MatthewBaker comments on "The True Rejection Challenge" - Thread 2 - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Armok_GoB 02 July 2011 11:49AM

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Comment author: Mass_Driver 04 July 2011 11:50:48AM 4 points [-]

This is slightly outside the rules of the challenge, since the phrasing is logically negative, but I need help, so here goes:

I wish I spent little or no time playing computer games. Typically, I play for about 15-20 hours a week, at inconvenient times (e.g. the middle of the night), and for longer continuous time periods than are actually enjoyable (elbows/bladder/eyes get sore; game gets boring). I would like to bring this down to less than 2 hours per week.

Here are my known sufficient conditions for not quitting:

1) I like having a source of interactive entertainment. TV, books, mp3s, etc. are not interactive. Choose-your-own-adventure style books are interactive, but I believe I've already read all the commercially available good ones about 15 times each. As far as I can tell, the reason why I want interactive entertainment is that many of my real-life interactions give me a feeling of contempt, anger, and boredom. I act as if I have a much higher tolerance for others' quirks and foibles than I really do. Interactive entertainment provides a release and an escape that lets me imagine that I do not have to control myself in this way...if I am angry at the imaginary character on the screen, that is OK. Suggestions on how to find other sources of entertainment or on how to fix the underlying issue are both welcome.

2) I like having a low-energy source of entertainment. Physical exercise, getting to know new people, and learning new skills are all high-energy. Walking is usually low-energy for me, but not in San Francisco, where the hills are very steep. Spending time with old friends in person is usually low-energy, but having moved to San Francisco only a year ago, I have no old friends nearby. And no, I'm not leaving San Francisco. I have good and weighty reasons for being here. Playing guitar usually works for me as a low-energy source of entertainment, but I find that my fingers hurt too much for it to be enjoyable after about 20-30 minutes a day.

3) I like feeling like I have accomplished exciting things on a daily basis. Pretending to conquer the world, build a large business empire, or fly to the moon feels exciting. Cleaning my room or reviewing an Anki deck doesn't; I'll just have to do it again next week. I am trying to self-modify to better appreciate mundane tasks, but, meanwhile, wanting to feel excited is still a sufficient condition.

4) I need sustained access to the Internet for my work (legal research), and yet I work with very little supervision. This makes it difficult to put barriers between me and Flash-based browser games. Solutions based on increasing supervision should keep in mind that: (a) I use both a Mac and a PC at the same time, (b) I work in an office full of older people who are unlikely to see computer addiction as a normal or acceptable problem to be struggling with, (c) I work unpredictable hours based on the fluctuating demands of a variety of clients.

5) In the past, quitting computer games has led to me substituting other vaguely addictive behaviors, like reading 30+ hours a week of science fiction, or spending similar amounts of time 'designing' dozens of board games, less than 10% of which are ever constructed or playtested. Most recently, my alcohol intake shot up when I tried to quit computer games, which deeply worries me. (It has since gone back down from 12 drinks / week to 3 drinks / week). Thus, it is a sufficient condition for not quitting that I am seriously concerned that I will simply replace it with an equally damaging behavior.

Thanks for your advice! Feel free to other-optimize as much as you like; please err on the side of giving advice. If it's not useful, I'll just ignore it.

Comment author: MatthewBaker 06 July 2011 08:36:45PM *  1 point [-]

I game as a social tool, and try not to game solo for more than 1 hour a day. Currently my entire crowd of friends all plays the same style of games socially and its keeps us entertained while encouraging us to make plans to randomly go out and do stuff.

Just last week we transitioned from gaming to beach capture the flag and movie night randomly which made my 4th weekend much more awesome. However, we mostly play either Heroes of Newerth or League of Legends which are both quite cooperative games at the high ELO's so we see it as a way to increase our teamwork inside the game as well as keep the girls from getting bored. What type of games do you usually play / Are you playing currently?

If its all flash games, are you more inclined to the Portal flash game or the RPG type flash games? Usually the type of gaming you partake in offers some insight into the way to fill the gap... Considering there's flash gaming of every nearly type though it may be rather hard to pin down your focus.

Comment author: Mass_Driver 10 July 2011 11:13:57AM 1 point [-]

Capture the flag and movie night sounds like fun. I was playing capture the flag on Baker Beach (SF, CA) pretty regularly until I twisted my ankle going down the mulchy hills.

I tend to like strategy games and/or shooters, with adventure-style plots as a nice optional bonus. I'm not sure that I want to get involved with a group of friends who all play video games together -- while that's clearly better than just playing alone, historically playing with friends has just been an add-on to the solo habit. E.g. if I play 3 hours a week of Halo or Alpha Centauri with a friend in person, I'll play another 15 hours on the same game against the computer trying to playtest new strategies.