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JoshuaZ comments on Should I play World of Warcraft? - Less Wrong Discussion
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No, you should not play and your reasoning makes sense. Games like WoW are designed to be superstimuli. They are the mental equivalent of an addictive drug. Some people will get highly addicted, while others will be able to do just a bit every now and then. But the risk level of addiction is high enough that avoiding them makes sense.
How do you distinguish an addiction from something that's just really, really good?
An addiction is something you want, but don't like or approve of. The good stuff is what you like and approve of.
I don't want to save humanity and don't like it, but I approve of it. I want to play games and like it, but I don't approve of it. I can't really think of any activity that meets all criteria, +wanting/+liking/+approving. What should I do?
Really? That seems... odd. Are there no healthy enjoyable activities that you want to do? Not even sex?
When I would explain wanting vs liking vs approving Sex was my go to example for an activity that fits all three.
Eating?
Perhaps experimenting with ways to change your disposition about either wanting or liking about a particular activity you approve of?
Or, you know, approving.
Well, I believe the field of psychology has tended to distinguish addiction by noting that it pertains to behavior that you persist in despite negative consequences in other areas of your life. If you're skeptical about that definition, then think of it as something you want to stop, because you've determined that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but can't.
In general, addiction is hard to define and is some extent an issue of cultural convention. We can't label all superstimuli as addictions.
Strong verbal declarations by the individual who have the relevant behavior that they wished they could stop is one good indicator that something should be considered an addiction.
If it is something that is not normally part of the human set of behaviors and creates strong physical or mental dependency effects in those who engage in that behavior then it is likely to be useful to think of it as an addiction. Thus for example, social interaction is a normal part of human behavior so we don't call it an addiction. But I have seen people who are away from their WoW for too long become cranky and irritable in a way that looks pretty similar to how a smoker acts when they can't smoke for an extended period of time.
I should probably be more careful with the term addiction than I am since it is a term that does have a history of abuse.
But, whether or not we use the term addiction in this context, it seems that WoW does become a massive timesink for no substantial positive gains.
The current question in the title of his post is "Should I play World of Warcraft?" -- your "Yes", however seems to mean that he should avoid playing it. Has Phil changed the title after you answered?
I have added text at the bottom. Originally, the last line was, "Does that make sense?" To which he answered, "Yes."
Title remains the same. Earlier version ended with the sentence "Does that make sense?". Since Phil has edited his post I will now edit mine to make it clear.