An addiction is generally a physical dependency on some chemical.
Drop the word 'physical' and you're pretty much spot-on. Recognize that the chemical can be a natural brain chemical, and that the chemical can be released from any reward system (The 'ding' in EQ, a well-fragged opponent, or a good grade on a test) and you're a lot closer.
They are addictions because you can't just stop using the substance involved without (sometimes serious, even fatal) physical side effects
Take an EQ addict away from their game for a day or two - there will be measurable symptoms of detox, probably in the nature of a low-grade fever, a small case of the shakes,... This is real.
Playing videogames is simply not an addiction. For one thing, it doesn't cause you grave physical harm (NO, carpal tunnel doesn't count
Grave physical harm is only one of the criteria for addiction. Let's look at the rest - From the ICD10 criteria for chemical dependence.
*a strong desire or sense of compulsion...
Pretty straightforward.
*difficulties in controlling behaviour in terms of its onset, termination, or levels of use
Who doesn't know a gamehead who hasn't played all night after planning on just a quick hour or whatever?
*a physiological withdrawal state when use has ceased or been reduced...or use the intention of relieving or avoiding withdrawal symptoms...
See above. I swear I've seen this happen. Not to rag on EQ fans, but I took a girl on a three day campout (car camping, no hike) and by the last day she had most of the mild and moderate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
*evidence of tolerance, such that increased doses are required in order to achieve effects originally produced by lower doses
Straight up, gameheads need a lot more playtime than the rest of us...
*persisting with use despite clear evidence of overtly harmful consequences...
This is where you miss the mark on your 'grave physical harm' deal. Consider missing work to play,...
I missed about half of the debate d/t work. Anyone have a torrent? NBC preferred (they were showing more split-screeen than the others) but I really don't care...
You're missing the distributive property of "with". Read that expression like you would the following:
(a+b)*c = ac+bc
thus the I believe the poster's intent was: if an arab group with a chip on their shoulder or someone else with a chip on their shoulder got their filthy hands on it...
I found this article really inspiring. I'd really love work on something like that around here...
I, too, would love to see this in my local schools. I think the way to make that happen is a variation on the old "Think globally. Act locally." ideal in that we need to act at both ends of the spectrum. It's awesome that you jumped right to finding something local to act on, but remember that a failure in Hawaii will make a local adoption less likely. So, in addition to your local efforts, here are two thoughts thoughts on global action which would help smooth local adoption.
Send a few dollars to the Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation, and it doesn't have to be a lot. $10 would help defray printing costs of handouts and cheat sheets for teachers and students. $20 is a significant portion of the cost of a flight between islands. $100 would help replace a blown monitor.
Contribute time to the projects these guys are using! And by that I don't mean join the mailinglist and get involved in all of the latest flamewars. I mean do some real work: bug-hunt in the areas students, educators, and administrators are likely to find problems in. Propose solutions to non-bug problem areas, and help to revise ideas with other peoples proposals. Write some test scripts. Write some code....
I've never gone skydiving before, but I have always imagined that it feels an awful lot like falling...
Only if you jump from a stationary object such as a balloon or a hovering helicoptor. If you jump from a plane there's really no percievable sensation of falling, it's a lot more like flying. Imagine standing the in back of a truck as it goes down the highway -- feel the wind. Now remove the truck.:)
Let's not forget C Robots! A similiar game where you hack your robot's instructions with a psuedo-c.
There's a C++ variant as well.
There was a less interesting (but much more complex) programmable-robot game floating around in the BBS days which used a BASIC. Although it had a beautiful GUI (for the era) its biggest failing was that it allowed customization of your robot's chasis, weaponry, etc. Unfortunately this wasn't well balanced, and the competition we had running quickly degraded and we all lost interest.
Here's an interesting (and valid) observation for you: a bit more than two hours after I clarified this joke you dropped the same comment as the first person who needed the joke explained.
I'll admit - it was a lame joke. It would've come across much better if I'd included an "Oh wait - look here" link to the (joking)post I was basing my joke off of, but man... Two hours later? Did you not happen to check if this point had been raised?
I can't believe slashdot would run a story with that title. "Perelman May Have Solved Poincare Conjecture" would have been much more dignified. You would never see "Muppet May Have Solved Poincare Conjecture" would you? Please, Perelman is a mathematician first, Russian second.
Slashdot Mirror
BINGO
Drop the word 'physical' and you're pretty much spot-on. Recognize that the chemical can be a natural brain chemical, and that the chemical can be released from any reward system (The 'ding' in EQ, a well-fragged opponent, or a good grade on a test) and you're a lot closer.
They are addictions because you can't just stop using the substance involved without (sometimes serious, even fatal) physical side effects
Take an EQ addict away from their game for a day or two - there will be measurable symptoms of detox, probably in the nature of a low-grade fever, a small case of the shakes, ... This is real.
Playing videogames is simply not an addiction. For one thing, it doesn't cause you grave physical harm (NO, carpal tunnel doesn't count
Grave physical harm is only one of the criteria for addiction. Let's look at the rest - From the ICD10 criteria for chemical dependence.
*a strong desire or sense of compulsion...
Pretty straightforward.
*difficulties in controlling behaviour in terms of its onset, termination, or levels of use
Who doesn't know a gamehead who hasn't played all night after planning on just a quick hour or whatever?
*a physiological withdrawal state when use has ceased or been reduced...or use the intention of relieving or avoiding withdrawal symptoms...
See above. I swear I've seen this happen. Not to rag on EQ fans, but I took a girl on a three day campout (car camping, no hike) and by the last day she had most of the mild and moderate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
*evidence of tolerance, such that increased doses are required in order to achieve effects originally produced by lower doses
Straight up, gameheads need a lot more playtime than the rest of us...
*persisting with use despite clear evidence of overtly harmful consequences...
This is where you miss the mark on your 'grave physical harm' deal. Consider missing work to play, ...
Don't click the goatse!
The Republic of Cascadia is not a member of the UN.
Have you been to an AA meeting?
How come you didn't enter the year the comp made the front page of /. ?
Been there, tried that, it buffers every 10 seconds...
I missed about half of the debate d/t work. Anyone have a torrent? NBC preferred (they were showing more split-screeen than the others) but I really don't care...
/me won't be sleeping well tonight after that.
Got Link?
(a+b)*c = ac+bc
thus the I believe the poster's intent was: if an arab group with a chip on their shoulder or someone else with a chip on their shoulder got their filthy hands on it...
I, too, would love to see this in my local schools. I think the way to make that happen is a variation on the old "Think globally. Act locally." ideal in that we need to act at both ends of the spectrum. It's awesome that you jumped right to finding something local to act on, but remember that a failure in Hawaii will make a local adoption less likely. So, in addition to your local efforts, here are two thoughts thoughts on global action which would help smooth local adoption.
Send a few dollars to the Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation, and it doesn't have to be a lot. $10 would help defray printing costs of handouts and cheat sheets for teachers and students. $20 is a significant portion of the cost of a flight between islands. $100 would help replace a blown monitor.
Contribute time to the projects these guys are using! And by that I don't mean join the mailinglist and get involved in all of the latest flamewars. I mean do some real work: bug-hunt in the areas students, educators, and administrators are likely to find problems in. Propose solutions to non-bug problem areas, and help to revise ideas with other peoples proposals. Write some test scripts. Write some code....
Peace, Love, Linux
Chris
shabangslash yoo ess arslashbee aye enslashpee e ar rell cur pee arr aye en tee spay quo jay a pee atche whacken quo semee
I must go to Nicaragua and study this so I can become a neurolingquistic hacker and control all of you with just a few gestures... Muahahahah!
...pretty pictures though, did anyone else try the "magic eye" deal and see what I saw?
Only if you jump from a stationary object such as a balloon or a hovering helicoptor. If you jump from a plane there's really no percievable sensation of falling, it's a lot more like flying. Imagine standing the in back of a truck as it goes down the highway -- feel the wind. Now remove the truck. :)
Been done. The Uranus Experiment 2. No link right now, I'm at work.
Mmm... If your entry becomes an Aardvark then I'd have no choice but to have my entry become a bunch of hard-line Cirinists....
There's a C++ variant as well.
There was a less interesting (but much more complex) programmable-robot game floating around in the BBS days which used a BASIC. Although it had a beautiful GUI (for the era) its biggest failing was that it allowed customization of your robot's chasis, weaponry, etc. Unfortunately this wasn't well balanced, and the competition we had running quickly degraded and we all lost interest.
I'll admit - it was a lame joke. It would've come across much better if I'd included an "Oh wait - look here" link to the (joking)post I was basing my joke off of, but man... Two hours later? Did you not happen to check if this point had been raised?
Chill out. It was a joke.
So, to quote Trek, "Double dumbass on you."
I can't believe slashdot would run a story with that title. "Perelman May Have Solved Poincare Conjecture" would have been much more dignified. You would never see "Muppet May Have Solved Poincare Conjecture" would you? Please, Perelman is a mathematician first, Russian second.
Eee-chee-wa-wa! 'Nuff said.
Well... Just based on my personal experience I think it would take some really, really, good porn for me...
On second thought, please don't tell me.