[UPDATED] During the past weekend, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made the Chinese people aware that playing online games is equivalent to “Opium for the mind” or “Spiritual Opium”.
So, is the CCP’s assertion true: Is online gaming addictive? And if it is, does government have a duty to suppress gaming companies, or suppress individuals from playing games?
First of all, I agree with the CCP’s assertion. I believe that online games are additive.
My experience with computer gaming and online gaming is that it is a type of “spiritual opium”; that is, assuming opium is a metaphor for addiction. I believe that if you play online games you already know that they are addictive. In fact, these games can be so addictive that they keep you from living a “normal” life; meaning, a life where you interact with human beings and navigate your way through life’s challenges. This last part is much more complicated than you might think, but I’ll stick with basics.
I started playing simple games that shipped with Windows 3.0, games like Solitaire, Tetris, and others. Maybe it was because I worked in technology, but I found computer gaming fascinating and I spent many hours playing the games when I should have been sleeping. I think that was a kind of addiction. However, I backed away from those games because my interest in programming, databases, and the Internet was even more fascinating. So, in hind sight, that was a brief interval of my life, but would I have been better off if our nation-state had turned off my access to the games? I don’t think so. I played games to relax after a hard day’s work.
BTW, tech workers in China live a “996” way of life (“9am to 9pm, six days a week”) and this has enabled China to make the massive technology gains they’ve made in the past twenty years. Put another way, China expects its tech workers to devote themselves to the projects that propel the country forward. They’ve openly criticized activities that don’t directly contribute to the advancement of the states objectives. They aren’t even shy about saying this.
I made progress in my tech career and was online before the Internet. I played some of the early online games. I played various online games on Prodigy, and enjoyed running the Golden Streams Brewery business game. But the early online games weren’t that awesome, and I graduated to other computer games like Might & Magic (a solo role play, adventure party game) and F-15 Strike Eagle. I had a fancy fighter control stick for Strike Eagle and loved flying up to 40,000 feet and descending on enemy targets at Mach 2. So, I had a taste for gaming and that gave me a certain connection with fellow software developers. I was even a “Guerilla Programmer” (meaning programmers that did not to surrender the software industry to foreign countries) back in the 1990s.
I joined a Redmond, Washington software development company and that led to my greatest achievements. I fit in with this group easily because of my devotion to the art and science of software technology, but also because I could walk the walk as a computer gamer. In fact, I played online multi-player games with the guys on our team in the afterhours at our office. We used the company’s servers to run our own versions of popular multi-player games like Doom, Rise of The Triad, Duke Nukem, and many other crazy games. That gaming was part of my company’s culture. We’d play from 6pm to sometimes as late as midnight, and it was a lot of fun, even though the guys saw us girls as easy kills. If I had been a staunch women’s libber, I probably would not have fit in, but I’ve always felt comfortable letting guys be guys.
The question arises: Were we addicted to online gaming? Maybe, but I just don’t know.
I am sure that all of us were addicted to our careers. In fact, I think everyone who lived in Redmond at that time was addicted to their careers as well. And we helped invent the future of software in our own small pocket of the software universe. We also helped build our company from a small shop to a public company within a few years. So, there’s that.
The real question is: Could we have done more to contribute to the art and science of software technology or to our company? I really doubt it, but I understand that there are people who would disagree. The thing is, unless you live the life, you don’t realize how important the shared developer experience is. Was that share experience really necessary. I’d say yes, but others may disagree.
Were we addicted to gaming or addicted to our careers, or both? Addiction is real. Gaming companies are well aware of how dangerous it is. But should a nation-state attempt to force it’s tech workers to be addicted to their jobs and give up gaming? In America, the answer is obvious. In China, well, there is evidence that tech workers are getting tired of being bullied into devoting their lives to this level of work.
My Conclusion: Online gaming is addictive. I’ve battled that addiction and had to make decisions to disengage from games when they’ve become too addictive. Again, it’s like drugs, some people can stop and some can’t. If you believe human beings must go into the world and make their own stupid mistakes, then you have to let people follow their own paths. No, you can’t protect everyone and some young people will make terrible mistakes. For me, I enjoy some types of online gaming and frequently have to decide whether I’m becoming too addicted to a game.
Just my humble opinion.
Sha’Carri Richardson
She’s America’s top female sprinter.
Below is the video of her qualifying for the #1 spot on the USA 100 meter team. The thing about her is, she has an amazing ability to unleash her top end speed. Check the video of Sha’Carri’s qualification run, and I think you’ll be thrilled as her top-end is released. It is particularly amazing when you consider that she is only 5’1″ tall. In sprints, physical height, especially long legs, has proven to be decisive for many top sprinters in the late stage of a race. For example: the top sprinter of all time was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt (6’5″ tall). And among women Olympians, Florence “Flo-Jo” Joiner was 5’7″. And top female sprinters do not “run like girls”, just saying. Simply said: Her ability is awesome to watch.
I’m deeply saddened that this magnificent young athlete made an impulsive mistake. She has been suspended 30 days and that will cost her a chance to compete in the USA Olympic Team’s 100 meter dash. I doubt that the US Olympic Committee can make an allowance for her, because of the precedent it would set, but her suspension expires before the 4×100 sprint relays and I’m praying for to be part of that team.
Sha’Carri is a great talent and has a lovely spirit, and she would represent our country proudly.
I ran sprints in high school, but never had Sha’Carri’s talent. Nonetheless, I did come to understand that 100 sprints have at least two stages: the start (first 30 to 50), where you run as fast with all your strength; the later stage (50-100), where the best sprinters transition up to their top end speed. Many sprinters that are good in the start get overrun by other sprinters in the second stage because they can’t make this subtle transition. And the best sprinters do something that very few sprinters understand, they relax and let their bodies loose; it is an almost transcendental experience. And very few coaches know enough about this to really coach it.
In the above video, you’ll hear the commentator refer to Sha’Carri’s ability to relax, and how it is unusual for a 21 year old. But the relaxation is a real thing and I’ve rarely heard track coaches mention it (but my experience was a long time ago); although once, I heard one coach refer to a male sprinter, saying: Watch him coast. That’s was the coaches observation, and it was a poor description of what happens. I discovered the power of relaxation by watching a world champion sprinter at a track meet at the University of Miami. My mind translated what I saw in the context of my Zen studies, and a old saying about horseback riding: “Give the horse its head.” I came away with a theory that I must transition from my fast start and release my body’s strength naturally. The very next day I tried the technique and my 100 speed showed an immediate improvement: 0.3 better than my personal best (0.3 in the 100 is a lot).
It’s easy to identify people who don’t understand relaxation, regardless of their speed: They seem tightly wound up through the entire race. But the people who can relax are equally easy to recognize; remember how easily Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt cruised to his victories? The guy was egotistical to an obnoxious degree, and in the China Olympics his behavior offended the Chinese people. But he clearly was a master of relaxation. Being short is a big disadvantage for Sha’Carri but her incredible top end speed is a gift from God.
Praying for you, Sha’Carri.
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