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A link between video games and unemployment

economist.com

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Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#31

Post by noonespecial »

GuiA wrote: post #11

There is an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" where Charlie, a character who never gets any success in life (a janitor living in a dump of an apartment, gets rejected by his love interest constantly, abused by his friends, etc) gets really engrossed in an online videogame. He becomes really good at it, and exclaims "I'm thriving! I never get to thrive, and I want to be the guy who thrives for once! It's…

Video games also provide a quality sorely lacking in real life. They try very hard to prevent cheating, because if there's too much cheating, or too much inequality between players, no one will play.

Hmmm...

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#32

Post by startupempl0ye »

jboggan wrote: post #16

Video games become the sole source of agency in many people's lives. This isn't just for the unemployed, but also for folks stuck in a job where they feel like they lack control. I couldn't understand at first why my fellow Googlers found so much time to play video games, but after a couple of months I understood. Afternoon Halo matches became the highlight of my day, I felt like I had more choice and responsibility…

Don't worry. Your job will be automated away pretty soon, and you'll be able to enjoy your Halo whole day.

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#33

Post by __s »

hanoz wrote: post #25
pzh wrote: post #10

If nothing else, at least those economists have found the solution to keep people occupied when AI renders half the world unemployed. Now the premise of the Matrix doesn't seem so far fetched after all.

Isn't the premise, unbearably absurd even by the standards of the rest of the movie, that humans are used as a power supply?

They wanted them to be used for processing, but producers: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/116473

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#34

Post by J-dawg »

kemiller2002 wrote: post #22
jboggan wrote: post #16

Video games become the sole source of agency in many people's lives. This isn't just for the unemployed, but also for folks stuck in a job where they feel like they lack control. I couldn't understand at first why my fellow Googlers found so much time to play video games, but after a couple of months I understood. Afternoon Halo matches became the highlight of my day, I felt like I had more choice and responsibility…

A friend of mine felt the same way. He was undergoing a tragedy in his family, and he would play video games after returning from the hospital at night. It's funny, looking at him and talking to him, you'd never think he'd be a huge video game player, but it really was a source of stress relief. He could focus his unspent frustrations and hurt into competing online, and the way he explained it, I think it kept him sa…

I haven't been able to find it, but I remember a comment here on HN by a guy who basically said that gaming saved his life by helping him to zone out during a period of severe depression.

I guess it's a form of mindfulness, in a way.

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#36

Post by desdiv »

hanoz wrote: post #25
pzh wrote: post #10

If nothing else, at least those economists have found the solution to keep people occupied when AI renders half the world unemployed. Now the premise of the Matrix doesn't seem so far fetched after all.

Isn't the premise, unbearably absurd even by the standards of the rest of the movie, that humans are used as a power supply?

NEO: The human body is the most inefficient source of energy you could possibly imagine. The efficiency of a power plant at converting thermal energy into electricity decreases as you run the turbines at lower temperatures. If you had any sort of food humans could eat, it would be more efficient to burn it in a furnace than feed it to humans. And now you're telling me that their food is the bodies of the dead, fed to the living? Haven't you ever heard of the laws of thermodynamics?

MORPHEUS: Where did you hear about the laws of thermodynamics, Neo?

NEO: Anyone who's made it past one science class in high school ought to know about the laws of thermodynamics!

MORPHEUS: Where did you go to high school, Neo?

(Pause.)

NEO: ...in the Matrix.

MORPHEUS: The machines tell elegant lies.

(Pause.)

NEO (in a small voice): Could I please have a real physics textbook?

MORPHEUS: There is no such thing, Neo. The universe doesn't run on math.

[0] https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/1263/is-the-basic-...

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#37

Post by gdulli »

jboggan wrote: post #16

Video games become the sole source of agency in many people's lives. This isn't just for the unemployed, but also for folks stuck in a job where they feel like they lack control. I couldn't understand at first why my fellow Googlers found so much time to play video games, but after a couple of months I understood. Afternoon Halo matches became the highlight of my day, I felt like I had more choice and responsibility…

That's a good way to articulate why I couldn't work at a large company. And I never thought about them being related before, but maybe part of why I don't play games so much anymore.

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#38

Post by mickronome »

kemiller2002 wrote: post #22
jboggan wrote: post #16

Video games become the sole source of agency in many people's lives. This isn't just for the unemployed, but also for folks stuck in a job where they feel like they lack control. I couldn't understand at first why my fellow Googlers found so much time to play video games, but after a couple of months I understood. Afternoon Halo matches became the highlight of my day, I felt like I had more choice and responsibility…

A friend of mine felt the same way. He was undergoing a tragedy in his family, and he would play video games after returning from the hospital at night. It's funny, looking at him and talking to him, you'd never think he'd be a huge video game player, but it really was a source of stress relief. He could focus his unspent frustrations and hurt into competing online, and the way he explained it, I think it kept him sa…

Same here, my amount of (somewhat compulsive) gaming is directly related to generic emotional and psychological well-being. Less well being -> more gaming, with gaming clearly being the effect and not the primary cause.

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#39

Post by emodendroket »

dimitar wrote: post #30

Video games are cheap compared to other entertainment. I can buy a good enough PC for $400 and I can clock almost an infinite amount of game-time on it with friends all over the world. Most other activities - playing pool, eating out, bars, most sports, vacationing - cost a lot more per hour of possible entertainment. So if you don't have the money and you have the time you should choose activities that provide the m…

I think it's hard to beat books for economical. But certainly games are in reach.

Re: A link between video games and unemployment

#40

Post by Houshalter »

hanoz wrote: post #25
pzh wrote: post #10

If nothing else, at least those economists have found the solution to keep people occupied when AI renders half the world unemployed. Now the premise of the Matrix doesn't seem so far fetched after all.

Isn't the premise, unbearably absurd even by the standards of the rest of the movie, that humans are used as a power supply?

Here's my favorite fan theory from HPMOR:

>NEO: I've kept quiet for as long as I could, but I feel a certain need to speak up at this point. The human body is the most inefficient source of energy you could possibly imagine. The efficiency of a power plant at converting thermal energy into electricity decreases as you run the turbines at lower temperatures. If you had any sort of food humans could eat, it would be more efficient to burn it in a furnace than feed it to humans. And now you're telling me that their food is the bodies of the dead, fed to the living? Haven't you ever heard of the laws of thermodynamics?

>MORPHEUS: Where did you hear about the laws of thermodynamics, Neo?

>NEO: Anyone who's made it past one science class in high school ought to know about the laws of thermodynamics!

>MORPHEUS: Where did you go to high school, Neo?

>(Pause.)

>NEO: ...in the Matrix.

>MORPHEUS: The machines tell elegant lies.

>(Pause.)

>NEO (in a small voice): Could I please have a real physics textbook?

>MORPHEUS: There is no such thing, Neo. The universe doesn't run on math.

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