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Addiction To Fortnite Cited In Over 200 Divorce Petitions (dailydot.com)
An anonymous reader writes:
In just the last 35 weeks, one online divorce site received over 200 petitions citing addiction to Fortnite and other online games as one of the reasons someone wanted a divorce. "[T]he dawn of the digital revolution has introduced new addictions," said a spokesperson for the company, also citing online pornography and social media. "These numbers equate to roughly 5% of the 4,665 petitions we have handled since the beginning of the year and as one of the largest filers of divorce petitions in the UK, is a pretty good indicator."
On the other hand, the A.V. Club notes that the web site's creators "have a vested interest in making divorce seem sexy and cool in a way that only 'You walked in front of the screen and a 10-year-old in Wyoming shot me dead so now I'm taking the house' truly can."
On the other hand, the A.V. Club notes that the web site's creators "have a vested interest in making divorce seem sexy and cool in a way that only 'You walked in front of the screen and a 10-year-old in Wyoming shot me dead so now I'm taking the house' truly can."
Unless there has been a comparable increase in the rate of change of the number of divorce applications, then this is a non-story.
People who want a divorce, that are required to give reason to get one, will find one. If it wasn't Fortnite, it would be something else. If it wasn't computer games, it would be something else.
in a way that only 'You walked in front of the screen and a 10-year-old in Wyoming shot me dead so now I'm taking the house' truly can.
This isn't a description of a "cool" divorce. This is a description of an "inevitable" divorce.
The only thing that IS special, is that our reality is intolerable for more and more people, and they find forms of escape. Can you blame them?
I guess every generation have to find their own sob story about why they're angsty teens, but honestly... what the fuck is so wrong with society today? For the most part we have all our basic needs met, in fact the only thing I can think of is that we're so independent and socially liberal that nobody wants partner with uninteresting people because of economic dependence or social pressure or they got pregnant. Today she gets an abortion, there's no shotgun wedding.
and if they are a man, knowing that they are never allowed to cry or express frustration
What? Has there ever been a point in history where the male role has been less macho? In fact, many men struggle to find the balance between still being a gentleman and not behaving in a way a modern woman finds condescending. And how to functionally date when it's not like I'll wine and dine you and you'll sleep with me. And use #metoo as an excuse to say that ordinary flirting and dating has become impossible, as if "grab her by the pussy" is ordinary dating behavior. If you think that, maybe that's the problem...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
So, you realize things are better for humanity than they have ever been in history, right? Because they are.
This whole, "*whine* but it's not perfect" attitude needs to die in a fire.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Fortnite is not special, neither is alcohol nor weed nor pills nor social networks. The only thing that IS special, is that our reality is intolerable for more and more people, and they find forms of escape. Can you blame them?
Actually I do blame them, because I’m old enough to remember how much worse life was fifty and sixty years ago compared to today. Racism everywhere, huge wars being fought over totally pointless causes (Ask your nail girl to describe her childhood), three billion people starving to death in India and China, massive urban air pollution, and the threat of thermonuclear annihilation hanging over our heads.
Those who forget the past are condemned to bitch about the present.
Did she sleep around on you? Well, obviously it is the man's fault for not satisfying her in bed. You may be working 50-60 hours a week while she stays home or works part time, but you're still the lazy one. You're not doing enough. She puts on 100 pounds and treats you like crap? Well, it's your fault for not being interested or romantic anymore.
This is exactly what happened to me in my last relationship. I did most of the work, did all the dishes, cooked all the food, and went to school, and got dumps for some loser who did none of those things. After she had a kid she sent me an email saying she regretted her decisions, by which time it was way way way too late for regrets.
I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the problem was her upbringing. Her mother was an alcoholic who provided her with no useful information (didn't know shit about shit) and who had hooked up with a man who she called an asshole all the time... who did all the work and paid all the bills.
Happily, I didn't get married, so I only wound up homeless and destitute at the time, I didn't incur any additional debt.
In general, everyone believes the 'minor' pleasant activity is a cause of the 'major' problem, when in fact it is almost always the opposite.
I.E. when you have a major problem you tend to look for minor pleasures to make your life better.
So when you are stuck in a crappy marriage with a slimy husband cheating on you (or a nagging wife - doesn't really matter which) then you start playing Fortnite. When they make your life really bad, you starting playing a LOT.
Then when you get a divorce, they point at your constant Fortnite playing rather than admit their behavior was horrible.
(General note, outside of arranged marriages, I have never ever seen a divorce that was even mostly one person's fault. At the very least the 'innocent' party knew the shmuck was a shmuck, decided to ignore the shmuck's bad behavior, married the shmuck, then complained that they were a shmuck. Duh.)
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
I knew about a guy who was the main tank for a guild on my server back in the days of World of Warcraft 1.0. The guy went to get a sandwich halfway through a Molten Core raid, only to discover a note from his wife saying that she had taken the kids and was leaving for Florida to be with her parents because he was too addicted to the game (apparently he had logged 120 days of played time in the first year that the game was out).
He got his sandwich and finished the raid before going after his wife and kids.
He finally got her to come back by promising that he’d auction his character off on eBay, but then he posted it for a price he knew it would never sell at and then bragged about his cleverness on his guild’s forums...which is when he discovered that his wife read the forums. In the end, he was forced to sell the character for less and their marriage survived, though by the time I quit the game a year later, he was playing again on another character.