We’re losing a whole generation of young men to video games (2 articles)

ZLoth

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(Originally published July 5th, but I was vacationing)

From New York Post:

We’re losing a whole generation of young men to video games
One night in the mid-1990s I tried out a computer game called “Civilization.” You started with a screen that was completely black, except for one square of land. As you pushed outward from this base, you’d make discoveries about the land around you and its inhabitants. You’d start to build a society, first primitive stuff like granaries, then advancing to roads and weapons.

(two paragraphs deleted)

After a while I realized that becoming master of a fake world was not worth the dozens of hours a month it was costing me, and with profound regret I stashed my floppy disk of “Civilization” in a box and pushed it deep into my closet. I hope I never get addicted to anything like “Civilization” again.

Today millions of people, disproportionately young men, are similarly caught in the throes of video games, which are far more enticing than their 1990s counterparts and often involve many players engaging at once. The hand-eye coordination of these men is no doubt impressive, plus they form friendships and learn to work through problems in teams.
FULL ARTICLE HERE


Why more young men aren’t working — video games
Before young American men get back to work, they should switch off the video console.

Younger men’s working hours have declined more than those of older men over the last 15 years, according to a working paper by researchers at Princeton University, the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester and distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Cambridge, Mass.-based research group. The researchers analyzed how people spend their time when they are not working.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
 
In other news weak minded people find something new to get addicted to.

Yup.

Also, we're losing another generation to Youtube vloggers, pranksters, and streamers who contribute absolutely nothing to anyone other than mind-numbing entertainment the preteens who watch them.
 
I bought two books on the subject one is called Cyber Junkie author was addicted to CIV he wanted to be the best CIV player out there.
The other which I picked up this year is called The Power of Off how you lose people you love and maybe youself to social media and online digital addiction.

It's very real those who don't admit to or admit to it online are the biggest digital sinners.
Those who create videogames are just mind masters in making people digitally numb.
Unless it's a good game.....
 
I think even if there was no video games (there's been video games for decades now) a lot of young men would still be clueless and kind of idiots. Not saying everyone but you know how many people I've met between the ages of 16-25 who can't even change a damn tire. Mechanical skill and trade experience are in short supply in this country. You should see some of the new people we get in machine shops around here, clueless..... I've been playing video games since 81 when I was 4 years old...

GET OFF MY LAWN !
 
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Yup.

Also, we're losing another generation to Youtube vloggers, pranksters, and streamers who contribute absolutely nothing to anyone other than mind-numbing entertainment the preteens who watch them.
Well one could argue that entertainment is something of value. Of course in a perfect society there would be no need for such distractions.
 
I'd almost guarantee that a lot of us can say the same about ourselves in our early twenties.

At 21 I spent more time obsessing over hardware and railing newbs than I did in class or at my job. Hell, I barely saw my girlfriend more than a few times a week. Are they saying that this generation is different? Or is it just that the author is older now and having a "damned kids" moment?

We've had people bitching about the younger generation for as long as we've had writing.

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” - Socrates
 
Well one could argue that entertainment is something of value. Of course in a perfect society there would be no need for such distractions.

I agree, entertaining is something of value. It's just that those forms of "entertainment" are completely void of any imagination, intelligence, talent, or values. There are a few exceptional vloggers that do portray some of those qualities, but the vast majority of them are talent-less derelicts who only have enough ambition to record their otherwise completely ordinary and mundane lives. What's worse is they're rewarded for it still by all the parents who let their tween kids who don't know any better watch them and aspire to do the same damn thing and nothing else.

I'm not saying it's a grand issue either, as the OP's posted article makes gaming out to be. I just think it is comparable in terms of scale of impact to our society (with is minor to moderate at worst IMO).
 
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Not saying everyone but you know how many people I've met between the ages of 16-25 who can't even change a damn tire. Mechanical skill and trade experience are in short supply in this country. You should see some of the new people we get in machine shops around here, clueless..... I've been playing video games since 81 when I was 4 years old...

This isn't necessarily a terrible thing. I know the basics of changing a tire. I know what I'm supposed to do. But, I also know that I'd likely call someone to do it for me as I can spare the money. Mechanical knowledge is not my area of expertise, nor is electrical work, or plumbing, or landscaping/yardwork. But, the area of my expertise allows me to pay folks to do those things they're experts in. And, I pick up lessons each time I call. And, I attempt some things on my own. But I know when I'm over my head and should call someone.
 
This isn't necessarily a terrible thing. I know the basics of changing a tire. I know what I'm supposed to do. But, I also know that I'd likely call someone to do it for me as I can spare the money. Mechanical knowledge is not my area of expertise, nor is electrical work, or plumbing, or landscaping/yardwork. But, the area of my expertise allows me to pay folks to do those things they're experts in. And, I pick up lessons each time I call. And, I attempt some things on my own. But I know when I'm over my head and should call someone.

I'm not really saying everyone should know everything and never call anyone. It's just that a lot of folks cant even even turn a screw driver or change a lawn mower blade. I guess its good in a way so people that can get paid to do it. Seems like there's a lot of helpless people around with a false sense of reality and entitlement who turn there nose up at doing anything involving elbow grease.
 
Everyone has a hobby and no one hobby is better or more important than another.
 
Yup.

Also, we're losing another generation to Youtube vloggers, pranksters, and streamers who contribute absolutely nothing to anyone other than mind-numbing entertainment the preteens who watch them.


so wait, they're contributing nothing except entertainment? so professional athletes, movie/tv stars contribute absolutely nothing to anyone except our entertainment? you can't have one and not the other.. generations change just like our generation was different from the last and their generation was different from the one before it.. welcome to being human.

I'm not really saying everyone should know everything and never call anyone. It's just that a lot of folks cant even even turn a screw driver or change a lawn mower blade. I guess its good in a way so people that can get paid to do it. Seems like there's a lot of helpless people around with a false sense of reality and entitlement who turn there nose up at doing anything involving elbow grease.

my parents couldn't do any of that shit so i had to learn it on my own as a kid because i wanted to not because i had to. we live in material society now so if something breaks you just throw it away and buy something else instead of spending a few dollars to fix it. some of it's forced because it's just too complex to understand how to fix it for the average person and some people don't feel the efforts worth saving the money.

either way these kids are probably ahead of the curve whether we want to admit it or not because soon enough there won't be a need for life skills as things continue to be replaced by AI, robots, and kiosks.
 
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I'd almost guarantee that a lot of us can say the same about ourselves in our early twenties.

At 21 I spent more time obsessing over hardware and railing newbs than I did in class or at my job. Hell, I barely saw my girlfriend more than a few times a week. Are they saying that this generation is different? Or is it just that the author is older now and having a "damned kids" moment?

We've had people bitching about the younger generation for as long as we've had writing.

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” - Socrates

...this is pretty much bang on in my opinion.
Factor in that society as a whole has changed a lot and technological progress continues to accelerate and you've got a recipe for older generations (like me too - I'm 42) not really being on the same wavelength as the younger ones.

More than once I've looked at teenagers and their behavior and thought WTF ? - then I take a minute and think about what I was doing at that age. Generally I did something similar or worse, it's just that now things are different in terms of the technology and changes in society.

GET OFF MY LAWN !

Exactly!
 
...this is pretty much bang on in my opinion.
Factor in that society as a whole has changed a lot and technological progress continues to accelerate and you've got a recipe for older generations (like me too - I'm 42) not really being on the same wavelength as the younger ones.

More than once I've looked at teenagers and their behavior and thought WTF ? - then I take a minute and think about what I was doing at that age. Generally I did something similar or worse, it's just that now things are different in terms of the technology and changes in society.



Exactly!


lol exactly, i always laugh at my friends from school that are now parents and complain about their kids doing this or that and i just sit there and say "do you remember doing the exact same thing when you were that age? because i do." sometimes parents just need to be reminded that kids will be kids and they'll sometimes do stuff you don't want them to do just like you did as a kid and got scalded for it by your own parents. but i'm in the same boat as you even at 32 this whole mobile device craze is above me, desktops and laptops are no problem for me but once you get into tablets and smart phones, yeah screw that crap.
 
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Since I am the OP, I thought I would put my two cents in...

Back in the 2000s, one of the most popular (and influential) games of that era was the MMORPG game World Of Warcraft. With the later expansions, it became a huge and addictive game. And, I wasn't one of the players to the point of outright avoiding the game. I was working full-time (plus overtime), plus going to university part-time, that it left with no time to play games. A game such as WoW would be detrimental to my ultimate goal: getting my business degree. That didn't mean that I didn't play games at all, only that it was generally reserved for school breaks. I got my degree in December, 2010, and it was better than any achievement in Steam, Xbox, or Playstation. Of course, I was 40 when I graduated.

Everything has to be balanced in life. What is that perfect balance point? I don't know. But, to put the priority on video games to the exclusion of everything else.... that's a worry. You could insert other activities instead of video games into the original articles. Actions have consequences. Sometimes, those consequences are unplanned, unintended, and unexpected.
 
Alternatively, I raided top end content during 2nd half of vanilla and most of BC expansion while in college, still got laid, still passed (albeit with B/C's), and I was in ARNG at the time too.
 
so wait, they're contributing nothing except entertainment? so professional athletes, movie/tv stars contribute absolutely nothing to anyone except our entertainment? you can't have one and not the other.. generations change just like our generation was different from the last and their generation was different from the one before it.. welcome to being human.

So wait, you missed my follow up post (#9) that already addresses why these vloggers don't compare whatsoever to professional athletes or movie/TV stars? Read that, then respond in typical internet contrarian fashion again.
 
Playing 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein' for 1 hour every day for the past week. I get to shoot Nazi babe assassins. Go gamez!
 
I can tell you what I for one am ready to block YouTube from my stepson. I can't even begin to tell you the level of bullshit I think people like DanTDM are. He mindlessly watches the Minecraft videos this guy makes.

After realizing that his mom and I spend 8 - 10 hours of work a day to make a pittance compared to this guy it makes me want to puke.

It's not even the money though Minecraft isn't a game I like but it should be about using his imagination to build things in a virtual world. Not imitating YouTubers.
 
On the other hand, with minecraft at least you get the sense that you can also enter the same world and do what those youtubers are doing... you don't get that watching cartoons or other tv shows or even many youtube channels.

but yea, I also know a kid who always wants to watch those minecraft videos, his dad put the lock-down on it and it's of course for the best
 
I think even if there was no video games (there's been video games for decades now) a lot of young men would still be clueless and kind of idiots. Not saying everyone but you know how many people I've met between the ages of 16-25 who can't even change a damn tire. Mechanical skill and trade experience are in short supply in this country. You should see some of the new people we get in machine shops around here, clueless..... I've been playing video games since 81 when I was 4 years old...

Amen. I think the current generation of kids are far too coddled with far too much helicopter parents making sure their little babies have everything all set up for them.
 
How are gamer bums any different say say Ski bums? This certainly isn't a new phenomenon or new "problem".

Not saying everyone but you know how many people I've met between the ages of 16-25 who can't even change a damn tire.

or change a lawn mower blade.

I find these specific examples interesting. I'm 29 and I can't say I know how to do either of these. Why is that? Well, because I have never had to do them. My car has never had a flat tire. Where or why would I have ever learned how to change the tire if I have simply not encountered the situational need before.

Similarly to a lawn mower blade. I have never even owned a lawn mower so why would I know how to change it's blade.

Now for both of these I'm pretty sure I could follow instructions to do so if I ever needed to. But still, I can't simply say I know how to right at this moment.
 
Where or why would I have ever learned how to change the tire if I have simply not encountered the situational need before.
You can learn to do it almost anywhere. It's good to know before hand to save yourself time and stress when you find yourself on the side of a highway or during an emergency or rush to somewhere. Also, doing some rookie mistake during the process puts yourself and others on the road at potentially life-threatening risk.

Of course, you can just sit in your car and call daddy, or AAA...
 
Also, doing some rookie mistake during the process puts yourself and others on the road at potentially life-threatening risk.

Of course, you can just sit in your car and call daddy, or AAA...

Yes, Even though I *could* probably do it, considering concern about the safety of having done it completely correctly I would just call up roadside assistance which is included in my insurance anyways.

To me the greatest thing about living in a modern advanced civilization is that we no longer have to know or worry about these sorts of things. To me that's the goal of technological advancement.
 
Yes, Even though I *could* probably do it, considering concern about the safety of having done it completely correctly I would just call up roadside assistance which is included in my insurance anyways.

To me the greatest thing about living in a modern advanced civilization is that we no longer have to know or worry about these sorts of things. To me that's the goal of technological advancement.

I try to be as self sufficient as possible and teach my kids the same. A tire change isn't complicated and is relatively safe as long as you pull off the road far enough and tighten the lugs enough as well. I would much rather do it myself and be back on the road in 15 mins too rather than an hour+ waiting for roadside assistance and have to give up my man card on top of it. :p
 
I try to be as self sufficient as possible and teach my kids the same. A tire change isn't complicated and is relatively safe as long as you pull off the road far enough and tighten the lugs enough as well.

I've done it one or twice myself quite a while back. I also pay for AAA Platinum service, so I can wait the hour.
 
I'm 29
I know how to change a lawnmower blade, a car tire, I can change my own oil on a car, I can even build a computer!

I love video games, but I was raised to be self sufficient. Games are what I do in my free time. Also, living on my own with my wife since 18 probably has a lot to do with my work ethics also.
 
I game on my free time but work full time and go to school full time - to put myself through school and pay for my living expenses. Some weekends (especially during summer break) I load up on food and don't leave the house because I'm totally enthralled with a game or school work. Nothing wrong with that because I'm not hurting anybody or doing anything wrong so I can't really blame people for doing the same thing - also Albuquerque sucks and its better to stay home and not be a victim of crime. I can't wait to get out of here.
 
I try to be as self sufficient as possible and teach my kids the same. A tire change isn't complicated and is relatively safe as long as you pull off the road far enough and tighten the lugs enough as well. I would much rather do it myself and be back on the road in 15 mins too rather than an hour+ waiting for roadside assistance and have to give up my man card on top of it. :p
That would be something I don't trust myself doing properly, even if I knew how to do it. Also the roads are almost always too narrow to pull far enough and the island I live on is small enough that unless I am in the mountains, major cities are never more 15 minutes away from any point on the highway.

A failed tire change isn't just a threat to your own life, but also someone else's (in case the tire flies off). I don't change tires as my day job so I'd have absolutely no idea (and never will) how tight those lugs should be if I am only ever going to encounter it a handful of times in my lifetime. I am extremely prone to making errors with things I am not farmiliar with, so I'd much rather not make that error at all than to save myself a few dimes or hours.

The best way IMHO, is make sure you never get yourself there in the first place. I am always on time for my scheduled maintainence, and I don't go to any family run garage to do it, I only go to certified garages (here, every brand car outlet has an attached garage), and if they suggest that I change my tire, I do so without hesitation. Is it more expensive in the long run? Probably, but better than doing a botched job myself and get sued out of my ass for it. The country is also very small so never have to wait for very long for AAA anyway.

That's my 2c. I definitely won't deny that if the world as we know it ends, I'd probably be on the fast track to not make it past 30 day mark.
 
Its easy to blame the kids and say that they are "weak" or "addicted " etc.

What about the forces that be that are pushing it all on them? Its all distraction and each new generation becomes more and more compliant / lethargic.

Video games, porn, music, social media, movies etc etc etc etc.

The western man is in a state of weakness, confusion and docility, and not by accident but by design.
 
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Sometimes I'm tempted to just block youtube, facebook, etc from the router and be done with it.
 
and have to give up my man card on top of it.

I mean, that's what I was saying about human progress and modern civilization. If you go way back, early humans would probably say you are giving up your man card because you aren't hunting for your own food. Where do you draw the line and does the line not move? The beauty is we don't have to anymore.

Now I realise this is somewhat off topic in terms of "young men not working", but I work hard and make the money i do so that I don't have to change my own tires and I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Having the financial independence and means to be able to not have to worry about those sorts of things makes a man to me.

Sure, if you like to change your own tire and get some sort of satisfaction out of it that's fine, but not everyone does.
 
Sometimes I'm tempted to just block youtube, facebook, etc from the router and be done with it.
IMO a real man would just ignore it or not let it get to him :p

and SireMaster, don't worry, you can still be a man and ask for help. Lots of dudes die of cancer because they thought going to a doctor somehow threatened their manliness. Admitting that you have a problem, and being confident in a lack of interest in something traditionally deemed "manly" is also a sign of manliness. What I find funny are the guys showing off their manliness in an attempt to attract others (not just sexual partners) in an attempt to validate what is more probably a very insecure or threatened internal child.
 
The author tries to link a reduction in working hours to video game addiction. While conveniently leaving out the massive amount of problems in the workforce that exist. What the author fails to realize is that addictive behavior is not caused by the addiction it is something innate to certain people and it wouldn't matter if it was video games, TV, cigarettes, or alcohol they would find some way to feed their addiction. And within the realm of heavy gamers exists a massively wide distribution of players. Each person makes their life the way they want it to be within their hobbies. For instance I have an innate desire to build, and make things better to think about big pictures. So video gaming led me to learn mapping, programming , web design, 2D art. I picked up a ton of skills from it, but I can look at other friends of mine who only played the games, their desires in life simply didn't lead them to pick up other skills and it was interesting that many of my gamer friends ended up being programmers and I would often ask them to help me create games and they would simply just not be interested, their only interest lied in playing them.

Video games are just one outlet, the generation isn't lost to video gaming its lost to not having jobs and hope. In part because of the market forces and in part because of how their parents raised them. But had their been no video games at all, these same people would be equally addicted to some other cheap local activity, maybe like the generation we lost to playing basketball, or TV, or anything else.

Also as a person who can do and build nearly anything I want, I have learned in my years there is some value to those people who cannot do all these things, mainly they are far more capable then I at just accepting lots of things in life the way they are, and it frees up a ton of their time to pursue work. Not saying one or the other is better but just you know being able to change your oil doesn't make you smart when you can pay someone $20 to do it in 10 minutes vs you needing to learn how to do it, have the parts and supplies, climb under your car and do it and you surely will not do it in 10 minutes. So in a way they may just be more efficient. But just the same paying someone to do it doesn't mean anything if you are not doing something valuable with the time you save and value can be anything maybe even just spending time with you loved ones. But if all you do is pay to have the oil changed so you can surf hardforum and bitch about something then maybe it wasn't so great after all. Life is about balance. And I will freely admit that I do not have the balance I wish I did, I know my psychological problems exist, I just wish more people could admit to theirs.
 
I wasted 10 years on gaming instead of trying to become rich and relax somewhere on a private Island.
I should have gotten into Bitcoin/mining back in 2012 instead of playing video games. Damnit.
 
At the age most are talking about here, myself and my mates were busy ripping the engines out of our cars, pulling them down and fitting crazy camshafts, ported heads and Holley carbies at 3:00 in the morning surrounded by pizza and beer.

Essentially learning life skills that assist with life in the real world. Nowadays the younger generation appear to think PC = Gaming and can't really grasp the concept that it's good for a plethora of alternate applications that aren't related to gaming, in my day I remember typing in lines of BASIC code to play a game - Once again, learning skills that benefit me in the real world.

While I love to game, it doesn't dominate my life. Due to the fact that there's not much to gain from gaming that assists with life in the real world, I can't help but feel that it's making a percentage of society stupider.
 
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