks for helping me see that, and making me brave enough to start over.
I don't always agree with everything EC posts, but boy did they hit the nail on the head with this series. I think I'm going to make my family watch these, because I think that, until they become willing to entertain the idea that games ARE NOT A WASTE OF TIME, they will never be able to empathize with me in any meaningful way.
There is a purpose though. Sometimes, we are stuck in a situation where we literally cannot break out of regardless of what we do, but the situation is temporary, and after that, there are things you can do with your life that matter. For some others who believe that their situation is a permanent abyss of meaningless, they turn to death instead, but for those of us who see an end to the torment, there is an incentive to continue existing until the end comes, and life becomes worth living in again. In those times, games are alternate worlds you can enter where you can live your life happily - or at least, not unhappily - while waiting for the situation to expire. Thereafter, your experiences and things you learnt within that alternate reality can be applied to real life, making it a far more productive use of time than fighting a battle that cannot be won. Game compulsion is not something that people struggle with to break because it somehow has a hold on your will, unlike addictions. It's something people actively choose to engage in because that is simply the best option to keep their sanity at that point in time. To quote a game (Guild Wars 2), 'A rockslide closes off the entrance to the cave you are in. Is this balanced?' 'What lies outside the cave?' If the outside world is filled only with predators but no resources, then the rockslide is a good thing, for it saves you from the threat - something EVERY MineCraft player knows by heart, especially on the first night. If the outside world is filled with resources but no predators - and more resources than you have within your cave, then you will want to exit the cave, and so the rockslide is a bad thing. Balance lies not in the event of the rockslide, but in what lies outside the cave. MineCraft players (again) make use of this concept by exiting their caves to collect wood, wool, beef, chickens, sugar cane, wheat seeds and more in the day where there are resources and no predators - while staying within the cave and voluntarily blocking themselves within, during the dangerous night. At least until they can make full iron armor anyway. So is it a bad thing to hide inside a game world? That depends on what lies outside in the real world. If the real world is full of love, affirmation and meaning, nobody would barricade themselves within a game world that gives only facsimiles of the real thing. If the real world is full of hatred, despair and suffering, nobody would choose not to flee into the safe haven, since even facsimiles of positive things are superior to genuinely negative things. And like MineCraft, the outside world changes, even though the world within your 'cave' doesn't. Compulsive gaming becomes a problem when people have been subjected by life to a night so long they forget the sun will ever rise again, but that is not the fault of the cave, it is the fault of the night. For most of us, the real world alternates between phases of dangerous night and hopeful day, and the game realm is the cave we hide in, waiting for the night to finally pass. And for many of us, we know the day will come one day. In that time, all the iron bars we have been crafting quietly within our cave will be of use when the sun of hope arises. When dealing with a game compulsion, the wrong approach is to look at the cave. The correct approach is to look at what is outside it. Once there is a reason to emerge, people will dance out into the dawn.
I really believe you guys are onto something with this. Found this series and did a google search about gaming compulsion, and you guys are the only ones talking about it. Everything else points towards addiction, which gives me the impression people are looking from the outside in. I have no idea if you folks have ever had thoughts about presenting this to research universities, or maybe you already have, but you really seem to be onto something.
I'll make games, great games, and i'll make them in a way that people learn how powerful they really are, how strong they are, that if they work to be happy and to get what they want, they'll always find that life is bright and wonderful if you look for the light. I promise. thanks a lot for the videos guys.
PLEASE make another video about some methods to go about "being welcomed back" to life. At this point, we well know the voids games fill and the potential we can reach, but no tried-and-true ways to go about that transformation. I've been "slowly withdrawing more and more into the world I can control" to the point where I'm outright failing every difficult test I take, but fortunately not as deep as James's old friends from Game Addiction Part 2. I'm not sure if digging through the forums would help enough, so please make a video about an aggregate of what some of us have done to shrink gaming-based time: a set of methods that most of us have successfully used.
You wrote that 6 months ago, so I hope you have an answer by now. However, if not, maybe I can help since I used to be in quite a similar predicament myself. Like they have been saying, video games fill a void, so it is all about identifying what that void is in your life, and finding something else to fill it in a more productive way. For me, it was just as the video said: lack of purpose, feeling like I mattered. I found a replacement in philosophy, both in reading books on it and writing stuff myself. If purpose, self-worth, or something along those lines is your void, highly recommend this route. Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Gay Science are two of my favorites, and definitely helped pull me out of the rut. A central idea is that life is all about growth, empowering yourself by developing yourself into the type of person you define as ideal. What you consider as ideal is entirely up for you to decide; similar to how certain medicines can help only certain types of people, certain paths in life can only help certain types of people. By creating your own ideal, and training to achieve that ideal, you are taking complete control over your life - you give your life it's meaning and purpose because it is in your control. Set real, tangible goals, and strive toward them every day step by step. In the part two, James' said how he treated his goals like quests - I did the same thing. Every step was a mission objective, and I documented my progress in a journal, so I could see what worked, what didn't work, and plan my future strategies. Eventually, I checked some objectives off the list and tried to find a new "mission." Unfortunately, what those goals are, have to be something for you to decide. You have to figure out where you can fit according to either the skills you have, or the skills you want. I found my place in politics. Decided I liked talking about political theory (due to the whole philosophy thing) and current issues going on, so I decided to join a political club on my college campus. I got super involved with all of our events, and wouldn't you know that the kid who was a super shy loser from K-12, who did nothing but play video games, ended up being club president. That was a real transformation for me. It's up to you to decide what it is you want to do. I know that is not as comforting as saying "do steps 1, 2,3" but trust me; when you come up with a plan, and you pull yourself out of the rut, it is the most empowering feeling you will ever have in your life. You will never need reassurance of how awesome you are after that. You will feel like a hero of the legends of old, like Heracles or Achilles. The best part is that it wasn't a scripted story someone else wrote, like a game; it was a story YOU wrote through your own greatness. And there's nothing wrong with being a Don Quixote. Life is a work of art; be the best protagonist you can be in the story YOU want to tell. Hope that helped any.
Someone commented this so im pasting it here because I think it may help others: "Here is some actual advice, not that pseudo-inspirational crap that people try to feed you. First ask yourself what are your interests, what are your strengths? Make a list a jot down everything that makes you, you. Your morals, your values, your issues, your loves, anything you can think of. Then do research on the different career fields out there. Lastly remember that you do matter. The secret to getting great at something is first finding a passion, then pursuing that passion, resisting negative influences both internal and external, and be patient. If you are truly passionate about something you will succeed if you stick with it, the problem is most people don't."
Unless your passion is to be a writer! Sorry, but for 99% of aspiring writers (the 1% being the idle rich and J K Rowling), writing has to be a hobby you do in your spare time while you earn money from something that isn't exactly your passion until you: a) finish a piece (which can take several years in itself) b) finish a good piece worth paying for (definitely takes several years unless you're some kind of genius, aka the JKR clause mentioned above) c) finish a good piece worth paying for that actually sells in such good numbers that you can live off the sales (by now you'd be approaching retirement age) It sucks, but such is life. From what I've understood, a lot of writers settles for being teachers in the meantime, possibly because of the overlapping passions Books and Explaining This Thing You Know/Exposition.
There are ways to make money as a writer that don't necessarily have to have you write a full length novel or write something "good." The problem is, it's Kindle erotica.
I love that extra credits was mature enough to throw in a Lesbian aspect into this animation an not even make any large note of it. Classy and well done! Nice to see that you don't just preach progress through medium, you act upon it
I've been binge-watching this channel for a while now, but this video...this caught me off guard. I've been introspective growing up but...this took me back. I'm a mess nowadays haha but I could never put my finger on exactly why I felt the way I did with as much articulation as this video has. You guys put into words what a lot of us gamers have been feeling, and you said it better than we ever could. I appreciate this so much as an introvert who has a really hard time making friends and being social in general because of my game compulsion. It also explains why I jumped back to my favorite childhood games when I got fired rather than finishing off the new game I'd been playing.
This was exactly what I needed to see and hear tonight. I came into this extremely depressed, afraid, and ashamed. My purpose in life is very much aligned with yours, and your videos always remind me what my real goal is, but tonight more than ever. It's so easy to let someone else tell you what your purpose is.
I get what he saying, but it tough to keep that outlook when your boss catch phrase is 'your replacable so work these extra hours or be replaced'. Not to mention how the job market is for smaller areas, having to keep a hold of what you have in order to make it day to day.
It is because society is so inhumane to so many people that it is _valuable_ for you to be kind to others, to be nice to cashiers, to smile and wave at the homeless rather than sliding your eyes across them, to hold doors open for other people. That one interaction can be what makes someone's day, week, or month. Yeah, it's terrible that society's baseline is set so low, but it also means that even low-hanging fruit like that can make a difference.
It's hard to go back in the world when it feels no one likes you or no one cares to support you. I find it hard and very uncomfortable to talk to people. I never thought about it this way before these videos but I admit that it is much easier just to withdraw in to my video games even though I feel like a drone doing so but frankly I don't care much about my self to try harder.
i heard a story, that some time after jfk announced the space race he visited florida launch site, and on his way to the platform he ordered his car to be stopped when he saw a man cleaning the road. he asked the man what he was doing, and the man replied "im helping the rocket launch". i cant remember where i heard the story, i cant even confirm that it happened, but its a resounding metaphor that i live my life by (among other things). the guy was cleaning the road, but without the clean and maintained road from the assembly bay to the launch pad the first test flights for the gemini program would not have gotten to the launch pad. there is always a bigger picture to whatever your job is. a cook gives us good food to enjoy, a programmer creates software that makes our lives easier, a film crew creates entertainment that we enjoy, and a person sweeping the road helped us get the images for the hubble space telescope, helped mankind step foot on the moon, and send voyager 2 past pluto (also that probe has tape drives.... and its in space... thats awesome in my book) its all a matter of the way you look at things. thats the lesson of the story, be it true or otherwise.
Nameguy Your burgers will feed the guys (or girls) who'll lead mankind to a new frontier. Or the parents of those people. Or someone who'll teach or otherwise equip those people. Point is, everything you do has a wide-reaching effect you may or may not be aware of. Nothing you do is meaningless, and thinking that way is the first step to a healthier state of mind.
Sam Schmidt But you are there. That means they found YOU important enough to put into that job, and considered YOU to be more vital than someone else. The guy cleaning the road is a dime a dozen job, but if nobody did that there'd be no rocket launch. Just because someone else can do the job you're doing right now doesn't mean you're not important. No, the fact that it's you doing the job is what's important.
Maybe the importance doesn't have to come from the job (and probably shouldn't, unless it's a very important job). Your job isn't the only thing you are. Sure, maybe just about anyone can learn to do the tasks any particular job requires, so "everyone in the world can be replaced" - at a job. But if you're looking at the definition or value of life as just being the job you do, that's pretty bleak. Your LIFE is what you do when you're NOT at your job, the stuff you earn money at your job to pay for, your identity is everything about who you are that's NOT your job title. That being said, every company, every manager, should do their best to communicate to their employees why their particular work matters, and how their work furthers the company's short and long-term goals. Not in too honest terms though, because nobody wants to hear that their labor is putting wealth into the pockets of their bosses and not their own.
A good way to think about life is to think about it ad a game. It's the most played game out there. It has the best graphics ever. It's free and it's very hard. The rules are so complicated, that players still don't know them all. The game doesn't receive updates from the creators, so the players make them. Yes, you don't matter, because you are in such a little scale, but players as a whole matter. And if you want any meaning, the meaning is simple: Go as far as you can. Reach your goals, then the next goals! Don't put yourself big goals, cut them into smaller goals and achieve them. Choices don't always matter, but choices don't always matter in games either.
Speaking of societal pressures, it might be a good idea for you guys to look into Japanese studies into the whole 'hikikomori' thing. The root causes seem to overlap in many ways and, well, hikikomori are also known for being otaku and gamers. So there might be a strong correlation, even if hikikomori is usually seen as a Japan-specific thing.
Well, it really is the same thing, exactly actually. It is about a gaining a sense of belonging when you can't find it in the real world. Like games, you can feel lost in it all, it can make you scared of reentry into the normal functioning of things. The door outside grows heavier. This isn't a lifestyle that people choose, but rather, it consumes them. The cause is the same. Society puts pressures on kids that they simply can't handle, they hide. I'm not a hikikomori, so I guess I'm not the best source, but I'm a bit tapped into the internet, so I've got friends in all walks of life. Anyway, it isn't like I don't understand how they feel. I sometimes feel like I'm so vocal on the internet because I don't feel like I'm allowed to speak in real life, but I think I have a lot to say. If I can come to the internet for that much, I know it can provide validation for an entire existence.
LunaLuckyLight I actually studied Hikikomori as a nonfiction writing project in college, because I perceived myself to be one of them. The phenomenon isn't quite the same. Gaming addiction is a replacement of what one lacks in life. Hikikomori is a refusal to accept life altogether. The pressures those kids are under, what we experience in the West is nothing compared to the almost impossibly rigorous expectations they have. And the worst thing about it is, no one will help them. Their parents tend to take on the mindset that if they just ignore the problem it'll go away eventually. Their son or daughter will just "get better." It's as though admitting there's a problem somehow makes it real, and it's seen as a weakness, both in the part of the family and of the child in question. For this reason it goes unchecked for years and years and years until you get forty year olds who only leave their rooms to go to the bathroom. Seriously. That's it. They stay confined to their rooms their entire lives. They just refuse to go out into the world, and they're completely, utterly alone.
This explains why I keep going back to videogames. Some days I don't feel like playing them but I just go to play them anyways. And I always keep wishing I was the main character of an epic tale like in the rpg's. But deep down I know its not true and it is kind of why I feel like shit some days and those days it feels like a weight just going through life.
This was meaningful and beautiful, I have tears welling up in my eyes. What you said is truth, and until now no one else has the understanding or honesty to articulate into words the things you have said about this problem and how far it goes. I hope you guys know that the work you do here makes a difference, and it changes lives. It's changed mine.
It seems that there should be some more academic terminology behind this, because a lot of the concepts brought forth in this video seem to follow the modern approach to sociology. The research may not be there now, but this talk lays out an appealing hypothesis for some of the factors behind game compulsion. All that is left would be to come up with a way to test this hypothesis in a scientific manner and publish the results. Seriously, this could be used for someone's doctoral thesis.
Indeed. Far too often, the biggest problem in sociology and psychology is the very textbook, Pavlovian approach to behavior and thought, with too much things that absolutely MUST be so basic that the concepts are simple enough to be seen and tested on animals... That's a very big problem since humanity has very much escaped most of the pressures and drives of nature on a primal level (as in most of our basic needs can be easily covered given participation in society in general), which presents us with FAR more relevant issues on a self-awareness level. The natural consequence of the "self-esteem" movement and drive is the realization later in maturity that while throughout ALL their life up until that point they've been told they matter, when they suddenly have to ask the question *WHY* do they matter, nobody can know for sure since everyone is different. I really think we need to refocus on specialization and proper discrimination when working with students to drive and to succeed, we can't just tell them that they're "special", we have to help MAKE them special and put actual effort into cultivating talents and interests so that we won't end up with a generation that has no idea what anything means and nobody knows how to run the huge bureaucratic systems that have been put into place to allow employers to become lazy and impersonal in their hiring, rapidly resulting in a society where nobody knows how to do anything and ushering in a new Dark Age...
NotAGoodUsername360 Just a couple of corrections: I believe you are referring to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs in your first paragraph. Pavlovian conditioning is in an entirely different realm from Maslow. Also, Pavlovian conditioning applies specifically to conditioning an uncontrollable and unrelated response to occur when a specific stimulus is introduced by associating it with the stimulus that elicits the uncontrollable response naturally. It's effects are much more interesting when considering its effects on the subconscious than in testing conditions. I apologize for the lengthy psychobabble. Please, carry on.
TheRunningRoman You're right, there, the hierarchy of needs DOES apply, though I don't entirely agree with that particular model as for one it is based entirely on exemplary examples by Maslow's own admission (due to an erroneous belief that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy," when in fact it is the exceptions that truly define the rule). While all things on that list are indeed things for which humans strive for, they are NOT in a clearly defined hierarchy as Maslow claimed, even within their own tier of needs. There are countless examples of parents living in poverty that go hungry in order to feed their loved ones and/or children, as well as tons of examples of socially isolated narcissists who truly only care about themselves, completely skipping over the Safety and Love/belonging and heading straight on into Esteem and Self-actualization. Furthermore, as Maslow lists sex as a Physiological need, as well as security of the family as a Safety need and sexual intimacy as a Love/belonging need, the existence of asexuals even further calls the hierarchy into question. As for what I meant by Pavlovian conditioning, I was more or less referring to the notion in sociology and psychology that *all* human behavior can be explained and replicated given a specific set of stimuli at specific intervals, based solely on the success of Pavlovian conditioning and Skinner boxes. Yes, we humans do posses those psychological attributes, but we interestingly have the ability to overcome and override our compulsions given enough time and effort- simply ask anyone who has battled ANY form of addiction or someone who is coping with Tourettes, ADHD, and/or OCD. Human reasoning is, in my opinion, severely underestimated in modern psychological studies and needs to be re-imagined- that is, we need to "think outside the Skinner box" (apologies that this response is so late, I completely forgot about it)
I don't personally suffer from game addiction, but a lot of the stuff touched on in this episode is going on in my life. I just wanted to tell you that the message is inspiring.
Game compulsion is hard. I suffered from it when I was young (I'm 23 and a father of two now.) Now I can see how my choices shaped my future, but back then (about ten years ago) all I could see is that no-one cared enough about me or my skills. I just wanted to say it does get better. You will find your reason to matter. If you want help from me just message me and I'll be happy to help.
I praise you for your portrayal of this topic. You hit everything to the nail, on the correct spot, to the correct last nail on a house. This goes along with I believe a hundred percent.
*sigh* This video almost made me cry... Here is a little story for peoples here... A few weeks back, I had just finished my mock GCSEs. My grades were about A/B which only needed some improvement to get up to the expected As and a few A*. To get back into my school, I needed 7Bs and As in the subjects I wanted to do in A level so I had achieved that. But the other thing was to get Bs in maths and also a B in either English lit or lang. I got Es in both. I had revised loads for my exams and for the damned subject that I hated but worked on I got bad grades. I was told that I would be doing a foundation paper, which would limit me to a C. I cried. I'm 15, a boy and cried. But, they did say if I worked over the Xmas holiday on this grammar book and completed it in the two weeks ( the book was a full textbook which would take much longer than 2 weeks in school to get through). Now, in Xmas time when I should be merry I have to work my arse off to change my life. Now, to put it into a little more context I wanted to go to sixth form then do a degree in computer science or A.I. programming. The A levels I would be able to do but this one little grade would stop that and block my career path completely. The exam I felt was marked unfairly as the computer I used ( I have hypermobile joints in my arm, makes it much harder to write) sometimes did not respond to when I hit they keys. Also notepad is hard to use as all of the lines are super close and trying to spot spg errors is hard. Feeling powerless as I have complained several times to teachers about it but are only cleaning the keyboard which won't help at all with the problem I found myself playing games. If you are wondering I have told as little as possible to parents as my mom has just finished chemo but has problems with her arms as they swell up if she does not wear the gloves and has knee problems and gets hot flushes often, and gets worse with stress so I don't want to stress her. Even though they said to do the workbook I think it will not matter as they have said they might put me back on the higher paper, and they will probably not care as my English teacher does not like me using the laptop as whenever I use one for an exam it gets marked low but handwritten it gets more marks even though my writing is not even legible at times. I don't know what to ask for but games really do fill the purpose and even all of the grinding in real life may be for nothing, and I don't get checkpoints.
What subjects do you want to do at A-Level? I did chemistry, biology and physics and when I was doing my A-levels I was immensely hooked on World of Warcraft. I was massively hooked while i was doing my GCSEs but luckily managed to get the grades I needed. I spent most of my physics classes talking to my friend about lore and raid mechanics and that kind of stuff and ended up learning pretty much jack all in physics, I ended up getting CCE instead of BBB like I was predicted and didn't get into the university that I wanted to. I ended up at Keele Uni doing Biochemistry and Chemistry and managed to turn everything around, I quit playing games all the time and have since graduated and I'm now doing a PhD. The moral of this is that you shouldn't worry too much about doing it all in the first try. A friend of mine failed his A-levels and instead went to college and did computer science, a few years later he has graduated from university with a 1st class degree and now works as a software engineer at BT. Do your best now, and if you fail there are other routes. While it might take an extra 1 or 2 years, you will get there, as long as you don't give up on your goals. Good luck
I wanted to do Computer science, Maths economics as A levels, and then business studies to AS and in those subjects I am over-achieving. IT's just english that i need to do
How's it going for you now it's been 3 years? I did my GCSEs last year and let's just say my grades weren't exactly in the same league as yours were lol. I remember I had no interest in school, didn't care about what grades I came out with, so I never showed up except for my exams and didn't do any revision, just played CS GO really (nearly hit semi-pro level, totally worth it) so I ended up only passing English Language, got the equivalent of a D in maths with the new grading system and the rest were Es and Fs. I thought I was properly screwed after this however, this year I've been doing a couple level 2 BTEC courses (GCSE equivalent) and retaking my maths exams, then next year I'm doing level 3 BTECs which are A level equivalent so I should be back on track after these. I don't regret fucking up my GCSEs though, I had a much better time playing games and enjoying the summer with the people I had around me then.
The first part about not feeling important in the world due to the fact that our jobs seem meaningless, is EXACTLY what Karl Marx was talking about when he was talking about the concept of "alienation".
This has been one of the most relevant episodes Extra Credits, amidst the other great content, has delivered. I'm cognizant of what lead me to my compulsion, why I still am, and how its helped and hindered me. I love games but games really have altered the course of my life, for better and for, unfortunately more, worse. It hits close to home for me and, I think, a lot of us. Thank you EC.
So, I'm an intelligent (by my standards) person. I am still young (only 14) but I have very little friends. In my mind, my life goes on its course but I still think it is spiralling out of control. What's worse, I am usually depressed. Now you may think that I turn to games for this. I wish. I come from a relatively poor family so I have a computer but it's not great. At all. My problem is that most games that are free I can't run because the minimum requirements don't fit my computer or I just don't like that kind of game. Most of the games I have and can play are just singleplayer. This is where I have a problem. I'm emotionally, socially and psychologically confused and excluded. I can't even turn to games for my problem. I feel (and in some ways _know_) that I am becoming worse and worse in school. I only have one or two friends who I have been close with, but I can't even play with them because my computer is too bad to handle the games they play. I'd ask for help, but I'm probably just going to get hate and "Go get a life" and stuff. So I'll just leave it here. Sorry to bore you with my story. Editing this in here: We are in a financial problem and it is an infinite loop. My mother goes to work, where she works around eight or nine hours a day, most of the time more. This leads to stress and fatigue. When she sleeps, my dog wakes her up in the middle of the night, leading to less rest. However, she cannot take a day off work because we are struggling with money problems, so she goes to work and it leads to fatigue, etc etc.
Dovah Realize how awesome your life is and take advantage of the huge potential locked within you. Urge your momma to improve her human capital and get a better job. I am 18 and already have upgraded jobs twice. Value yourself, improve yourself. Become a better version than you are now and eventually all the word will bow down to you. Stars are gigantic farts compared the the sheer awesomeness that is your life.
armando dane The only thing I am good at is spelling and grammar. That's about it. As for my mother, she does not have the qualifications for a better job, so she works on minimum wage (£6.50 in England).
Dovah there are tens of thousands of better jobs out there for her all she has to do is improve her human capital. help her write a decent resume. I used to earn Minimum wage 3 months ago too; now I have better job. look at your local businesses and find out if you can provide them with something, anything. improve your human capital or chase an entrepreneurial dream. you live in a country whose entrepreneurs conquered the world for Gd's sake!
Thanks for this EC. Not suffering from game compulsion right now but finally got some grip on why in certain periods of my life I've isolated myself. Realized why I never fully took the road James talked about and it nearly brings me to tears because I realize it's because of a group of very special people in my life that I'll definitely appreciate a lot more now. I'm really happy where I am in life right now and now I see much better how big of a role they've played in making this happen to me.
Wow, you really nailed it. I've never heard or read anyone saying gaming addiction/compulsion that way, and it actually makes sense! I think this is an argument that offers a very stable, unbiased point of view. I really love your videos! This reason for not losing oneself in the game and the way you explained gaming compulsion is really spot on! I've never felt this understood! Thank you for sharing your wonderful view with the world.
I have played a lot as a child / teen. I had the time and I didn't get bored of Mario Party or Banjo-Kazooie, even after playing it for the millionth time. Still, I don't consider it a waste of time. Games taught me some useful skills. My understanding of 3D space, finding orientation in an environment, is really good. And when I tried Let's Playing, I began to come out of my shell. I've always been the quiet guy. Good grades, but socially awkward. And just talking about what I'm playing on video helped me be more open and actually open my mouth. Even just after one month this had improved by a lot. It didn't matter how many people watched it, as long as I got something personal out of it. And I also started making hacks, 2D and 3D, giving me first opportunities to learn about some design aspects. Then time went on and about 2 years ago my life went off a cliff (not going into details here) and it's been a struggle since. So I started programming a game in Unity. And it was like therapy. A long time goal that kept me going. I worked on it for months (it's called Disobey Me, if anyone cares. You can find a demo online) and then... people didn't really like it. So at one point I stopped working on it and I felt that I was on that downward spiral again. So I started working on a new game 6 months ago and it works just as good in terms of providing a goal I can work towards. And who knows, maybe this one will be successful? And if not, I may just start a third one. Besides, it's good practice for programming and I've gotten more dedicated to the design of the game (both what you think of design and designing an architecture for the program, i.e. classes and their relations). I'm certain this'll help me with my job that I'm starting in July. It's not the same programming language, but still. And I know that the rest of the year will be more utter struggle for me and that I will never get back on top of that cliff my life fell off of, but I also know that there are ways to motivate me even at the very bottom.
This is sorta why we hate quick time events. This also reminded me of a DW quote. "900 years of time travel, and I've never met someone who wasn't important." The Doctor.
I'm glad that you guys decided to revisit this topic. It is definitely one that deserves a lot of discussion. I have often questioned my purpose. I tend to think too much, get lost in thought about such grandiose ideas. I don't feel like my job is really that important in the big scheme of things, but I do find happiness and a place inside my family. And that's enough for me to keep going.
This is so like me. I am getting worse grads these days cause the day i actually learn that french, the test gets cancelled.And i see the cycle of bad grade->games-> Not learning-> bad grades sometimes, but its mostly that i not not getting aproved, its more i get disaproved and that if i try another way than games and sucking in disaprovel i get disapproved or cant put aside the disaprovell of the day(Have i lost you there? I lost my self too)
Not going to lie, nearly started crying. This basically described my depression for a while and even though I'm doing better now, things like this still give me a bittersweet smile.
I'm a nihilist. What i don't understand is why so many people NEED to have a purpose--some sort of destiny they're supposed to fill. Just live your life how you want to. Make your own goals and reach them. Life is going to occasionally shit on you, but just keep going: you just got unlucky. Realizing there's no overall purpose shouldn't be depressing, it should be freeing.
Brandon Fedie But if there's no overall purpose, what's the need to struggle through life? I have it way easier than most, and despite that I end up constantly on the verge of giving up. I have no reason to be here, why should I keep going? What drives you, when nothing in existence matters?
RobTheGeek What drives me? I've only got one chance at life. There's no purpose I need to fulfill, but billions of years of cosmic coincidence led to me being here. I might as well make the most of it while I can. When I die, I want to do it in my sleep. I want to be dead before I even realize I'm dying--before I have a chance to regret anything. What happens after I'm dead is irrelevant: I won't be around to see it. I don't need my life to be extraordinary, just satisfactory.
Brandon Fedie That's the danger. Maybe some people WANT to live out their lives in a basement wasting away as long as that strange sense of want is complete. As said before, games are very, *very* good at filling that void. To believe you don't have that void would either mean you don't completely understand what a sense of purpose actually means, or you are in plain denial. The danger is believing it doesn't exist. The worst kind of punch is the one you never see coming.
Enid Redden I filled that void a while ago when I realized that there's nothing forcing me to do something specific, so I can do whatever I want. My purpose in life is to enjoy the short time I have here. Fundamentally, that's all I need.
Thank you for this video. Gaming compulsion was always a problem for me, even as a child. Over 10 years had past ever since the start. I didn't play games in the beginning just because it was fun, but also because I was able to forget reality because of it. I was an odd child. I could've sworn that I was born too late. I made only a few friends, and even afterwards I would lose them whenever summer break comes because they would forget all about me. This might've been the start to everything. I remember calling out to a friend. Because of past experiences, I became less social, and forgot my friend's name. I don't remember the exact words, but when I asked for his name again, he treated me like I was a horrible person. Now, because of this, I'm traumatized with names now. I rather not risk saying the name at all in case I get it wrong and be hated for it. And this was over 10 years ago. I'm 15 right now, and I'm gonna be 16 next month. This is still going on even today. I also had other things that had pushed me towards gaming as well. I was isolated at first, then I was bullied. The isolation began in 3rd grade lasted for 2 years, but weakened the next year. It took 3 years just for people to even get close to me now. As for the bullying, it was the worst year of my life. It started when I was in the 4th grade. I was picked on and was even hit. Everyone in my class knew what was going on; they've definitely seen it. But, no one wanted to help me. I didn't know much back then, so I was probably hated even before the isolation began. Well' that's what I believe. Of course, games were what led me out of those years of hell. The games I played were free-to-play PC games. They were really enjoyable, and most of all, had good communities. I would always see at least one person I can talk to; a person I could actually communicate and have fun with. Then we would make parties and go on and enjoy ourselves. The games were fun, and made my years easier to go through, but of course, it still didn't solve anything. I was still traumatized with a stupid thing like names, and I wasn't able to become social at all. I thought, even subconsciously, from the beginning of it all to now, that my life meant nothing. I've led a horrible life up to this point. So, again, thanks for this video so much. I literally cried for 15 minutes because of this. I am even crying while I write this paragraph. I am truly grateful for you and this video. Thank you.
Need a goal in life? Fun. Joy. Giving other people those feelings. If you job is not meant to allow people to have joy, then maybe it's not a job anyone should do. If you spend your free time doing something that does not make people happy, does not make yourself happy, or does not allow people to have fun when they otherwise couldn't... do something else. Live for fun.
I have to say, going into this video, I wasn't expecting to be as emotionally impacted as I was. Before going in, I was questioning why I bothered doing anything at all because I felt like nothing I did ended up mattering. As if anyone else could fill the void that I fill. But now, after seeing this video, you've given me a clean perspective on life. I'm me and I decide what my destiny is and my story matters. Thank you, Extra Credits. Thank you so much.
Just as a general comment. The 'casualization' of games many of us decry (and are flamed for in return) - this is a big part of it. People being serious about the charge tend to claim that changes are made to pander to impulsive needs of novelty and ego boosts at the cost of core elements that make the game worthwhile in the long run. This is done normally by making things easier and more convenient for people that are just starting or minimally playing. The typical form of 'convenience change' is freeing people from commitment. Commitments of class and commitments of specialization - giving people pre-leveled champions, or allowing them to change from being a healer to a dps to a tank to a support at the drop of a hat, with no wait time or in-game cost or equipment limitations. The impulsive part of everybody wants to be able to do all the things at once. But the unseen side-effect is that it erodes the pride and purpose in the original role you play. When everyone can do pretty much everything, and everyone is thrown into a huge matchmaking pool, the personal sense of independent worth diminishes, community breaks down, the personal brand and confidence of your chosen role is eroded, and the overall interaction with the game falls apart. In a growing market with no realistic competitor, anybody wonder why WoW has lost over 40% of its player base (12 million down to 7 million)? Sure people get lives and quit and move on - but a lot more just quit because the game doesn't seem that great anymore. A large part of that is the erosion of any individualism and sense of purpose.
This really helped me so much... Life has been feeling less and less in my control, so I began to resort to gaming as I use to when I was younger and began to fall into this bubble from the world again.
This is a realization I've had over the past year or so, that I have no sense of purpose and that I retreat to games because of it. What I absolutely don't know, however, is how to move on. Realizing I'm stuck and doing something about it are two different things, one of which I can't seem to figure out. All this realization seems to be doing to me is drive me away from the games I used to love so much, because they now too seem pointless and unappealing to me, as they too get me nowhere in life. I'm depressed, slightly agoraphobic, and I'm stuck in my parent's 'basement'. And even this confuses me. I've know for a loooong time that 'nothing I do will ever really matter', and I've always had the mindset of 'well if it doesn't matter, then just enjoy the ride'. I do the things I think I like, but they don't satisfy. Maybe not anymore, maybe they never really did. What I just can't figure out is where to go now. Every day I'm "bored" as I can't find things to do, so I just sit down behind my pc and fuck around on games or the internet. And sometimes I do find something that'll keep me interested and occupied for a while, but in the end the next day will just be the same. I feel stuck, with no one around me to really help me. I'd like to get a job but I've no clue where to start. Working something menial always seemed appalling to me, but then, what does that leave for someone with only a finished highschool education? A job at burger king is starting to become more and more appealing as I just sit here 'rotting'. I think about this stuff every day. But actually doing something about it.. I just can't.
Start with an education. Get your college degree, and you will have a whole new world opened up to you in the process. Also, it should be obvious, but get a job. Even if it's a terrible one, just do it while you look for a better one. You'll gain xp, skills (side quests), and contacts (allies) that will help you in the big Boss Fight of life, middle age. You can have what you want, just go out and start. Good luck to you.
+Nathan Harting If middle age is the boss, then what's old age? Also, I suppose that means religion and big bang stuff are the credits... Crap, this all fits too well...
These are far and away the most intelligent and well reasoned arguments I have heard on RU-vid. Thank god someone linked your penny arcade show to me, and thanks for setting a good example.
Hmm… It’s odd, but that seems to be one of the strange disadvantages of living in a free society. Humans crave purpose, goals that are set for us to achieve. In a free society, however, no one assigns us a meaningful, life-long purpose. If someone tries, we are often encouraged to choose our own path, or not let our lives be defined by one single thing. While letting people choose what to dedicate their life to is noble, people that can’t decide, or worse, devalue the importance of each possible choice because it is “optional”, can fall in the worst of ways. I could see that that lack of purpose could possibly lead to things like addiction, cults, or otherwise falling out of society. I suppose it is up to all of us to try to inspire a dream or passion in people to give people meaningful ways to choose how to live their lives. And try to encourage our society to be fair enough to welcome people in, rather than discard them down into a spiral of disenfranchisement.
Extra Credits, you've really outdone yourselves with this episode. I like it that this is more about psychology and sociology than actual just games. Yeah, I know that's what you always do, but this time, you just reached a higher level. I like how you just diagnosed a society flaw, a hole in our hearts due to society, while talking about games. And that's awesome.
I don't think so, you don't know the entire society, not even the people living in your city. If a small group of people, like your co-workers or schoolmates rejects you, it doesn't mean you'll never get a friend anymore, or that they were the only people you could sympathize with and now everything's fucked. Just go meet someone different, join a group guitar course, ANYTHING, and you will know a new person.
Well "society", as you might have noticed, is kinda going down the toilet. Being rejected by society is not the curse that society would like you to think it is. Find people who do care, and quit bothering yourself about those who are too close-minded to try to understand. And laugh as society gets pwned by it's own creations. Society only has power over you, if you allow it to.
Fexghadi (european) University was a life changer for me, theres always people you can connect with. unless they inscribe in a different master and dont bother to contact you a 'single' time. oh man I really need to get active
that was so powerful... that struck so many chords and hit me on so many levels. this is why extra credits is one of the most incredible shows of all time... thank you EC!
I realize the last comment before this was made 3 months prior, but I want anyone who sees this comment to know that the description The Nekomancer (see his comment below) gives of addiction is well meaning but rudimentary and very dehumanizing. The definition of addiction is as follows: "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma." The implication here is that if one were to quit an addiction, it would cause them physical harm. Nobody, at least in documented medical science, has suffered from physiological damage from stepping away from video games. My hypothesis is that video games cannot cause addiction because they do not directly introduce a chemical agent that alters the brain. One cannot become addicted to dopamine because it is a native compound to the human body that is designed to be regulated by internal processes to maintain homeostasis. If the body were to somehow become addicted to dopamine itself, it would be due to a failure of the body itself; NOT from a foreign source. In psychology (which relates to this topic), the definition of compulsion is as follows: "a strong, usually irresistible impulse to perform an act, especially one that is irrational or contrary to one's will." Conventional education hasn't taught me about the physiology of compulsion, but I'd wager that this phenomena has less to do with the hardware of the brain (chemicals) and is rooted more in the daily interactions that occur in the people that suffer from it. To The Nekomancer; the use of "compulsion" instead of "addiction" is appropriate because addiction carries implications with it that would do nothing to help people who suffer through this condition. A video game can no more reach into your mind and cause harm to your psyche than could a very bad movie. As long as you have the psychological conditioning to understand the difference between fantasy and reality, neither can hurt you.
Zift Ylrhavic Resfear Eh, I think my point would be lost on him. His comment struck me as condescending and willfully ignorant, but I've learned that arguments don't really get anywhere on RU-vid so I'd rather not actively seek a fight. I felt that his comment was very misinforming so my comment is an attempt to correct it.
Rabidchu They actually altered their opinion once someone else commented. So I think maybe you should have read the comment thread and saw what they said.
KittyKatKatrinaAndCo That's always a good decision. I'm in the middle of a paradigm shift; there are still a few pangs of reactionary jackass that I'm trying to shake off from my psyche. Thank you for letting me know.
I'm dumbstruck with that Void reference at 2:32 ... An extremely few amount of people know and have played that game, much less enjoyed its strange and abstractly ethereal universe. My respect for your knowledge and appreciation for the artistic endeavour of games has just increased ten fold. I may even watch every episode now.
this has been an entirely down to earth series dealing with some heavy issues. im glad to have watched it. the series as whole has given me a lot to think about , thank you for making the content that you do
+DigitalZ Why? Just because there's a cobbler in the clip? Well of course! And so is every other cobbler in existence. Past, present and future. Fictional or otherwise.
I'm being EXTREMELY hypocritical by mentioning this, and I almost didn't want to say anything, but a little after 3:00, Dan mentions that "... you can't be with that girl you like 'cause you're not good enough at talking to people..." (that was really out of context, but I'll assume you've seen the whole video). "That girl" is dressed in blue, and talking to another blue-clad boy. The person who wishes to be with "that girl" is green and anxious-looking. She (the girl in green) wants to be with another woman. And no one is offended by thus; it looks like no one even noticed (according to the comments, which are always 100% unquestionably truthful every time since forever). It's like everyone here has knocked down the homosexual barrier and are so okay with homosexuality that they don't even think it needs addressing. And you know what? That's great. That makes me happy. Good job, EC audience. Even saying this makes me a little uncomfortable, but I'm much more proud of the EC community than embarrassed right now. So, I said it. Thumbs up, y'all.
This is so right on. I mean, I feel like I can understand to a scaled degree. I felt that way when I first learned to RP online back in high school. But once I found my friends and found others that were not only into the same things I was but also wanted to find that ID in society, I feel that I was on my way. And today, 15 years later, I couldn't be happier. I still consider myself on standby to watch for the next pack that storms in my way ready to help if I am so needed to inspire.
The whole part of purpose and clear rules is spot on! As a boardgamer and computer gamer I have come to realize that the feeling of correlation between my action and the results is one of the main reason I love games.
Yes, yes, yes... a thousand times yes. This has larger implications than just games... feeling disconnected from society, feeling that nothing you do matters is, I believe, the root cause of much of society's break down. Why is there so much hate, crime, vandalism, and other problems, and so little community involvement, charity, and participation in community today? This is the cause... when you don't feel that it really matters if you ever existed, that's a serious problem. And this issue affects so many more people than you would imagine. This doesn't just affect malcontents; there are many people who hold down a job, have a spouse, and a family, and yet still feel an emptiness in society today. That horror that, if you were to die, or never have been born that the world would not care one bit. It's not true, but just that's how life can feel many times. It's really hard to see how your life matters in this world. So many people retreat from community at the realization of this... and games provide the involvement we need. We as individuals desperately need to feel that we matter, but it is so hard to see how you contribute anything in many cases in society today. In this way game compulsion is only a symptom of this larger problem.
Gamers can never help me find my "true love", get a better job or such. Our world is pointless and simply crap, the struggle we do is back to basic survival exept for the rich that sit on the rest of us. I play games cause its one of the few things worth doing in this age of lies and corruption.
+Glenn Jonsson If you stop caring about the difference between fantasy and reality, then you can find your true love in games, and thanks to the Japanese you can actually "date" them.
Wow. Really powerful stuff. I'm pretty sure that you guys just described my whole high school experience. Go to school, get good grades, go home, play games. My purpose is still something I'm looking for, but I have a better idea of what it is compared to a couple years ago. Great episode as usual!
This hit really close to home. I got to the point at one stage were I was bordering on depression and suffering from anxiety. I used games to attempt to make me feel better, but I just felt out of place in society for nearly all of the reasons they mentioned here.
I love the little photos in the background, especially the references to Breaking Bad and Arrested Development. Thanks for putting that extra effort into the videos!
I empathize and understand this so much. I don't know how to talk to people, even online. Very few people stick around to even say hello, or ask me how my day went. My parents were never the empathetic sort. Sometimes it's just easier to be alone. I wish I knew a way to find happiness socially in some way. To have the courage to go into the workplace.
It just dawned on me; but when then outro paragraphs read: "Don't think of your time spent playing games as 'wasted'... you're not too far behind..." I immediately thought in response, "I'm playing Life with a handicap."
Awesome episode. Thans a lot guys, I'm not dealing with game compulsion myself exactly, but I'm just getting out of depression and this thing made my eyes well up. You guys are awesome, keep up the great work!
Man, I have those feelings since I enrol to university. Before that I thought I can do that and now it seems so hard. It would be easy to surrender, but than I´d lost that purpose (as I want to be a teacher). I feel threaten by the society and think everything is hopeless. I so like this show, it examines things and ideas so deep and meaningful. It is like philosophing almost. I love it.
