Learning while playing video games?

[Aurelius]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

 

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[sparechange]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

Total action fake, hyper reality feel good crap. Yeh I totally get games are fun (I've spent summers locked in a room playing competitive shooters)

Dump the games, live real life. BUILD a life better than the video game.

 

[Aurelius]

Total action fake, hyper reality feel good crap. Yeh I totally get games are fun (I've spent summers locked in a room playing competitive shooters)

Dump the games, live real life. BUILD a life better than the video game.

It's like telling a depressed guy to stop being depressed. Or a alcoholic to stop drinking. I try to deal with my addiction as best as I can.

 

[sparechange]

It's like telling a depressed guy to stop being depressed. Or a alcoholic to stop drinking. I try to deal with my addiction as best as I can.

Well enjoy the games then!

 

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[Thoelt53]

It's like telling a depressed guy to stop being depressed. Or a alcoholic to stop drinking. I try to deal with my addiction as best as I can.

If you are addicted to video games to the extent that you compare yourself to an alcoholic, throw it all in the garbage.

Alcoholics typically cannot moderate and the best solution for them is to abstain.

You’re basically asking: “If I could drink 20 hours a day, I would. What can I do while drinking that will improve my life or make me a better version of myself?”

Answer: You can’t. You don’t.

And for what it’s worth, no you cannot tell a depressed person to not be depressed. But you can tell an alcoholic to stop drinking, and an alcoholic can, in fact, stop drinking.

 

[ProcessPro]

But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything

A book called 'Self-directed behaviour' by David Watson is helping me with this. Check it out.

Consider setting up a token economy for your goals. E.g. If you work a pre-defined amount of time, you earn a token which can use to purchase Minecraft time. Look up token economy if the concept is new to you. If you're addicted, you may need to ask someone's help and have them reward you with Minecraft ONLY when you do X for the day. (perhaps give them your computer power cable? If you need your pc for work, find another way etc.)

Good luck.

 

[Thoelt53]

Find the 75 Hard thread. Go to www.75hard.com and check it out.

You need to instill some discipline in your life. Take it from someone who is just like you, the only difference is the vice. Get the vice out of your home and fill that time with something constructive.

It doesn’t have to be business or learning related. It could be yard work, detailing your car, exercise, carpentry, etc. It really doesn’t matter. Just find something you enjoy that is constructive to fill the void.

You will get cravings. But they pass, and relatively quickly. When you feel the urge just get up and do something. Anything. It doesn’t matter. However, all sources of video games had better have been purged from your home.

Just get over the initial withdrawal or “dip,” then you can start learning something new or build a business. But for now just focus or ridding your life of your addiction to video games.

They are a vice that is filling a void inside you. And the longer you remain addicted, the bigger that void will grow, and so too will your addiction.

Today is the day to quit. Not tomorrow.

 

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[Thoelt53]

A book called 'Self-directed behaviour' by David Watson is helping me with this. Check it out.

Consider setting up a token economy for your goals. E.g. If you work a pre-defined amount of time, you earn a token which can use to purchase Minecraft time. Look up token economy if the concept is new to you. If you're addicted, you may need to ask someone's help and have them reward you with Minecraft ONLY when you do X for the day. (perhaps give them your computer power cable? If you need your pc for work, find another way etc.)

Good luck.

No. If he is legitimately addicted to video games, they need to go.

Anything else is just delaying the inevitable.

 

[ProcessPro]

No. If he is legitimately addicted to video games, they need to go.

Anything else is just delaying the inevitable.

That's a great strategy, especially at first. I blocked myself from YouTube for a while for similar reasons. Worked well. I use YouTube intermittently but in a productive way.

 

[Benedict]

I won't judge if you are addicted or not. But,

your brain and body get so much good-feeling-dopamine from gaming that there is no reason to do something else.

That is the reason you keep doing it.

The problem:

Other things in live don't give you as much dopamine as gaming and that is why you don't do them.

You are dopamine addicted. And with 20h gaming per day you are flooded with it.

So what could be a step towards a solution?

Get a dopamine detox!

How?

Best would be to get off gaming (+other digital dopamine kicks like youtube, social media, etc.) for one whole day each week at the beginning. You could go into nature, visit your grandma, travel.

When you do that you will get depressed a little and f*cking bored. That is what a dopamine detox feels like.

But guess what? When you just sit around at home or at your grandmas and be f*cking bored out of your mind, your brain will find ways to get more dopamine. The good news:

Since you cannot play games, it MUST find different ways to get some dopamine - even if it is just in small portions.

That is when you begin to get pleasure from other things like reading, creating something, communicating, etc.

After doing that for a few weeks you can expend the detox times:

2 days per week, 3days, ...
18h/ day -> 16h/day -> 14h/day ..... -> 2h/day

Off course, getting rid of it alltogether would be much faster and probably easier. Question is: Can you handle the little dopamine-eating monster inside you that will go nuts if it recognizes that you are about to kill it's biggest source of food?

If you can't: Set it on a detox-diet and show it that there are so many delicious ways to get good dopamine.


One last thing: Another way to argue with your dopamine monster might be to use e.g. 3h/ day not just gaming but learning something specific in gaming or creating something that requires thought and a little effort. In Minecraft there is a lot potential for that.
Or just write about what you learned so far from all of the hours you have spent and help other gamers with their problems. You will be surprised how good it feels to contribute to the wellbeeing and joy of others and how easy that can be.

 

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[100ToOne]

I disagree with a lot been said in the posts above.

You can make it work.
The world today allows you to.

Be a livestream twitch player like ninja.
Offer coaching.
Make an entertaining YT channel whilst playing.

I know a teenager who whilst we all played on his Private Runescape servers, he was making $20k+ a month running ads, selling admin and moderator positions on his server, having a very active rsps forum, selling merch and tons more.

Whilst hardcore programmers making the servers and updating the clients were making peanuts, he was making a fortune with 0 technical skills.

Its how you look at it if you ask me.
So go ahead and start using your addiction to make money.

 

[Therealfitchett]

Re-read Meditations.

What you're suggesting is an extremely tiny step in the right direction. At least you're acknowledging you have an addiction and it needs to change. I know the position you're in, I've been addicted to video games at varying degrees for the majority of my childhood and well into my 20s.

You have to quit today brother. It will be the hardest thing you ever do but also the most rewarding. Uninstall steam and cancel all of your subscriptions. Be careful of youtube addiction replacing your video game addiction. YT addiction is very real and hits all the same buttons as video games but is available all the time, everywhere.

"Learning through video games" is just you rationalising your addiction and wasting your time. It might not feel like a waste but trust me you'll look back in 5-10 years and have NOTHING to show for it. Everytime you feel the urge to reinstall your games go grab your phone, load up a podcast/audiobook and get out the house for an hour or two and just walk.

You can play all of the video games you want once you're financially free & retired (but by then you might not want to!). Goodluck

 

[Ninjakid]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.

Have you ever actually tried?

The most I've ever played is 7 hours, and it nearly killed me.

This might seem counter-intuitive but you could try burning yourself out from video games.

 

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[RealDreams]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

I'm sorry, but all this makes no sense.
You sound weak as sh*t.

You must rewire your brain for REAL, tangible success. Not for some virtual bullshit. And that is all up to you. You can't come up here asking for people to validate your (bad) habits.

That Minecraft idea is BS. You must hit the root issue of your inaction, not cover it with cheap-dopamine habits.

Stop gaming altogether. Go cold turkey. Your brain will soon start craving dopamine, and THAT is when you must take REAL action: productive action. This is the only way to rewire your brain for success.

Note: I used to play CS-GO 13 hours a day and my only goal in life was becoming "global-elite". And the above is my advice for you, after 15 years wasted playing videogames. 15 years I'll never get back.

Once you understand how game-creators companies create such "dopamine-hooks" with gamification models (cue, action, reward), you start seeing such games as something to avoid at all cost. That's the same with porn.

 

[GoodluckChuck]

The cool thing about gaming addiction is that you can cure it by removing games from the environment. If they're there, you'll be triggered to play for the easy dopamine they provide. If they aren't there, then playing isn't an option so the brains jumps to the next most rewarding activity.

When I look back at playing games in the past one of the things that sticks out is that it was very easy to have goals with games.

"Get to the next level."
"Gain 10 levels."
"Beat the boss."

Having goals in real life is much harder because there are an Infinite number of possibilities. Maybe that's why games are so easy to pick up for some.

The reason I don't play games now is because I learned along the way that everything we do is training our brains. Our body and minds are always adapting to our environment.

A video game makes for a very easy dopamine snack for the brain, thus causing the brain to adapt to that level of easy dopamine and become numb to "lesser" dopamine responses like those found in delayed gratification activities.

The thing about business is it's all delayed gratification. So, if you want to tune your brain to think long term, you have to cut out the instant gratification training or it's going to be 100000x harder.

It sucks but it's true, the games have to go if the addiction is ever going to go away. A heroin addict doesn't just take a little heroin every day. They go all or nothing. If that's what gaming is like to you, then burn the console, delete the files on the computer, change your environment, and the addiction will subside.

 

[AlessandroD]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

Well, there are pro players that turns their passion in a well paid job, even 7 figures a year.
The first question is: are you able to became a pro player?
Then, are they still having fun? Maybe yes, maybe not.
Anyhow when you will retire (whatever the reason) your cash flow will stop as well.

But you have to handle this like a job and not as obsession, if so you need to go to therapy, don't turn a pathology in something else.

 

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[LightHouse]

Do you have a desire to live a life without being addicted to games?

I understand currently you want to keep them and find a way to work with them, but can you see a future without them or less of them and doing something you deem more important?

 

[SEBASTlAN]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

Can you make a game instead? That way you can combine your love for video games with a reward/goal.

 

[Andy Black]

If you were one of my sons then I’d be locking away the games consoles and coming up with a more productive game for you to play. One that got you outside occasionally, and moving.

If you’re going to play a game at a computer then why not fire up a Facebook or Google Ads account and commit to spending $5/day. Play “How can I turn that $5/day into $10/day?”.

 

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[The-J]

Nothing wrong with loving video games. They're fun. But they're a trap.

They keep you locked in a cycle of achievement while producing no real results. Worse if the game requires hours of commitment. There's a game that I really like called Old School Runescape. It's notorious for being very grindy and long. To get to max level, you're looking at about 1500 hours of highly repetitive (and sometimes difficult) gameplay, and that's if you're efficient. I've had the account for 5 years now and I'm nowhere near max level. I'll never max. Won't happen. Why?

Because it's an insane waste of time. 1500 hours is 37.5 WORK WEEKS. That's over 8 months of gaming as if it were a full time job, all to get something that isn't worth anything in the real world. (Maybe you can sell the account for a grand or two, but that's not even close to worth it.) But there are over 8,000 people with maxed level in the game. What the hell is wrong with these people? Here's what happens.

You end up chasing these goals, some of them long term goals, and then achieving them and feeling great about yourself... for a short time. But you have nothing to show for it except a spot on the high scores.

What you need is a new game. A better game. Call it 'outside'.

It's no secret that video game nerds often end up getting into fitness by lifting weights. Lifting weights provides the same kind of feedback: it's a long term goal, it's a grind, and the feedback is immediate. Either you got stronger or you didn't, and that's shown by the weight on the bar.

Business isn't quite like that. Yes, it's a long term goal, and it is a grind, but the feedback isn't immediate. It's delayed. You will grind for weeks, months, or even years on something and have no idea if what you're doing is going to be successful or not. Worse yet, you're going into the grind often not knowing what you're going to have to deal with that day. And there's a financial risk involved! But building a business is still worthwhile. You can earn in game gold, and that in game gold can be earned without having to grind for it in the future. It's like... an in game farm, or something. (I don't know lmao)

The nice thing about outside is that new updates for the game come out every single day, almost everyone is playing it, and even though you're a player, you're also a part of the development team. The graphics are stellar, and the console and controller are built into your body already.

Oh, and outside is completely free to play. (Has microtransactions, though.)

 

[LightningHelix]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

I really don't understand how building stuff in Minecraft is going to help you advance in any way. If you want to play around with designs, you're better learning CAD. (it's kind of like Minecraft, if you think about it, except you have more tools and customizability. It's obviously harder to learn, just think of it like a challenge.)

If you're stuck on gaming as an industry, Let's look at it a different way, is there some sort of value you could give to fellow gamers?

Are you restricted to only Minecraft? (Youtube and Twitch Content for Minecraft has been done to death for a decade now, so unless you are Pewdiepie or have an incredibly unique and valuable twist on that old dinosaur, I'd avoid it like a plague.)

Maybe branch your gaming into other forms, such as designing board games or card games (something that could be done alone or in a small team.)? Maybe you could come up with something fresh (Although I hear board games are a tough industry.)

Is there literally anything else you like doing? If not, you are probably missing out on a lot of opportunities that life has (you are definetly going to regret that on some level in a few years from now.)

Honestly, best advice I can give is get out there and find some other stuff you like doing other than playing video games.

EDIT: More importantly if you are here for fastlane entrepreneurship, you must focus on what others need from you, not what you want to do. No one is going to give a crap about an eiffel tower or whatever built in Minecraft. Not enough to fork over money for it anyway.

 

[alexkuzmov]

“How can I turn that $5/day into $10/day?”

Thats like the best game
I`m addicted to playing that

 

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[JAJT]

@Aurelius - I'm a huge video game buff myself. Have been for over 30 years. Hell I just completed Doom 2016 yesterday on the hardest difficulty (okay, second hardest, that "one-life-per-game" bullshit isn't for me). I also get together with friends once a week and play Minecraft or Diablo 3. Huge gamer, here.

Games are healthy and fun when you fit them into your free time that you've specifically dedicated to gaming. Like my once-a-week gaming session with friends, or after everyone else in the house is asleep but I'm not ready for bed yet. This is time I spend that isn't coming at the cost of something else I should be doing instead.

Here's the thing - The folks who are talking about addiction, dopamine, brain stuff, etc... are all bang on. You aren't playing games because they are fun, you are playing because you are addicted. I've been there, it sucks.

But not only is gaming a possible addiction for you - but it may also be how your brain has wired itself to avoid discomfort. This is a really nasty one-two punch.

When you feel threatened, your brain releases cortisol (hormone that controls feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, doubt, uncertainty, etc...). Whenever your brain perceives something as a threat based on past negative experiences, you get a jolt of the stuff. This is INTENDED to get your a$$ up and moving to find a way to resolve the threat. When you are hungry, you get up and get food. If you feel unsafe, you flee to safety. If you expect bad news, you run through a million scenarios in your head in how you are going to handle it.

Something that happens all too easily these days, is finding release in highly addictive electronic devices. It becomes the "go to" for your cortisol responses.

Call you don't want to make --> play video games --> feel better
Stressing about money --> play video games --> feel better
Unsure about how to get your business idea working --> play video games --> feel better
Bored and feeling restless and useless --> play video games --> feel better

Happens exactly the same way with alcoholics. This is why some people can drink socially and never have an issue while others can't put the bottle down. The first person's brain has no meaningful connection with booze while the alcoholic's brain KNOWS booze solves bad feelings. It doesn't matter that the alcoholic knows it's bad for them and makes things worse in the long term - because the brain is what runs the show and cortisol demands an immediate response and booze is an immediate remedy. It's a very strong mental association at the brain-chemistry level.

The thing is that video games, like alcohol, WORK REALLY WELL to relieve your cortisol signals. It relieves your stress, cures your fears, gets your mind off of things, makes you feel productive, floods you with good feelings, etc...

Your brain only knows what you've trained it to do (regardless of what you logically think) and it will try its best to maintain what works. In your case, video games work. Cortisol goes up, games into play, cortisol goes down (and dopamine goes up, and other stuff).

Consider this - every time you feel an overwhelming urge to play video games, what caused that urge? I'm willing to bet 9 times out of 10 it's because there's something you know you should do but the thought of it is stressful, fearful, has uncertainty, or in other words is just something you'd rather not do.

The best possible fix is what other's have suggested - pack up the video games and put it in a box until you rewire your brain to find a more productive outlet to fill that gap.

 

[Kevin88660]

I have a video game addiction, I won't lie. I would play 20h a day if I could.
But at the end of the day I still beat myself up for not doing anything. But what if I could combine learning with video games?

I have made a Minecraft server in which I build stuff I'd like to have in the future. I m going to build a huge library where I will keep book key points I have read before, and read them occasionally. I will use Minecraft as a boost to keep myself on track of journaling, as well as reflecting on new ideas.
I don't know what will it give, but hope I can get something out of it.

If someone is interested in joining the server, just pm me, I'll give it to ya

I recommend you a new game that I play. It is quite fun.

When you wake up in the morning write the things you want to do for the day.

Decide what the punishment is for not completing them by a specific time e.g. 8pm. For instance 30 push up.

By the time comes (8pm), start the punishment if you did not finish.

Then Repeat The next day...it is very fair and fun. You decide the tasks and punishment.