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agsr

ESCAPE TO ANOTHER WORLD 

As video games get better and job prospects worse, more young men are dropping out of the job market to spend their time in an alternate reality. Ryan Avent suspects this is the beginning of something big

https://www.1843magazine.com/features/escape-to-another-world

WhyTrump

As video games and virtual reality are getting better, it is becoming unhealthy. It is disturbing to hear about impact on the job market.

MayCaesar

Video games are a medium. Just like books, movies, theater plays or music, it can be used for different purposes. Some games have incredible plots and deep philosophical ideas. Other games are there just to let people "kill time". Other games still can be used to escape less attractive real life.

I think that, at least, until virtual reality starts imitating the complexity of real life well, this is not something to be concerned about. When, however, it will be easy to enclose yourself in a very realistically-looking virtual world, with all 5 senses simulated perfectly - then there will be little reason for people to stay in the real world, with all its limitations and dark sides. At that point, it is hard to say what it will evolve into.

Outplayz

@agsr

You only have two options and both options could be true. Anything taken over moderation is bad which in turn could be a detriment to society. Overall, i would say video games are good. They work out the mind and most games push people's thinking to the limit. I can tell who has a low iq and who has a high iq just from having them on my team in a team based strategy game (moba's specifically). Plus, the motivation you have in being number 1 or winning games can transfer into your daily life. So in conclusion, from my experience, i would say games are a good thing.   

Nathaniel_B

Video games are not bad, but fortnite is garbage.

Outplayz

@Nathaniel_B

I'm currently a MOBA player "League of Legends/Mobile Legends". Before that counter strike and COD were my favorites. Overwatch too. 

Agility_Dude

Too much of anything can be bad, and video games tend to be addicting. I can testify to that myself. I wouldn't call it a threat to society but I do think that they are bad. It would be like a robber as opposed to 9/11 hijacks. One is bad, another is a threat to society.

However, violent video games might pose a threat. Games like GTA 5 numb the guilt of violent behaviors, incenvitizing people to commit violent acts out of anger with less remorse for their actions. That could be worst case a threat to society if they are played by younger gamers, making the numbing hardwired into their heads.

Outplayz

@Agility_Dude

I have never gotten the urge to shot someone and i own a lot of guns and have played a lot of violent shooters... years worth. Japan has the highest gamer base... higher than the U.S. i think by triple or double and they have among the lowest violent homicide rate in the world. Therefore, games leading to violence can be debunked. 

I will agree that games are "addicting" bc they are fun. Driving is addicting if you have fun, basketball, soccer, hiking, etc. Gaming has the same addiction and chance of abuse as anything that is fun. Are games bad overall, no. Are games good overall, no. It's just entertainment and that's all. 

averyapro

Truly, it depends on what you think video games are threatening. If you think they are threatening kids weight and healthy I agree but if you are saying it threatens violence and the safety of children then I highly disagree. For me, playing video games is a nice distraction off of everything in the real world such as school, sports, etc. I truly love playing video games like COD, Spider-Man, Fortnite, etc. Shooter games really excite me because of the competition there is and just unlocking a bunch of new stuff. When I might be upset over something or stressed out usually playing video games help take my mind off of that because it's just easy to have fun and get addicted to the game. 

WordsMatter

Like many other things if you overdo it then it's harmful to yourself and society, via loss of productivity. South Korea has rehab center for video game addiction because kids there will spent literally weeks doing nothing but video games and resist others attempts to get them to do anything else. If you can get your done and then play video games your good. If it gets in the way of goals or necessities then it's an addiction and harmful.

Pieter

Video games are fun, and when used in moderation, they're quite healthy.

Most of the time, however, video games are being used as a distraction, and many young men and women waste away their lives behind a play station.

Zombieguy1987

Pieter said:

Video games are fun, and when used in moderation, they're quite healthy.

Most of the time, however, video games are being used as a distraction, and many young men and women waste away their lives behind a play station.

so............ YouTubers who play video games for a living are wasting their lives?

theperfectfriend

Here's a better question "Is it the time now that begs this question?"  Sometimes it best to let the generation reflect.

theperfectfriend

@Zombieguy1987 Wouldn't that depend on the child?

SilverishGoldNova

Nathaniel_B said:

Video games are not bad, but fortnite is garbage

Finally someone else who,  doesn't play ing fortnite.

RS_master

I believe video games are threats because it spoils peoples mental health. It prevents strengthening of physical health. Video games also are bad for the environment. Some teenagers sometimes even drop out from schools and lock themselves in rooms only to play video games for 13 hours a day. 

AlexOland

 I am a huge puzzle game nerd and I think games like these provide us another way of exploring reality. Just like how exploring mathematical ideas is not a waste of time even if the ideas get too abstract, exploring these imaginary sets of rules and their implications - I think - can even be healthy for us. 

 Yeah, we will (probably) never magically teleport into a 2d universe where our whole purpose is to push boxes onto "X" marks like in sokoban but this does not mean sokoban does not hold a certain reality within it. These abstract ideas that puzzle games introduce allow us to explore certain parts of reality. And whether these certain parts of reality are useful to us or not is irrelevant. What matters is that we are exploring reality and gaining an understanding.

TKDB

My take on this question:

"Are video games a healthy distraction or a threat to our society?"

https://amp-usatoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/98292922?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQA#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/02/23/gamer-dies-22-hours-into-marathon-live-stream/98292922/ 

"Gamer dies 22 hours into marathon live stream

ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG MOORE | NEWSER STAFF | 9:21 am EST February 23, 2017

(NEWSER) – It started as just another day at the office for Brian "Poshybrid" Vigneault, a 35-year-old gamer known to spend multiple days in a given week live-streaming himself playing the game World of Tanks for 20-plus hours straight."

"This time, however, the Virginia Beach father of three got up to smoke a cigarette 22 hours into his stream about 4:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 19 and never returned.

People figured he fell asleep, but when a friend sent a message the next day, the response came from a police detective investigating his death, reports Kotaku. "

"The exhausted-looking father of three had been streaming on the gaming platform Twitch to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and PCGames reports he'd been doing similar marathon gaming streams over the past few weeks.

While the cause of Vigneault's death hasn't been determined, PVP Live reports that much of the speculation centers on sleep deprivation and related heart complications.

The site notes that big-name streamers have been complaining about the pressure they feel to go for longer and longer stretches, and Vigneault was known for chain-smoking and drinking during his own sessions.

Vigneault's death is being mourned online, with the moderators of his Twitch stream turning his channel into a memorial. "

Maybe a health study could be conducted, on some voluntary gamers, who play video games, for hours at a time, to see how their blood pressure is doing, maybe some lab work, to check on the health of their blood, and their heart, and maybe, listen to their heart, and lungs, while playing a video game at the same time?

Some people can develop blood clots, from sitting for long hour's?

WebMD, has a lot of information on their website.