Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping • Hacker News Board

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#21

Post by Gustomaximus » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 9:47 AM UTC

hukep wrote: post #14

I don't like the concept of word 'doping'. It is just the word which represents a chemical substance to stimulate body for a better performance. There is however such a hate in using this word. In the past even caffeine in the coffee was considered to be a doping. It is not nowadays Everybody should be allowed to use any chemical substance for himself as he wish. He should be responsible for his own action. If he des…

Athletes would kill themselves very quickly. Have you ever heard of Goldman dilemma?: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman%27s_dilemma

Also the 50% of athletes willing to do anything would make it unfair for athletes that wish to perform naturally, always creating a divide in tested vs untested events. Money talks and sponsorship would likely be limited for any non tested version.

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#22

Post by palmer_eldritch » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:00 AM UTC

hukep wrote: post #14

I don't like the concept of word 'doping'. It is just the word which represents a chemical substance to stimulate body for a better performance. There is however such a hate in using this word. In the past even caffeine in the coffee was considered to be a doping. It is not nowadays Everybody should be allowed to use any chemical substance for himself as he wish. He should be responsible for his own action. If he des…

What if amphetamines (or some other stimulants) were to become a thing in the IT industry and that workers had no other choice to take some to meet standard performance or be unemployed? All for the benefit of the employers?

That's pretty much what's going on for professional athletes... now, I wouldn't like being forced to take some drugs to be able to make a living. And if we say it's ok to do it for professional sports, how long until someone says it should be ok in other fields?

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#23

Post by chisleu » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:09 AM UTC

ectoplasm wrote: post #11

jon-wood wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dosage for controlling ADD compared to that used in a performance enhancing manner is quite drastically different.

Can you quantify the difference?

No, because it isn't true. 10-20mg of adderall will treat ADHD in a hyperactive, but it will make a non hyperactive capable of repetitive tasks that require focus.

I absolutely love the stuff, but I have high blood pressure which it aggravates, so I can't take it. It isn't worth a stroke.

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#24

Post by higherpurpose » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:10 AM UTC

hukep wrote: post #14

I don't like the concept of word 'doping'. It is just the word which represents a chemical substance to stimulate body for a better performance. There is however such a hate in using this word. In the past even caffeine in the coffee was considered to be a doping. It is not nowadays Everybody should be allowed to use any chemical substance for himself as he wish. He should be responsible for his own action. If he des…

The problem is that if health-destroying "performance enhancers" start to be seen as "acceptable" in sports, most performers will feel obligated to take them if they want to continue their careers, even if they'd normally wouldn't want to do that.

It's kind of how if everyone is allowed to cheat to pass an exam, the ones that don't want to cheat (even if the exam is so hard that they could fail) would be seen as fools (and arguably would be fools for taking the chance to lose the exam by not cheating).

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#25

Post by maccard » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:23 AM UTC

dustyleary wrote: post #19

girvo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you're not going to be able to compete. Basically all professional sports require someone to push themselves beyond regular human limits, and give up future health to get there even without drugs.

I'm interested to know if this is really true. I don't think non-contact sports require someone to sacrifice health, except for wearing out their body... And I'm not convinced they wear out their body more than manual laborers. And there is definitely a qualitative difference between a 16 year old working hard as a teenager to make it as a professional athlete, and perhaps wearing out their body by the end of their c…

> I don't think non-contact sports require someone to sacrifice health, except for wearing out their body...

That still fits within the bounds of "sacrificing health"

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#26

Post by ekianjo » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:39 AM UTC

gillianseed wrote: post #20

hukep wrote: post #14

I don't like the concept of word 'doping'. It is just the word which represents a chemical substance to stimulate body for a better performance. There is however such a hate in using this word. In the past even caffeine in the coffee was considered to be a doping. It is not nowadays Everybody should be allowed to use any chemical substance for himself as he wish. He should be responsible for his own action. If he des…

We are talking professional competition here, the result of your logic is that anyone who wanted to compete professionaly would have to subject themselves (and their health) to doping. I don't want to see such a future, where young athletes have no choice but to put their health at severe risk in order to be competitive. And of course should doping be allowed as you suggest, and naturally everyone would have to use i…

If we prevent doping we should prevent genetic differences since they are not fair and unjust.

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#27

Post by ekianjo » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:40 AM UTC

iMark wrote: post #15

hukep wrote: post #14

I don't like the concept of word 'doping'. It is just the word which represents a chemical substance to stimulate body for a better performance. There is however such a hate in using this word. In the past even caffeine in the coffee was considered to be a doping. It is not nowadays Everybody should be allowed to use any chemical substance for himself as he wish. He should be responsible for his own action. If he des…

I wouldn't want to compete against people who are prepared to destroy their health to win.

Then they are not going to win very long anyway.

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#28

Post by icebraining » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:46 AM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #26

gillianseed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are talking professional competition here, the result of your logic is that anyone who wanted to compete professionaly would have to subject themselves (and their health) to doping. I don't want to see such a future, where young athletes have no choice but to put their health at severe risk in order to be competitive. And of course should doping be allowed as you suggest, and naturally everyone would have to use i…

If we prevent doping we should prevent genetic differences since they are not fair and unjust.

Fairness wasn't the reason present by gillianseed, so I don't see how your post is relevant. The idea is to avoid incentivizing a destructive practice; unless there is some way of changing your genetic code, the same doesn't apply.

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#29

Post by bluecalm » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:48 AM UTC

The problem is that many performance enhancing drugs are used to treat legitimate conditions. It will always be easier to get doctor prescription for some players than it would be for others. If you ban Adderal/Ritalin/Modafinil (although the last one is very questionable when it comes to performance benefit but still very useful for motivation/energy when putting long hours practicing) and allow medical exemptions you will end up with privileged group who have access to the "right doctors".

If you ban it and don't allow medical exemptions you will eliminate people who need those drugs to function normally.

I would prefer the latter out of the two: you need a drug to function - tough luck you can't compete but I prefer just allowing wider spectrum of drugs to begin with.

Re: Professional Video Gamers to Be Tested for Doping

#30

Post by chrisbennet » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 10:51 AM UTC

higherpurpose wrote: post #24

hukep wrote: post #14

I don't like the concept of word 'doping'. It is just the word which represents a chemical substance to stimulate body for a better performance. There is however such a hate in using this word. In the past even caffeine in the coffee was considered to be a doping. It is not nowadays Everybody should be allowed to use any chemical substance for himself as he wish. He should be responsible for his own action. If he des…

The problem is that if health-destroying "performance enhancers" start to be seen as "acceptable" in sports, most performers will feel obligated to take them if they want to continue their careers, even if they'd normally wouldn't want to do that. It's kind of how if everyone is allowed to cheat to pass an exam, the ones that don't want to cheat (even if the exam is so hard that they could fail) would be seen as fool…

Perfect analogy.