Nofap and videogames

They are referring to addictions, the only way video games would be bad is if it interfered with you bettering yourself.

 

Video games are bad because they give you instant gratification, just like porn does.

With Porn you don’t have to earn anything. You skip the work and go straight to the reward. You skip the flirting, you skip the build up, you skip the touching. You don’t have to put in any work and you just jump straight to the sex and orgasm. This goes against how our brains were meant to function. From early evolution our brains were tought. “Put in the work and get something”. If you wanted food, you had to hunt for it. If you wanted a woman you had to show her that your the man that’s gonna protect her. Nowadays we skip out on all the work and we just go straight for the reward.

This is why video games are bad. We skip out the work in real life. We “earn” things in games and our brain releases dopamine. Tricking us into thinking that we’ve actually accomplished something in life when in reality you’ve accomplished absolutely nothing. The brain seeks reward for putting in the work and Game developers know this which is why in every video game you rank up and unlock stuff for completing objectives. Everytime you rank up or unlock something your brain thinks you’re moving on up in life. But when you switch the game off. You’re still in exactly the same place. You haven’t added anything to the real world but your brain has just had the last 2 hours of completing tasks, which it has released a lot of dopamine for. Now you’re back in the real world but your brain is already satisfied with what you’ve “accomplished” so your real life will suffer because you’ve spent your energy in a game. So you won’t chase the dopamine that real life has to offer. It takes a lot longer to save up and get a car in real life than it does a game.

 

Play dark souls, that game requires a lot of work to get a reward.

 

I will never quit video games, they hold a piece of me.

 

Whether it requires a lot of work or not is irrelevant. The result is still the same. You’ve spent hours in a virtual world and you haven’t improved your real life one little bit.

I agree with you. Video games are hella fun, but it’s becuase it gives us a lot of dopamine. As I’ve gotten older I still play video games but I just can’t enjoy it like I used to knowing that I’m literally wasting my time. I’ve accomplished all the things I want out of life in games. I’ve bought the mansions, I’ve bought the cars, I’ve reached the highest levels... but I walk away from the screen with absolutely nothing in real life. This is why games can be destructive. It can stop people from reaching things in real life. Just look at how many gamers have nothing in life. All they do is play games. (please don’t point to the few you tubers that are successful. They are the extreme minority. I’m talking about the majority of people)

I’m not against video games, it’s all about control. If you have a handle on things then it’s absolutely fine. But there is no doubt that overuse is harmful.