The Role Of A Computer Game In Human Life

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

AUTHOR: Tkachev Sergey - our reader (not a psychologist)

Computer games are now generally known as a phenomenon, but people's attitudes towards this phenomenon differ. Some consider these games a "waste of time", others - "escape from reality", still others - "entertainment". For the fourth, this is a hobby, and for some, the game can become a discovery, a revelation and a great, deeply desired journey. Perhaps even to myself. And perhaps this is true for many - including those who are still little familiar with them (for example, because they are influenced by a preconceived notion).

(Here I will note that these reflections are my vision. In other words, this is what I think. Someone else may think differently. probably would have written: "this one believes that this is so, but the other one believes that otherwise, the third one does not agree with both of them, but …" "Metaphysics" by Aristotle himself and which dealt there with the theme of the foundations of the structure of the world.

I will also note that the words “my vision” do not mean “my humble opinion, which I will immediately withdraw in the presence of“Truth”. No, this vision is based on experiences in my experience, on my observations, and I consider my own opinion based on this experience to be fair and correct. At the same time, the Other) may have different experiences and experiences and look at the things under discussion from a different angle, therefore, his general vision and opinion may be different. Different experiences and visions can stimulate discussion, which I am open to.

I will also say that these reflections do not pretend to be all-encompassing. Rather, they can be compared to a door that swings open and behind which a world is visible. You can also say that this is a certain volume to which additions, extensions can be applied - perhaps significantly exceeding the original volume.)

So, what can I say about the various aspects of the impact of computer games?

The first side of this influence I will call "time sharing." In principle, this is one of the main (if not the most important) argument that is put forward in favor of the fact that games are harmful or burdensome. It is because of this that games are often referred to as "wasting time" or "escaping reality." What happens is this: a person's attention, previously turned, simplifying, to the "basic" reality (simplifying because, for example, imagination creates its own reality - and apparently always created, including at a time when there were no computer games at all), partly is given to the reality of the game and only partly - to the basic "habitual" reality. At the same time, it may well come to the fact that the overwhelming part of attention is given to the game, and in "ordinary" reality a person only supports himself with food and sleep. But this is an extreme, and extremes are often limited, as, on the other hand, is a person who refuses imagination (that is, trying to avoid "escape from reality" in general - and as a result, chaining himself only to a part of the space of experiences, which otherwise could seem to him and be recognized and seen in a much larger volume). The above also explains the idea that not every “escape from reality” is bad, because, on the other hand, it is liberation from its shackles and limitations. Further, we can argue that the division of a person's attention between the "basic" reality and game realities is not bad at all and always, and how much it is good or bad, and in what, depends on the observance of the measure, on the ratio of losses and acquisitions (while in the number of losses from games, you can, first of all, include time and imperfect at this time - in the general world, about acquisitions from games you can think about yourself, this is also discussed below).

Secondly, I want to talk about the psychotherapeutic role of a computer game (and, first of all, games with a pronounced role play, where you can try and feel the role of a hero, villain, outstanding person, a person from the bottom of society, a creature of a different race or even nature - basically anyone, depending on the possibilities provided by the game). Before voicing the main theses, I will touch upon the opinion that in computer games people “learn” cruelty, learn to kill, and then bring it into “basic” reality. But there is also another opinion, and it consists in the fact that in the game people implement cruelty, and this leads to the fact that in the "basic" reality they realize cruelty less. Which of these two opinions is true - I do not presume to say with certainty, but the second seems more preferable to me: indeed, if a certain need is satisfied - at least partially, then for some time the desire to satisfy this need becomes less, and if a certain impulse is given the will, then it in one way or another exhausts its energy, becoming less or completely dying out. At the same time, he may become no longer strong enough to push a person to some kind of action. Also regarding this issue, I have come across the opinion that murder in the game and murder in real life are quite different psychologically actions.

Whether they are different or quite close, they reduce the cruelty of the game in the "ordinary world" or still multiply - the question is still debatable, but one can hardly argue that the game gives the experience of choices, as well as the feelings of the one who made this choice. For example, it gives a person a choice between an evil and a good deed (we define them as those that the one who chooses considers evil and good). A person has the opportunity to do this evil act and to know how he feels with this perfect choice, to try on the role of a villain. Instead of a taboo that knowledge does not give, he gains this knowledge - about himself and what he needs. What can this lead to? For example, to the fact that a person will understand that this is evil (or "evil"?) - exactly what he needs. Or vice versa - it is not necessary. In the second case, instead of a limiting prohibition, a person simply will not have the desire for this evil, and will not do this evil, not because this evil is forbidden, but because he does not want it. That is, the restriction has subsided, but a person does not go to certain “places”, since they are “unpleasant” to him and “not his”. Thus, in the mentioned second case, thanks to the game, a person can come to an understanding of his kindness, and understand that he wants to do good deeds, and then do them out of deep desire, and not within the framework of duty. The game gives a person a deeper understanding of his needs (and unnecessary, that which he will avoid and expel from life).

In the game, a person can first meet and see something that he would like (in terms of the qualities inherent in the character or the creatures he met, in terms of the structure of society, in terms of the atmosphere) and then possess this knowledge (that he wants this, and this is for him close) - so that when the significance of this for him reaches a certain degree, he begins to embody it in life (and his own).

Still the game can give some experience of power. Often a person is at the bottom of the pyramid or he is very far from its top; even if he stubbornly moves there, it will take a considerable time before he can achieve what he wants. And the thirst for it is now. The game is able to satisfy it, making it feel like a ruler (up to the role of one of the deities of that reality), to learn the features and nuances of this position, to get pleasure that it gives, to learn about the work that it involves (what the ruler is faced with), learn to do this work (respond to emerging challenges, create and organize a subordinate domain). The game is able to give an understanding of their own need for power, to what extent, to what extent it is "yours". She is also able to give an understanding of the desired type of power, the type of relationship with others, which a person needs, allowing him to try, for example, the role of a tyrant or the role of "first among equals."

The game is also able to show the huge role of choice, when different choices lead to different states of the world and life of the characters (including the "main character"), and, possibly, instill skepticism about the phrase and position "nothing depends on us." The game shows HOW much everything depends on us, through scenes of the hero's intervention in various situations, through his accomplishments. There are also games that teach to look for means to achieve the goal, according to the choice already made (that is, for each option of what is chosen, there are still different ways to achieve the chosen one), to show perseverance, resourcefulness, ingenuity, creativity, will in this search - and to give a person the experience that you can create the world around you and the events of your life, not grieving about how everything is wrong, but doing it as needed. Close to this is the attitude to politics, which I want to talk about separately. Some games are able to give an understanding that a person - "ordinary" - can be not only a spectator of the actions of certain personalities, but an active participant, being among those that determines the social present and future. And first you need to abandon the position “who am I? - yes, no one”, and dare to declare their position. For me, such a game, more than anyone else that opened my eyes to the fact that there is no chasm between a “politician” and “an ordinary person”, was the bright game “Dragon Age: Origins”, where the main character, a member of the important order of the Gray Guardians, in the plot, among other things, affects the issue of succession to the throne (large stage with a meeting of representatives of the nobility). In other words, who will become the king - or queen (in one of the options, a comrade and companion becomes the ruler). Separately, I want to dwell on how the game relieves the feeling of the gap between “us” (“ordinary people”, “people”) and “them” (politicians, rulers, brilliant, outstanding people, even non-humans who are at higher levels of development) … Yes, play retains the distinction, but at the same time gives an understanding and a sense of the connection between these, shall we say, groups. After all, the hero at the beginning of the game is often an "ordinary" person. Often, in its course, he develops, interacts with more developed personalities of the world and ultimately joins the number of outstanding persons, goes the way “there” from “an ordinary person”. The game shows that "one of us" can become "one of them." And this is not as impossible as it seemed, but it is completely admitted by reality. And not only gaming (and in general, in gaming realities, obstacles are often much more serious, difficult and dangerous than in our relatively quiet, calm and stagnant world).

The next aspect I want to talk about is modeling. Here, the role of a large number of games is similar to the role of fantasy and science fiction in general. Games can carry and offer unusual and different from the usual models of social structure, scenarios of contact with other intelligent races, various "worlds of the future", worlds of alternative history, generally differently arranged worlds (modeling worlds with different rules: from Pandora with low gravity to fantasy worlds where the power of magic is evident). In the case of the latter, the scope for modeling is especially wide - there may be worlds with a wide variety of mystical and magical features.

Another role of games joins the last aspect - the role of liberation from the shackles of everyday life and familiar and familiar reality. In this, the role of games is the same as the role of imagination and daydreaming (and imagination also creates the worlds of games). The game gives a person not only "this", but also "that", shows what other options, in addition to the realized one, could be, makes it possible to exist and act in other options, changes the understanding of the option in the "basic reality". For example, in comparison with others, this version of "ordinary reality" may seem in some way or in many respects gray, weak, "clogged outskirts", "threshold", the game can very much raise the bar for the best (by showing a creature whose capabilities are far superior the player's capabilities or by showing a world in which the inhabitants have many more opportunities than the inhabitants of our world, thanks to technology or magic). But it's great, in my opinion, when a person has a desire for much, much better, and there is an idea of this better, a feeling of it. There is a hope that a person will come to this better, or at least step on the road to him and walk along it for some time (and where he has reached, there will already be the best).

Also, through the game, a person can get acquainted with something, discover something or a certain area, be inspired to do something. "Assasin Creed" can inspire people to study history and practice parkour, "Mortal Combat" - martial arts, "Age of Mythology" - awaken interest in myths. Regarding the last point, we can add that the game can introduce the concept of the author's (as opposed to "folk") mythology - for example, in the series of games "The Elder Scrolls" (the mythology of Tamriel). Also, the game can not only induce a person to do something new and interesting, but also inspire (by the class that the characters show) to show creativity and focus on a much higher level in the field in which he is already engaged. And we can say that what a person does and his lifestyle is influenced by what games he played and what images he loved.

The next aspect of games is artistic. In my opinion, it is unlikely that there will be a dispute about the fact that some of the games are in one way or another a work of art, making an impression, introducing non-trivial stories and images. In this regard, you can talk about many games, but I would like to say about "Pillars of Eternity", a game where the main character sees images from the past lives of the inhabitants of the world, where a significant role is played by the servant of the defeated queen of the gods, who preserves memory from incarnation to incarnation and skills, and plans of which can span centuries. Where the god of light and rebirth was killed, and children without souls are born, which is attributed to the curse of the killed god (but in reality it was created by the above-named minister). Where special sorcerers-scientists study souls, and there is a special science and art concerning their study. Where one of the main character's companions is a hunter girl from a northern tribe, who is looking for a new incarnation of her deceased mentor, and in the end it turns out that it was an animal (already killed by another animal at the time it was found). Where another companion, an elf sorcerer, is experiencing breakthroughs in the psyche of his previous incarnation, in which he was a woman, moreover, with an uncomfortable character, from which he suffers inconvenience. Also in this respect, I want to recall Planescape: Torment, where there is no “main enemy”, but where the hero in the finale can meet with a part of himself, separated from him when he tries to avoid certain consequences of his actions (transition to the demonic plane and participation in the War of the Blood (or the Great War) of demons because of the "great evil" committed by the hero). Where a large-scale picture of cause and effect is shown, how actions in the past determine now, how actions now determine movement and change in different directions. Where the relationship with the separated part is subtle and deep, and the hero learns them and the picture of his non-trivial being, which seems to consist of many pieces or "lives" in the course of the plot - after all, while that part of him is separated from him, he does not start in case of death completely new, but remains connected with the same body, “comes to life in it”. At the same time, for certain reasons, he may not remember all the previous "segments". From that moment on coming to my senses without memory in the place where corpses are brought for burial and cremating, this game begins …

Of course, the game may offer both. Instead of, say, the top of the pyramid of power - its endless monotonous build-up ("pumping"), so as not to fully feel its taste (since the top in such games is never reached, plus the game does not create enough situations in which this taste experienced). First of all, I'm talking about MMO games now, and this is the reason why I hardly play them. According to my observations, a person comes there to become “someone”, for this he spends a huge amount of time there, doing monotonous actions. This craving is never satisfied, but interest is fueled by small accomplishments (like leveling up). There is a use of this thirst to constantly keep a person in the game space, to bring in an element of constant financial milking (server fee, donations). The emphasis in such games shifts from a work of art that can give something to a person, familiarize him with something, impress, inspire, to a space in which a person needs to be drawn and made so that he does not leave (and pay) - however, the schemes and ideas that underlie the latter type of games are quite simple. Plot, figurative, role-playing, dramatic components, the action of “expanding” and enriching the world (in relation to the limited reality of the Earth, the society in which the player lives and / or “matter”) are also present in them in a “reduced” form. I believe that in relation to such games, firstly, the “time sharing” discussed above is often significantly biased towards the game space, and secondly, the player gets much less from them, and the ratio of losses and gains may have in their case, a near-zero value or even a negative sign. In general, for me these are games that I prefer to watch from the sidelines. Since the result of hobby for them can be a gorgeous character and a refined playing technique, but at the same time - lack of fulfillment in "ordinary" life, deterioration in appearance, health (including lack of fulfillment in personal life, while another type of game can affect it, rather, positively, like a good book - for example, by inspiringly showing true love, a high level of relationships, and thereby setting a certain guideline for aspirations).

So, I have described those aspects of the influence of games on a person (playing), which I thought to talk about. You have the opportunity to draw conclusions regarding the outlined thoughts on your own.