I have spent much of the last couple of days roving the oceans of the world in a submarine. I confess to sinking a great many ships and submarines as well as shooting down a variety of aircraft and several Zeppelin-like dirigibles. I’d like a number of factories houses, power generators and one medium-sized dam to be taken into account. In mitigation, I would only say that I have, in the process, experienced a number of sinkings and died many times.
I mention this not with pride but in the hope that by socialising this neurotic behaviour, I might stop myself from spending another minute doing it. Yes, I suppose rambling in a blog is a questionable example of socialising, but there it is.
I realise that computer games are highly addictive and on the whole I keep away. But periodically, I have to indulge and the pattern is familiar. It starts out as fun, and remains so for a while… and then I realise it’s 2 in the morning, I’ve not actually eaten for 8 hours… and I’m not really enjoying myself any more.
Computer games do create a kind of flow state… you get immediate feedback and the level of challenge easily adjusts to the point where it’s neither to easy nor too hard. At some point, however, this satisfying experience crosses over into obsession – and I don’t always notice that happening!
