Addictive games

[Michaël Samyn]

The tenacity by which some people defend games reminds me a lot of the way some fanatical marihuana users go through great lengths to prove that their drug of choice is wholesome.

[Michaël Samyn]

There is a lot of beauty in religion. We shouldn't abandon it simply because we have lost our faith. I am not Christian, but visiting a cathedral, seeing an altar piece, hearing sacred music, it all makes me deeply aware of my human core. I'm not giving that up. Not for any rational excuse!
Guess beauty is my addiction.

[God at play]

Guess beauty is my addiction.

Ha! In pursuit of the sublime...

[Chris W]

Ah, drugs and religion.  Two things that get a bad rap because of the stupid things small-minded people do with them.

[AADA7A]

Thoughts:

Check out the book "Religion for atheists".

We cannot both believe that games can change stuff and also not believe that they can be dangerous.

Organized religion seems to be declining, while spirituality in the form of new-age, self-help, etc, seems to be on the rise.

We are all heroes that are all made of the same decaying gray matter, as someone from fight club would have put it.

Also, speaking of addiction, I think in general even if auntie pixelante describes it as a parable on working-class alcoholism:

http://arcaica-pfp.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/anestesia.html

Me, I'm addicted to scientific inquiry, and writing philosophy. No seriously, you can take anything that is beautiful and good and destroy it because you become so absorbed in it that the joy disappears, that you neglect your surroundings, or your future you, etc.

[God at play]

Also, speaking of addiction, I think in general even if auntie pixelante describes it as a parable on working-class alcoholism:
http://arcaica-pfp.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/anestesia.html

Clay Shirky has an interesting take on the history of alcoholism and it fitting into a much larger context in Cognitive Surplus. The Industrial Revolution brought leisure time. People didn't know how to deal with it, so at first it was wasted: people turned to alcohol. Once we matured some things got a bit better. And then mass media came about. We didn't know how to deal with it, so at first it was wasted: so many TV shows that are shallow and meant only to pass the time. Once we matured some things got a bit better.

He likens our current fascination with lolcats and other often-thought meaningless uses of the Internet to the Information Revolution bringing access to information and communication. We don't know how to deal with it, so likewise, at first it is wasted.

He suggests that we need to simply experiment a lot to gain a better understanding of it, and use that understanding to mature as citizens of the Information Age. Interesting idea.

[Michaël Samyn]

Check out the book "Religion for atheists".

That's definitely on my radar!
I read the free sample on Kindle and it seems to be right up my alley!

[Chris W]

I've always said that atheism is just another religion.

But the atheists tend to get mad at me for it 

[Michaël Samyn]

These days, atheists are the worst fundamentalists. At least around here, in Belgium.

[Chris W]

Oh, here too, it's just that the Christian fundamentalists get more air time.

One of my great frustrations is that the public discourse on a subject that has the potential for such sublime subtlety seems to be stuck in a dichotomy between the rantings of the Ben Steins on the one hand and the yammering of the Bill Mahers on the other.  And even the intellectual discourse doesn't get a whole lot better for the most part.