A World of Distractions

Turn on the television. Open up your web browser. Boot up your playstation or smartphone and load up a game.

Now recognize that every available form of entertainment involves nothing more than a distraction from reality, with the most immersive forms consisting of entire virtual worlds designed to encapsulate you fully and keep you from making legitimate moves towards progressing within the confines of actual life.

Most people unthinkingly surrender their time, their energy, and their motivation towards mastering these faux realities--even if that means making serious compromises in the real world. And many of those people pride themselves upon their status and attainment within those artificial environments, bragging about their accomplishments like those feats possess genuine merit.

"I'm a level 70 whatever in my online game."

"I'm head of my guild and undefeated in PvP."

"I just got a rod of smiting by beating the lava lair."

Great, I always think whenever anyone brags to me about their virtual accomplishments. But then I look deeper at what they've actually done with their lives. And whilst sometimes I find that analysis reassuring upon finding they've raised a happy family and earned a near-executive position in a giant corporation, other times I find the only things of worth they've achieved have happened within the environ of a video game.

And then I get a little sad--because whilst having fun is important and enjoying yourself is a vital part of life, prioritizing fun and enjoyment over real sustainable achievements in virtual worlds is never a great investment of time and energy compared against doing things of value within reality.

Because when the game gets outdated or the sequel comes out, no one cares what status or rank you held in the previous iteration of that pasttime. No one cares whether you had a level 70 whatever or a rod of smiting, because immediately upon popping in the next game, everyone starts anew under a different ruleset in a new world.

But when this life is over, you're still playing this game. You might be in another dimension or another realm of existence, but rest assured that your accomplishments attained or opportunities wasted here will still matter greatly.

The challenge of living upon this world exists in ignoring those forays into mindless direction, and instead remaining focused on real goals of substantial worth. Create something with your time here--write books, make poems, sing songs, engineer marvels, craft new worlds whilst ensconced in this one.

The people who make video games are amazing possessors of incredible creativity. The people who play them unto exclusion of everything else are missing a valuable opportunity to give back unto reality through crafting their own works of worth.

Am I saying never relax? No.

Am I saying avoid games entirely? Of course not.

But before slipping into artificial environments, make certain you've completed your work in this one.

Then, think very closely about whether you'd gain more from developing your virtual character more--or whether you'd benefit increasingly from leveling up yourself.

Never cared for games that much. I do play some pinnacle on a league and also play some spider solitaire online to keep my thinking sharp. I used to play foosball and pool quite a bit when I was younger.

Video games never impressed me, but then again I don't like competing with others. I don't even like competing with a computer.

Steve Smith puts it better than I could.

a reply to: Trachel

It appears as though you have overlayed your utility and sense of achievement and worth over somebodies else's.

I *could* take this one step further and say that in the time it took you to think about this and post it, that time could have been better off used elsewhere, since worrying about other people like this is generally a waste of your time. However, I won't, because you obviously derived some unmeasurable form of utility from doing so and I'd be assuming too much.

Therefore I say to you good sir, enjoy your day and make pursuit of yourself rather than worry about the pursuits of others. Unless worrying about the pursuits of others is your pursuit, in which case, it is just, "Sir, good day to you".

a reply to: Trachel

I agree with you somewhat, but I have a little different opinion. One thing that video games can be great at is removing a person from a sense of a "bad" reality. Some people use them as an escape from a reality that is not good for them. I guess you could say that playing a game, like reading a book can be an escape from the "crush" each day of living in pain. I know of a lot of soldiers who have used video games to escape the pain of PTSD. I know others that use metal detecting or hiking to escape the crushing pain of reality. I myself have experienced almost everything that I mentioned above, so this is the perspective as I see it. I'm not coming from the point of view of the emotionally damaged soldier, but I think I can relate (in my personal case).

On the other hand, they are all an escape from reality, so they may in the long-term prevent a person in facing the problems that may be occurring in their life. Any hobby is an escape from reality, but any hobby can be abused-the way I see it.

Honestly movies, books, or any form of entertainment is a distraction from reality. In that sense, these sorts of things can be quite valuable. This is a painful world...

I like my distractions.
Learning to play various musical instruments.
Guitar and harmonica are like crack.
I can waste days on end distracting myself with oil paints and drawing with pencils and pens.
Television gets boring pretty quick with me, although I am a fan of cinema.
Life is a million distractions.
Is there any particular thing I should be paying attention to?
Squirrel!

i think earning a near executive position in a giant corporation and getting 99 strength on runescape are just about equal on a life's list of accomplishments lol. i believe creation is our purpose. once you've created something it's in the universe forever. if it can continuousely inspire people then that's an added bonus. i imagine rene magritte feels pretty nice right now wherever he's at