Game addiction

I personally estimate my runtime on my waking hours in my whole life have revolved into a lot of video gaming, especially this one - Elderscrolls V: Skyrim

I don’t know how good or bad video games are to us as a society. I credit my fast physical and cognitive reflexes due to the need of quick reward systems fused to holding a gaming controller or having high technical knowledge with computer programming because of my deep understanding of how virtual realities work - I have no way of improving myself in these areas and have no substitutes that I know of that I can to replace the postitive learning loop. But playing so much NBA 2K seasons, moving around the world of Skyrim and other role playing games and not to mention a skirmishing a lot of maps in Modern Warfare - these have caused me vital relationships and huge amounts of time. Hmmmm.

But I guess fundamentally as humans, we are wired to fight and compete and video games are a great venue to do that without risking too much and with tremendous amount of freedom. This enables a huge chunk of learning potential if harnessed properly. The downside of too much dopamine infused in a system is the tendency of a learning loop to become addictive and become a negative reinforcement instead of becoming a net benefit. I’ve seen this happen to people, even people close to me. The mania or false optimism of being constantly rewarded in a virtual box created huge effects, and even destroyed relationships and lives. An addiction, it is the risk of everything getting out of moderation or balance.

I guess, I have controlled my addiction with video games and have figured out its use instead of it coding an addictive habit in my brain. I need to constantly guard myself as well since I’m still doing some. Harnessing its benefits makes me still interact with it, as my overall objective includes training the autonomous part of the brain where gaming is hugely beneficial. I am cappping the downsides of it through my daily routine.

A bit out of my recent topics related to the coronavirus but I needed to write some thoughts on this as it is highly beneficial for me to reflect on how I am and should perceive video games as an activity. Also, I should talk about that daily routine as it can help others tackle a lot of daily “mundane” tasks.