this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
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Why does real life not provide the same gratification hormones?
Obviously it should make me feel much happier and accomplished to do literally anything constructive with my time, even more so when my bank account total goes up from getting paid, than to have a mediocre time getting dunked on in an online shooter, but it doesn't work that way...
Are there any studies done on this? I know there are apps and systems that attempt to do just this, gameifying real life chores with moderate success. Why does this not work as well as one would expect? The psychology should be very interesting.
Doing something constructive feels really good once you've finished and gotten a reward for accomplishing it. Games hijack this gratification system and instead trickle little rewards at you constantly so you always feel like you're accomplishing something.
Games are manipulating you and making you feel happy about progress that happens inside a game that isnt even real. But it works.
Real life is designed to be debt slavery, and for you to constantly run faster to get an education, a good job and a family. My girlfriend feels she is getting enough satisfaction in life from our kid and her gardening interest. I'm not feeling that way personally, and I wish there was something more exciting to look forward to, because life can be pretty boring if you don't feel excited about work and family.
I feel like games are a way to forget the boring real life for a while. But they are clearly manipulative.
Real life is boring because there is no feeling of any meaning to what we do. If we were living in a star trek society where you could be proud of humanity and what we are accomplishing, it would be easier to feel like we are doing good. But there is just no higher purpose to any of our current activities. So it's boring.
Human leaders are super primitive as well, and just depressing to watch. They are the worst of people, but being advertised as leaders.
Sitting is boring, emails are boring, not owning capital is boring. Religion is not, plants are not, sunlight is not. Building things is cool when they're yours or your friends'. Kids are fun.
I feel like some guys tend to be wired to really enjoy the grind, but you have to get regular little indications towards progress, and kinda let yourself get 'addicted'.
I've never gotten around to actually reading up on this, but I've always suspected it has to do with the frequency of gratification. In real life you could study for 8 hours and, while you'll learn a lot, you don't get that dopamine (or whatever) hit until you complete the test, succeed at the project, etc. Games, however, are constructed so that you get little rewards at regular intervals to keep you hooked, like levels, new gear, etc. Some, particularly a lot of mobile games, obviously prey on susceptible people with that loop, but even "regular" games can get pretty addictive with that sort of progression.
(I'm far from anti-gaming. It's my main hobby. This is just my guess at how the psychology behind it works.)
This might be an interesting read: https://celiahodent.com/understanding-the-success-of-fortnite-ux/
Whom do you think countries wage wars for?