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This Is Your Brain While Videogaming Stoned
Daniel_Stuckey (2647775) writes "Pot and video games have long been bound together in hazy, wedded bliss—as well as in compulsion and codependency. Many a World of Warcraft binger has been found in the darkest hours of the night with clouds of sweet, milk-white smoke curling around him, a bong next to the keyboard. But the way these lovers, games and weed, commingle has only rarely been studied, and when done so, usually exclusively in the context of substance abuse and how it relates to what is known as PVP: 'problem video game playing.'" Motherboard takes a different look.
Say PVP to a gamer and they're thinking of how to frag everybody else, not that they're addicted.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you
Pew pew pew...
<PAUSE>
<SCHLERP (bubble bubble)>
"What?? That's ridiculous."
<UNPAUSE>
Pew pew pew...
Let's see this same thing repeated with these for comparison:
alcohol
cocaine
LSD
MDA
MDNA
adderall
zoloft
perkoset
xanax
etc...you get my point...
every damn time people anywhere talk about "drugs" and their effects we need to **compare** it to other similar things!
Thank you Dave Raggett
Do we link emo children to the sad music they listen to or stoners to the bad tv they watch?... Come on.
Enough with trying to demonnize video games to a generation that never experienced them and so only has their own ignorance to base anything upon.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Well, I'm stoned and I've been playing video games stoned for almost all of my video game life.
And all I have is this to say:
What are we talking about again?
Be seeing you...
Which ones first? The cigarette smokers or the drunks?
I'd start with them, they're easiest to find.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Gamers? What about the programmers? They can't be straight.
Portrait of J. Random Hacker: Ceremonial Chemicals
I have often found that when any problem is to be solved, be it creating universes from singularities, forming life from atoms, building solutions from syntax, etc. the process will benefits from an entropy gradient: Energizing and expansion, Heating then chilling, Randomizing design patterns then benchmarking, Changing strategies and sorting what works. Any who think that drugs are inherently evil and detrimental are arguing against the nature of the universe itself.
Sometimes considering every option methodically gives insight, but that is not the only way, that is not natures way. Sometimes the entropy added is natural, sometimes deliberate. Sometimes induced by the disjoint dreams of sleep. Humans are tool using creatures, and with moderation of dosage they may even use drugs as tools. A recreational chemical may give a different perspective, heighten some inherent ability, dull some pain or inhibition, or mix up the approaches to problems. A little entropy can be a good thing in a self corrective system. Without chaos there would be no order: There would be no life, only crystals; No mutation only stagnation; No adaptation only the vulnerability of the monoculture; No new discoveries only existing knowledge; No new innovations only the dark ages.
Sometimes the temporary detrimental effects of being mixed up inside are worth the resultant order that settles out from the chaos. Even the ancients knew of catharsis. Their trial by fire is yet another stress then relaxation.
Could it be the case that playing video games are simply the most likely recreational activity a stoner is going to feel motivated enough to perform? Honestly, how many people get stoned and then go hiking, running, playing football or whatever?
It's bad enough that some people believe video games cause violent behavior, but now drug use too? Next we'll be demonizing food, since every murderer, stoner and rapist ate food regularly during their lives.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Reading this article, atl-tabbed in between 2 battlegrounds, hitting up the bong at 1AM
Mark my words, that's the drug that's going to lead to zombies!
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
I used to drink when playing Quake 2 and UT with my clan. The goal was not to get too drunk, but just enough to be a real Kamikaze. Weed also enhances creativity as many artists will confirm.
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
That's a helluva lot of leaf!!
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
From personal experience, drinking while programming isn't so bad, although the increasing mental and physical clumsiness will eventually become a problem. Smoking weed while programming, on the other hand, is asking for trouble. If you're a designer brainstorming before coming up with a rough design document, weed's probably an ally in many ways. Programming, though, God help you. I suppose it adversely affects the ability to base one logical proposition upon another, which is generally bad for a series of equations relying upon the results of the previous for a useful result.
While playing games it depends on the game. If it requires the same sort of sequential, analytical processes as programming then you're doomed. If it's just a twitch game with simple goals and gameplay you'll be minimally handicapped. In any case, I can't imagine being high will improve your ability to play a game; just your enjoyment of it.
Buy your next Linux PC at eightvirtues.com
Playing stoned made them more confident. They felt like they were playing better, so they took more risks. A lot of games have systems in which risky behavior is often more greatly rewarded, but rewarded less frequently. Spelunky especially is one of those games. Tetris, however, can be much less forgiving of risky behavior, hence the lower scores there.
So I don't think this was a very good test of the effect of actual basic skills that contribute to good or bad play. I think a series of reaction time tests, memorization tests, and problem solving tests, independent from complex interactions within the game itself or the nebulous "score" would make for a better testing environment. Also, three people playing just four games, all of which are single player and most of which are puzzle games, doesn't seem like enough data to come to any useful conclusion whatsoever.
I've played with and against players who were high in competitive multiplayer games in which the high players were obviously making mistakes and playing poorly (the whole time insisting that playing high enhanced their abilities) to change my belief that playing high probably makes you worse rather than better. Especially in a multiplayer context with a group of highly skilled and experienced players, ones overconfidence can be much more directly and specifically exploited and countered. The high players were not only overconfident, but much less likely to recognize and acknowledge mistakes, leading them to repeat those mistakes or allow their opponents to capitalize on the mistakes even more frequently or severely than normal.
like, RTS, for example. I suspect that THC is helpful for situations where one needs to focus in, but the opposite of helpful for situations where one needs to multitask. However, that which seems like multiple tasks to one mind may well be perceived as a single (multidimensional but easily subject to simultaneous apprehension) task to another. If people play video games for job interviews as was discussed this past January, ...
instead of doing something you love you should spend all your time beating the bible outside the grocery store, cause drunk on jesus is fine but playing a dumb ass game is not
I'm not sure GP was talking about pot, but probably about psychedelic drugs like LSD, mescalin, psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT and so on. But even for pot I'm sure that, while there certainly are some who use it strictly as recreation, there are also those who achieve real insights under its influence.
Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
> ayahuasca, DMT
Listing both is redundant, as DMT is the active ingredient in ayahuasca (the MAOI component in this plant extract is there to prevent the DMT from being destroyed in the gut by monoamine oxidaze, and its psychoactive effect is miniscule in comparison to the DMT -- if MAOIs had a strong psychoactive effect they probably wouldn't be used as antidepressants). Listing DMT would have been sufficient; listing both is kind of like listing mescaline and peyote both, which doesn't make sense -- one comes from the other.
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
The most important difference to me is that anti-drug people are trying to control my actions without justification through legislation while the pro-drug people, whether their statements are true or not, are not.
Mannnnn, have you ever looked at your hand controller? I mean, REALLY looked at it? It's like, wait... it doesn't control MY hand. It should be called a control handler. I smell a conspiracy and it smells like pop tarts.
rewriting history since 2109
Already at +5, so well spoken.
BlameBillCosby.com
> ayahuasca, DMT
Listing both is redundant, as DMT is the active ingredient in ayahuasca (the MAOI component in this plant extract is there to prevent the DMT from being destroyed in the gut by monoamine oxidaze, and its psychoactive effect is miniscule in comparison to the DMT -- if MAOIs had a strong psychoactive effect they probably wouldn't be used as antidepressants).
The harmala component in ayahuasca is there (mostly) to facilitate ingestion, yes, but DMT can be used without it when smoked or snorted (which I think was the original use, powder processed from yopo bark).
Anyway, it might be a regional thing, but my impression is that to the extent that is to be found at all, "DMT" here in the EU refers to synthetic stuff meant to be smoked in a base pipe, and probably is not the 5-MeO-DMT variant found in ayahuasca. Is this use of the terms different in the US?
Listing DMT would have been sufficient; listing both is kind of like listing mescaline and peyote both, which doesn't make sense -- one comes from the other.
Mescaline can come from peyote, of course, but also from San Pedro. The effects are reported to be distinct, to some extent, due to the various other components in either plant. Which presumably make both slightly different from synthetic mescaline. I can't actually say this from personal experience though, these things are not at all commonplace or easy to procure where I'm at.
Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
That's when your video card can't handle Watch Dogs on high graphics settings.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It's not finished.
It's finished.
Signature v3.0, now with 42% less memory usage.
... even if N = 4 in a non-double-blind placebo-controlled experiment isn't exactly science. But a lovely anecdote, and one that matches my own personal experience (from long ago) in many ways. I hope people are actually reading TFA -- but wait, this is /. so that's a silly thought.
Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken. --- Bertrand Russell.
I've seen similar comments from others on this thread...
TFA isn't just examining effects of marijuana...it's using the data to ***draw a conclusion*** about marijuana
what conclusion?
it wasn't just about performance, but "addiction"
they're trying to see if marijuana smoking during video games makes the video gaming "more addictive"
TFA had an agenda to show that somehow either weed or video games (or combination thereof) is inherently "bad"
this is just like those B.S. studies that were gamed to make stoned drivers look as bad as drunk drivers...however, the data itself, just comparing how weed affects all kinds of tasks, sure that's beneficial
but again...why aren't we doing this with ***other drugs***
does Ritalin, Adderall, and other pharma's affect driving?
if it affects driving, then why do we let people who work with their hands take it?
Thank you Dave Raggett
I'm not sure GP was talking about pot, but probably about psychedelic drugs like LSD, mescalin, psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT and so on. But even for pot I'm sure that, while there certainly are some who use it strictly as recreation, there are also those who achieve real insights under its influence.
Yeah, I read that bullshit as a teen too. I got over it.
Vice also recently posted an article about how the FBI can't find any expert hackers because they would all fail the Government mandated drug tests. So yeah, the programmers aren't straight either.
I saw a paper detailing why people in technical fields are more open to recreational drug use, they found that the anti-drug propaganda doesn't work on people in this group because of the associated critical thinking skills, they will rather go out and research the truth about recreational drugs. Unfortunately I can't find it now.
I've worked in a technical field my entire career, and in my experience technical people have no better critical thinking skills than the average person. Tech people with liberal arts degrees are a little better, but then so are non-technical people with liberal arts degrees.
Jonathon Coulton's "Code Monkey" song is a pretty accurate picture.
You clearly didn't read the article (The "Motherboard takes a different look" one at the bottom)
They killed it on the games while stoned, performance was equal or greater (often massively so) in all cases. It's also full of references to other studies (for example about driving) suggesting weed does not decrease focus & performance, and in some instances enhances it.
So.... pretty much the exact polar opposite of the "demonizing" you're complaining about.
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
Take your new acronym, put it back on the shelf.
PVP = Player vs Player.
My Mozilla variant, Timberwolf, really howls over that expiration. It took a fair amount of reading and 6 clicks to get the browser surrender and let me look at /.
Didn't any staff see that coming?
That was Zen, this is Tao
Back in university, I tried playing Pinball after two or three beers. I quickly realized that there was no point. No matter what pinball game I played, I was very much worse in my reaction time and coordination.
I come here for the love
Don't do the white stuff!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I never found pot did much beyond relaxation, a bit of silliness, and maybe some enhanced enjoyment of music. Yeah, everybody reacts to drugs differently, your mileage may vary, and "relaxation" for me included reduced muscle pain and indica couch-lock, but it wasn't particularly psychedelic. Closest I got to hallucinations from it was a bit of tunnel vision which came with a strong suggestion that I ought to sit down, right then, to avoid falling over.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Flamebait? Really? Is that how we score ironic humour around here nowadays?
That said I suppose a +5 Flamebait is probably a sign of muddled /. groupthink.
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
Looks more like off topic stalking complete with irrational profanity to me.
Sorry, what was that APK?
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
I would never recommend using entheogenic substances to anyone who wasn't very curious and confident. Having said that, those who've never tried it can not possibly know just what is and isn't bullshit about the effects. I'm not a believer in supernatural or magical things, but nevertheless some of these substances have allowed me to learn valuable lessons about myself and in one case basically cured a mild phobia. Like GP says, there can be real benefits (and dangers) to this kind of mind annealing.
Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
why didn't you post even a few sentences from TFA to support your contentions?
i read TFA...I was stoned while I did it, but I'm usually stoned....it looked to me like they were trying to link "addicting" behaviors like video games and marijuana
if you want to converse on this, show me where you think TFA proves my interpretation wrong
Thank you Dave Raggett
Saw your post history. You're apk obsessed. Get professional help.
And who are we pretending to be now, APK?
Oh, and of course you saw my post history, you're busy stalking people who you complain are stalking you.
Way to get the moral high-ground, retard. Yes, that's right, the word is 'hypocrite', the same word you like to throw around about other people.
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
Quite unlike the completely sane and rational APK. Yup, gottit.
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
I have tried many drugs, including the hallucinogens. The effects produce no more insight than the oxygen starvation-induced delusions that people report from near-death experiences.
Ah, well, sorry if I came off as a bit snarky -- your original post mentioned "reading" and clearly that is no substitute for actually experiencing. Anyway, apparently they did not do much for you, still I wouldn't presume to make blanket statements about what they might do for others.
Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)