date: Sat 28 Jun 2025 12:57:32 AM PDT subj: escape responsibility fiction books vs video games -------------------------------------------------------- these are getting worse ---------------------------------- video games: -3 --------------------------------- +entertaining -sedentary -time suck/waste -non-productive -stimulating fiction books: -1 --------------------------------- +entertaining -sedentary -time suck/waste -non-productive -energy consumption +increase literacy +minor intellect increase --------------------------------- Is the answer interactive fiction? Is the answer cycling? Is the answer Zen? Is the answer just don't escape? ------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes I really want to escape responsibilities. I wish I had more fun. I used to have fun, but my life seems so serious these days, full of responsibilities, and difficult tasks. I escape from time to time on my bicycle. My main method of fitness is cycling. Sometimes its an escape, sometimes is just work and not fun at all. It all depends on how often I cycle, and how long I cycle. If I'm on the trainer its just pain. If my mind is stuck on something bothering me, my cycling doesn't dissolve it. In the past I used to escape and play video games. Doom, Doom II, Doom 3, Quake, Quake II, other games like DCSS, Hacknet, lots of games. I used to really enjoy gaming and then I decided to create goals in life, and actually reach those goals. Or maybe during my court years when I was always writing for legal issues, or maybe a mix of both of those times in my life. In either case I stopped playing games. Sometimes I still play Doom or Doom II on my phone, but its not that often. Because legal stuff requires so much reading, during that time I didn't do a lot of reading books outside of legal subjects, so video games were my choice of escape, or hiking, both of which I did very little. After all that bullshit in my life left, I got back into playing video games, and hiking. For me there is only so much hiking a person can do all by themselves. Walking in the woods for hours with a backpack on and sleeping on the ground in the scary woods is romantic but for me I have my limits. I had a great time hiking, and I had a great time playing video games. Books were a choice of escape from time to time but books also feel like work sometimes, and less of an adventure compared to video games. Books have the brain energy load that can be felt and when low on energy from the work day, I would fall asleep while reading and lose my focus and have to re-read paragraphs over and over again. At one time it took me about a year to read Legends. So I decided when I had energy I read books that were geared towards learning like Bjarne Stroustrup's C++ or something that had some perceived value. I even miss that. After about 1 hour straight of reading Bjarne I would finally understand what he was doing, instead of just reading I felt I was immersed in the book. Books like Neuromancer, Snow Crash, I could get that too, but after reading those a few times, it doesn't always work. Over the years I've found all the time I spent in my life working at my career taking courses, getting certificates (letting them expire), getting degrees, I've only moved the needle slightly. I feel I've lost more compared to what I gained, in terms of time, money, and life, at the sacrifice of relationships, fun, and enjoying life. Its hard to say if that is really true though. Now I think about video games, and if I should play them. Many games often feel like work due to their goal/achievement mechanics that require grinding. This aspect is a real turnoff for someone who grinds a lot in real life. Games like Doom present the grind is a far more subtle way. The goal is part of the adventure and what you achieve is seeing the next level, not leveling up your character. Are most games grindy and I just didn't know it? Playing video games is an escape for sure and I'll never get the time back while playing in virtual space. It sometimes seems absurd to do things in virtual worlds instead of the real world. Nobody wants to battle monsters in real life, so I get some experiences I hope to never face in reality. Wolf 3d, Doom_s, Ultima Underworld, Wing Commander, Eye Of The Beholder, Duke Nuke Em, were wonderful adventures when they came out. The stage I'm at in life, games are a sin, and I wish they weren't. Fiction books are a great escape, and are also an adventure if when I read them I can focus and get lost/immersed in the book. I can't show anything for reading a fiction book. Sometimes reading is a joy, but also work. At times books have a grind aspect while reading when dealing with a lot of fluff. Reading is work which triggers a perception of value in the content, and if the immersion can't be obtained finishing is less likely. When I don't finish a book its like giving up. Seems the escape while reading is less casual. The stage I'm at in life fiction books are close to a sin, and I wish they weren't. I can read to my children (if my eyes were better) and given their mind a place to imagine about. --------------------------------------------- maybe I'll expand on this document sometime.