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RE: Learning the wrong things from the right games?
My issue with the many of the games these days is that they are designed to satiate the hunger for achievement without providing any real lessons. Lots of statistics to chase but skill development is very limited and narrow, especially considering the hours 'invested' into them.
I see that this is a relatively coordinated effort to keep the majority of us from investigating what may be of importance to our lives. It is mindless consumption, perfect for the future of governments and corporations.
Yours truly,
Ex-gamer
I have to call that into question. While I think modern games are largely escapism, I don't see any evidence that it is coordinated to keep us from more important things, though that can be an effect. What leads you to believe this?
I have a small amount of insider knowledge of what goes on at the worst kind of games companies today and they are certainly very highly skilled at encouraging addiction. They use knowledge from the gambling industry (they often in fact also develop gambling software) to full-on trick us with prompts, timing, incentives, etc. all honed based on real time analytics. It's pretty sick.
But they're operating on the basis of extracting money from us, and are coordinated with their rivals only in so far as to promote the industry - they're fiercely competitive with other games companies. I'm not sure where government fits into this at all except maybe in some convenient but largely independent symbiosis. In fact most governments are moving towards ever increasing regulation of the industry, albeit reluctantly from many quarters.
It is less about the gaming companies themselves and more about the design of a society that pushes their prominence. The coordination (if that is the right term) is well outside the scope of any one industry.
The government (whispered in a conspiratorial tone) benefits from massive taxes and generations of mindless sheep. :P
Society isn't designed, it is build and rebuilt, all piecemeal, and always by many hands. Coordination is not the right term to describe what I will concede is a sort of "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" type symbiosis. I reject that there is a conspiracy there on the basis of a lack of evidence.
I also think you're far too harsh. Mindless sheep? You're going to need to dust off your fedora man 😜 I know it's in jest but still, you give the overlords too much credit and your fellow human not enough.