I'm becoming convinced that games are a tool to pacify us

There comes an age in adulthood where everything can feel like a distraction from something greater. The opportunity cost of occupying yourself with one thing when there can be greater yields down another avenue.
Stay at the same job or chase down another one? Enjoy your girlfriend or find a hotter one?
There's peace in stillness, but it can also become your prison.
Why don't you quit porn and gaming for a year and see how your life is different?
Maybe you'll find the life you've always dreamt of.
 
64gigabyteram said:
Everybody could have. That's just life in your teens and early twenties. I feel like no matter what hobby you were into your life would have naturally gone that direction. That's just the cons of being inexperienced with life.
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Yeah that's true, though I did have friends who managed to play games and enjoy their hobbies while still getting good grades.
But as I said, I put the blame on myself. I was just lazy and unmotivated at the time, if videogames weren't around I'd just have spent my time on some other thing while getting equally bad grades.
 
Himuro said:
I'm convinced the elite uses porn and video games to pacify men. Utterly convinced of it.
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There's little point me saying this because you're utterly convinced, but if "the elite" were actually pacifying men with porn and videogames, games wouldn't be getting censored. The elite would be adding more T&A. All games would be that weird fuck your mom game.
 
Research on addiction (whether to games, drugs, sex, porn, relationships, gambling, etc.) shows that substances/processes do not in themselves have the power to addict - but rather, addiction is more about the predispositions that the user brings to the substance/process and the environment that person is in. In other words, addiction is more about the person and environment than the substance/process itself. One example is that many soldiers in Vietnam habitually used heroin, but when they returned to the states, only a small percentage were still addicted. We also know that most people use "addictive substances" without developing addictive patterns. Probably 90% of people who drink are not addicted. But about 10% are, to various degrees - and the difference has to do with those people's psychology and environment.

I'm not blaming people who develop addictions. I've known thousands of them, and most of them are damaged, struggling people, often in difficult circumstances. However, framing the issue as a nefarious plot by "elites" to mollify men doesn't help, because it doesn't locate the problem where it really exists - in the person and their immediate environment. It's a disempowering way to look at it. It frames people as victims. It is much more helpful to raise self-awareness (e.g., what am I doing and why) and focus on self-responsibility.
 
Hashassin said:
OK but keep sports out of it. Unless you're specifically talking about the commercial side of it, taking care of one's body is absolutely not without value. Even throwing a ball around is good. Of course I realise this might be hard to understand for most, especially on a website like this.
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No, sport is the same. In of itself it has no value. If every sports person disappeared tomorrow, the world would carry on as normal. If everyone who produced food did, it would look like 1850s Ireland. Sport only became big after we stopped doing labour intensive Jobs. So basically in the 60s onwards. You didn't need sport for fitness. You just had to work on the farm or down the mine. Before cars you would have to walk miles just to get to work. You didn't work 8 hours in a manual job to play sport. Being fit was a by product of just living. Life was a gym. Its been theorized that team sports is basically a replacement for our need for a battle.
 
Nocty said:
I agree 100% with you on the porn part

Porn is a weapon and is used almost exclusively to exploit us for monetary gain and further, the studied have been done and concur almost exclusively that it damages your brain over the long term, the severity depending on the age you discover it.

It turns human intimacy into a product. It turns people, especially women, into consumables.
And it turns users (mainly men) into addicts.

Porn doesn't stay on a screen either because it trains us to expect real women to act like porn actresses, detached, degraded, and constantly available. You may be intelligent enough to see through it, but we like what we like, and if that is influenced we can not stop it unless we stop porn entirely and even then the damage is likely already done. It causes users to constantly want "more" and more "extreme" artificial stimulation to get the same rush. We see the effects every day. Nature didn't design sex to be cheapened or treated like a product. Once you are into fripple anal fisting and bdsm tranny dom thats it, you are stuck like that 🤣

This has led unquestionably to a spike in violence, abuse, and disconnection in real-world relationships.

Porn makes men weak. It kills drive, darkens the soul, and makes them spectators in life.
It drains ambition, hijacks attention, and slowly rots the will. It destroys what makes a man a man in my humble opinion...

the real conspiracy begins when you look into the rabbit hole of who owns, controls and distributes the porn. I will leave the result of that research upon to you, but lets just say it is absolutely not a coincidence.

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Counterpoint: I like it when I cum.
 
Nocty said:
I agree 100% with you on the porn part

Porn is a weapon and is used almost exclusively to exploit us for monetary gain and further, the studied have been done and concur almost exclusively that it damages your brain over the long term, the severity depending on the age you discover it.

It turns human intimacy into a product. It turns people, especially women, into consumables.
And it turns users (mainly men) into addicts.

Porn doesn't stay on a screen either because it trains us to expect real women to act like porn actresses, detached, degraded, and constantly available. You may be intelligent enough to see through it, but we like what we like, and if that is influenced we can not stop it unless we stop porn entirely and even then the damage is likely already done. It causes users to constantly want "more" and more "extreme" artificial stimulation to get the same rush. We see the effects every day. Nature didn't design sex to be cheapened or treated like a product. Once you are into fripple anal fisting and bdsm tranny dom thats it, you are stuck like that 🤣

This has led unquestionably to a spike in violence, abuse, and disconnection in real-world relationships.

Porn makes men weak. It kills drive, darkens the soul, and makes them spectators in life.
It drains ambition, hijacks attention, and slowly rots the will. It destroys what makes a man a man in my humble opinion...

the real conspiracy begins when you look into the rabbit hole of who owns, controls and distributes the porn. I will leave the result of that research upon to you, but lets just say it is absolutely not a coincidence.

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meh. porn is porn. if you want men to fuck more consider making brothels/prostitution legal here
 
I'd argue social media has had the most widespread 'numbing' effect on society. That shit may as well be hooked into some people intravenously at this point.
 
You could just manage your time better.

See to your responsibilities and aspirations in the real world. Play games in your free time.

Grinding every minute of every day to achieve a goal in your real life is a shortcut to insanity.

And don't watch porn. That actually is bad for you.
 
Himuro said:
I want to say that I love video games. I also want to say I'm not an addict or anything. I can go weeks or months without playing games. I fell out of love with games in my 20's. I still play them but I understand their limitations.

So yeah, I love games every now and then for a treat.

Which is why it pains me to say I think I'm becoming anti-video games and not just super into them.

I have some business to do (graphics for project, figure drawing samples for art school application;etc) and yet during my time off and not working my brain goes back to Resident Evil 1 Remake, which I started a new game of.

I am becoming wholly convinced that games help pacify men and steer us from our goals. Rather than being useful and doing important things in your downtime like the men of the past did, we wind down with video games. Many gamers cope by saying "that's no different than tv" but I don't really think about tv in my off hours. Games are unique in that you hit goals within the game. In REmake's case, it's solving puzzles, avoiding zombies, limiting crimson heads, resource management. The video game hijacks your brain dopamine so that when you've had a successful session you feel as if you've done a good job even though it's not something real or tangible. Afterwards I feel depleted and can't get to work on things that are tied to my actual goals because it's easier to achieve a goal within the game. No. Instead, my brain goes back to the game. Even during a walk I'm thinking about puzzle solving and doing the ultimate run of REmake.

I'm convinced the elite uses porn and video games to pacify men. Utterly convinced of it. Why go out and meet women when you've got porn? Why go out and do your own adventures when you've got video games? I started sailing as a hobby and it's nothing like sailing in a video game.

Since I have high aspirations I'm not sure what this means about my future relationship with video games. I'm still half convinced to sell my entire collection (goes as far back as SNES, Genesis). I'm still on the fence.

The more time passes the more I am fully convinced games are no different than porn. Just like porn isn't real love video games aren't real...anything and yet both manage to hijack your dopamine like nothing else. In a way tv, social media, books, whatever else don't seem to do.
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No offense intended (and I mean this seriously) but this sounds like a mid-life crisis kicking in.

Your line of thinking isn't terribly inaccurate. Television, movies, music, and such are being used to influence peoples' thinking. Videogames are a medium which has only recently fallen under the control of outside influencers. Hence the media's concerted efforts to gaslight and villainize gamers who are resistant to it. What people call "woke" is actually shit that is media-controlled.

Videogames for the past like 20 years were made by largely passionate creatives - the sort who enjoy a good session of D&D. The kind who simply enjoy make-believe and escapism. Is this antithetical to the notion of getting on a sailboat and going on a real-life adventure yourself? To a certain extent, yes, of course. However, that's on a person-by-person basis. Some might be inspired by their fantasies to act on them. There are plenty of people, I'm sure, who enjoyed Wind Waker and thought gee, I'd love to go sailing on the ocean one day.

The industry might go the way you fear it to be if outside influencers are allowed to continue to turn it into a propaganda/live-service/brainless-multiplayer machine full of pointless, brain-killing repetition and devoid of any and all actual creativity or individual expression. It is moving in that direction. There really is a them who want every possible outlet of entertainment or enlightenment to be a device which serves a purpose, and they've been working to get the industry on-message for a while now.
 
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A bit off topic here. What the hell do phone users be looking at on their phones in public all the time? I can't stand web browsing or playing games via touchscreen on phones. Beyond the basics. Something about the size of the small screens. I would rather stare out the window. Walk around and take stuff in without looking at a phone all day. Even if it's boring. I sometimes use headphones but that's the limit.

Feels like there's a big secret I'm not in on.
 
No BBC=Anger said:
A bit off topic here. What the hell do phone users be looking at on their phones in public all the time? I can't stand web browsing or playing games via touchscreen on phones. Beyond the basics. Something about the size of the small screens. I would rather stare out the window. Walk around and take stuff in without looking at a phone all day. Even if it's boring. I sometimes use headphones but that's the limit.

Feels like there's a big secret I'm not in on.
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Social-media scrolling. Tik-Tok. I mean, it ain't much of a secret (and it isn't worth anyone's time, either).

As a casual social-media observer, it felt a lot like standing next to a horrific clown-car pileup on the freeway: you're not sure whether you should laugh or cry. Seriously, watching people mindlessly scroll on their phones is actually disturbing, especially knowing the sort of junk they're standing there imbibing.
 
I actually search for games, movies or whatever... that actually have me think about them. You know. Like "this movie was really something".

This is certainly not a bad thing, it is the exact opposite. Finally finding something that is, at least, a little bit interesting and thought provoking. Like Nier Automata for example to name a game. Or Inception to name a single movie. Also Outer Wilds, now that was an awesome ride. What's the issue of having thoughts about such a great game for the couple weeks you are going to play it ?

But these are rare occurrences really. Because the vast majority of games are just the a never-ending repetition of the exact same things. And you eventually reach a state where nothing hardly interests you, because you have played all of it already.

If this is enough to distract you from doing other ambitious/useful projects, then it is you that are weak. It is not the game/movie's fault.
 
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Walliwallipaloo said:
Social-media scrolling. Tik-Tok. I mean, it ain't much of a secret (and it isn't worth anyone's time, either).

As a casual social-media observer, it felt a lot like standing next to a horrific clown-car pileup on the freeway: you're not sure whether you should laugh or cry. Seriously, watching people mindlessly scroll on their phones is actually disturbing, especially knowing the sort of junk they're standing there imbibing.
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Right, dumb videos on Tik-Tok, YouTube etc. It's more the time and fascination on these videos.
 
YO👁
Are
Awake

The whole of society is designed to pacify us. Which is not a bad thing. A lot more raping and killing before videogames.
 
Lethal01 said:
Cool dude, now im gonna watch Lady Dimitrescu bang a centaur
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TintoConCasera said:
Counterpoint: I like it when I cum.
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Counterpoint: It's sinful to spill your seed on the ground.
You are supposed to cum inside your wife's vagina in order to make a baby.

"Onan spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also."
Genesis 8:9
 
If that's how you feel about games, and clearly many agree with you based on the many likes and reactions you got, so my question to all of you, especially you OP....

Why not just stop? Just stop playing now, give up the hobby. Perception is relative after all, and you know the hobby is bad for you, so why don't you guys just stop engaging with it? Why be on a game forum, talking to people who love games about games, when you think games are bad? I can't wrap my head around that little detail. A whole group of people who talk about games obsessively with strangers on the internet, when you think they're a bad thing.....help me understand it guys.
 
You're not wrong, and really it's nothing new.
It's the circus part of "bread and circuses". It's always been around.
Gaming as entertainment is fine, the key is to not over do it or over emphasize its importance.

Entertainment, literally means "enter" inbetween, and "tain" to hold, it's what's supposed to hold our attention inbetween the important things we do.
It's supposed to provide rest so we can be refreshed to do those important things. If you treat it like it is the important thing you do then you've got things backwards.
 
Of course they are, especially for young men. I mean, there may not be some shadowy cabal guiding the development of the video game industry specifically for this purpose, but it's hard to argue that distraction and pacification is not a direct outcome of the wide adoption of video games and other forms of mass entertainment.

I certainly enjoy playing games still, but it's worth being aware of the effect they have on you.
 
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poodaddy said:
If that's how you feel about games, and clearly many agree with you based on the many likes and reactions you got, so my question to all of you, especially you OP....

Why not just stop? Just stop playing now, give up the hobby. Perception is relative after all, and you know the hobby is bad for you, so why don't you guys just stop engaging with it? Why be on a game forum, talking to people who love games about games, when you think games are bad? I can't wrap my head around that little detail. A whole group of people who talk about games obsessively with strangers on the internet, when you think they're a bad thing.....help me understand it guys.
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You've never met an addict who knows smoking or alcohol or drugs is bad for him but just can't stop?
 
Last Hearth said:
You've never met an addict who knows smoking or alcohol or drugs is bad for him but just can't stop?
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Yes, they're called weak people. If you have the presence of mind to know something is bad for you, and you continue to do it anyway, then you're beyond help. I've never really understood addicts though in general. I used to drink quite a lot in the Army, but as soon as it became a problem in my life, I just immediately quit cold turkey. Used to smoke, one day decided it was a dumbass hobby and that I'd prefer to be healthy, broke the cigarette in half and never touched it again, that was about 19 years ago now.

If you think games are bad for ya, just stop folks, and stop bringing down the hobby for those of us who love it and aren't weak enough to be addicted to it.

In short, grow a pair.
 
poodaddy said:
Yes, they're called weak people. If you have the presence of mind to know something is bad for you, and you continue to do it anyway, then you're beyond help. I've never really understood addicts though in general. I used to drink quite a lot in the Army, but as soon as it became a problem in my life, I just immediately quit cold turkey. Used to smoke, one day decided it was a dumbass hobby and that I'd prefer to be healthy, broke the cigarette in half and never touched it again, that was about 19 years ago now.

If you think games are bad for ya, just stop folks, and stop bringing down the hobby for those of us who love it and aren't weak enough to be addicted to it.

In short, grow a pair.
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Calm down, nobody is trying to take away your hobby.
 
Last Hearth said:
Calm down, nobody is trying to take away your hobby.
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I couldn't give a shit if you did. Stop deflecting and projecting my man, work on being a stronger person and improving yourself, that way games don't continue to bring you down. Clearly you guys need addiction counselors to help you deal with that weakness. I can't empathize, but I can sympathize. You all have my pity for not being able to lay the controller down, I feel for you.

Weightlifting , education, proper nutrition, these are all great ways to improve yourself so that hopefully the big bad boogie man of video games don't continue to bring you down in life. You got this!
Episode 8 Nbc GIF by Law & Order
 
Any form of entertainment, media and consumption has been their to pacify the big masses. This has been known for centuries, and is not a new way of thinking.

So, yes, you are right.
 
Himuro said:
Why go out and meet women when you've got porn?
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Because vagina feels good? I can fap in the morning and go slam some bitch against the wall in the afternoon. These activities aren't mutually exclusive.

Himuro said:
Why go out and do your own adventures when you've got video games?
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I like the fantasy setting, a lot. Don't think I could go out there and kill goblins and collect loot, no? Well maybe in Colombia but I'm not sure, never been there.
 
Danjin44 said:
giphy.gif


WTF is happening with GAF, we are start see more and more REALLY stupid threads lately.
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Outside influences. You simply can't account for what someone watches, listens to, or reads for the large amount of hours they are not on this site.

Someone could literally have an average take on a food thread in OT last week, go down a Veganbro rabbit hole, and then suddenly this week they're repeating Veganbro talking points because that particular influencer (not expert, influencer) managed to make it seem more life changing and manly to not eat meat.
 
Been all over the world, but still like going on adventures in video games too. Life is what you make of it. Have agency and accountability to yourself.
 
Reizo Ryuu said:
You make a few decent points, mainly about the addictive properties, but that applies to many things in life and everyone is already aware of it.

Where you start sounding like a crackpot is this nebulous collective "they", there's no boogeyman out to get you bruv; seek help if you truly believe this.
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I don't think other things apply as easily as video games. They're the perfect tool.

TV and movies aren't as addictive. You can binge watch a show, sure. But then once you're done it doesn't occupy the same brain space as a game does with tactics, strategies, rules, the visuals, and other things.

Video games offer instant gratification dopamine response similarly to porn.

I don't think they're literally sitting in a dark room, sitting at a table, and plotting evil plans but it's often refrained that "crime is down because people can just play GTA instead", right? This speaks to something that video games do to the brain and if it does that for the bad things in life, like crime, certainly is also does to the good things in life, like goals. The main goal is to make money, and if the populace that consumes games are pacified then hey, even more money. It's not the main goal but it's definitely a positive side effect for their business model which is why they hire psychologists, mathematicians, literal gambling experts to keep you further on their IV drip.
 
Bloody5 said:
OP is right in the sense that the concept of Tittytainment, forged by Brzezinski, was developed by the elites to pacify dissent.

"To address the discontentment of those at the bottom, there is only one approach — simply place a pacifier in their mouths, divert their attention, paralyze their cognitive faculties, and induce a state of contentment with the current status quo."

More information here:

Click to expand...

Thank you. I look forward to reading it.
 
Nocty said:
I agree 100% with you on the porn part

Porn is a weapon and is used almost exclusively to exploit us for monetary gain and further, the studied have been done and concur almost exclusively that it damages your brain over the long term, the severity depending on the age you discover it.

It turns human intimacy into a product. It turns people, especially women, into consumables.
And it turns users (mainly men) into addicts.

Porn doesn't stay on a screen either because it trains us to expect real women to act like porn actresses, detached, degraded, and constantly available. You may be intelligent enough to see through it, but we like what we like, and if that is influenced we can not stop it unless we stop porn entirely and even then the damage is likely already done. It causes users to constantly want "more" and more "extreme" artificial stimulation to get the same rush. We see the effects every day. Nature didn't design sex to be cheapened or treated like a product. Once you are into fripple anal fisting and bdsm tranny dom thats it, you are stuck like that 🤣

This has led unquestionably to a spike in violence, abuse, and disconnection in real-world relationships.

Porn makes men weak. It kills drive, darkens the soul, and makes them spectators in life.
It drains ambition, hijacks attention, and slowly rots the will. It destroys what makes a man a man in my humble opinion...

the real conspiracy begins when you look into the rabbit hole of who owns, controls and distributes the porn. I will leave the result of that research upon to you, but lets just say it is absolutely not a coincidence.

Click to expand...

Great post and fully agree.
 
I look at it like this: There's 24hrs in a day. 8hrs to sleep, 8hrs to work, and 8hrs to do whatever I enjoy. You could even take a whole day off of work every week and still hit almost 50hrs. of work. So just do what you enjoy during your free time and stop overthinking it. Sounds a bit like you're blame shifting onto video games to compensate for your own sense of powerlessness.
 
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