Escape vs. responsibility (Gaming)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 19:57 (2592 days ago) @ Kermit

I'm struggling to figure out how I feel about this article. Probably because the author wanders between a few different perspectives. But this whole thing gets at a central question in my life, that I think I made a decision about pretty early on. That is, how much time to dedicate to work.

In my view, there are 2 groups of people. Those who dedicate a large amount of time to work (working late evenings frequently, etc.), and people who only dedicate as much time as is strictly necessary. Maybe it's genetic, maybe it's the way I was raised (neither of my parents are what I would call "career people," and family time/church activities/seeing friends was always a bigger priority than promotions or buying a boat), or maybe I just watched "Office Space" too many times, but I've always looked at the former lifestyle as more of a dreary death sentence than a desirable existence. Not to disparage those people - I think it does work for some. But for me, if I'm working past 5pm, a little voice starts screaming "your REAL life is ticking away."

So in my case, I do play a lot of video games in my spare time. But if I'd never gotten interested in video games, I'm certain I would still be a person who works just enough to pay the bills and save for retirement, and I would have some other hobby or hobbies taking up my evenings. It's inconceivable to me that I'd be working late all the time or planning out career goals.

Note that I'm currently unattached to anyone else, so priorities for me right now really are a binary choice between work and play, unless some work needs done on the house. Shit, my garage door opener just broke (seriously). :(