Does gaming create social rejects?

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Given that schizophrenia has been diagnosed in almost all cultures but no-one yet has a definition of it (and there's been a number of experiments that have faked it); it's one of those catch-all types of mental disorders. Most teenagers I've ever met would hit at least four points.

 

[JakubK666]

The world is full of assholes.I've lost my faith in human kind a long time a go and I'd rather stick with the rest of my "not-normal" friends and/or play Video Games.

 

[tagMaverick]

So how does everyone else stack up with this?

I'll explain mine! (i might exaggerate a bit, just because I love to write)

1- Yes; though I do understand people. I know whatever I do will affect someone, and choices are balanced based on how I think the people I like will recieve them. This is not to say that I really Care, it's just awkward to know that you are hurting other people.

2- No; this might seem like a contradiction to the above statement, so let me explain. I say "I love you" to people that I love, my parents and shit, yeah. It's not that I have a limited capacity to show emotion, because I get angry a lot and sad at peoples poor judgement all the same. It's just that my emotions are tied to less of the Loss of a Grandparent, and more of the Not-getting-as-much-in-their-will-as-I-thought-I-would.

3- No; This is why I play games. Being alone sucks, that's what dying is for. As I live, I like being around people that I like, and hate being around people that I hate. I won't really see as much pleasure in riding a bike somewhere myself as opposed to with my sister, or a friend, because people are fun. And fun is all that we have.

4- No; this is something that I'd deem myself far from. More friends makes for Epic SSBB tournies, wrestling matches, and the such. I'd love to have more friends that my current group of about 8 close friends, for the same reason as #3.

5- No; I love praise, another reason for video games. Doing something good in school will get you a good grade, while doing it in WoW or CSS might get you into a clan, or even make some really interesting people. When someone says, "damn that was a great play you made there, you saved us all," it would be hard to say I don't get a certain feeling of accomplishment.

6- No; I like to do a lot of things, ranging from RTS, FPS, and RTMC to Playing football outside and working on big projects (making a site, writing a book, drawing a comic). I would actually go the entire other way and say that I love doing almost anything. Soccer, Baseball, SSBB, Dawn of War, WoW, CSS, Tennis, Drawing, Writing, Building, Smelting (oyea), Programming, singing, and any number of really fun things. Being good at one thing just isolates you from success in everything else.

7- No; I wear DC shoes and Hollister. I wouldn't say I'm a conformist so much as my tastes co-incide with my generation, which is pretty understandable. At the moment, the skater kids seem to look the coolest, so I buy a lot of clothes that would reflect that. It might seem poser-ish, but I've been skating for 3 years and the "emo" look is getting too high maintenance for summer.

8- Yes; I hope this means what I think it means (Fantasy like, I wish it was not this day and age). I think that the world has pretty much filled up its Suck meter, as you may have noticed. Fantasizing about how you could be a great cartographer in nordic times, brawling through taverns and the such just seems so much cooler than this shitty grinding world. Probably why a lot of WoW players switched to Age of Conan.

9- FUCK NO!!!!! SEX IS GUD, LONG LIVE SEX!Q!!!!

So what's that, 2? Yay I'm normal-ish!

 

[Kukakkau]

meh my village has nothing to do and nobody to go out with. i see no difference if i didnt play games

 

[bluemarsman]

On the topic of social rejects, a funny conversation between my roommate and myself brought up the topic of schizoid and schizotypal personality "disorders", and how our hatred of society as a whole makes us at least borderline one or the other... So I, having little else to do at work, went on to Wikipedia and tried to determine which if any I was.

According to the ICD-10 criteria, I'm a full-blown schizoid... YAYS!
The test, if four or more of the following are true...
1 - Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affection.
2 - Limited capacity to express either positive or negative emotions towards others.
3 - Consistent preference for solitary activities.
4 - Very few (if any) close friends or relationships, and a lack of desire for such.
5 - Indifference to either praise or criticism.
6 - Taking pleasure in few, if any, activities.
7 - Indifference to social norms and conventions.
8 - Preoccupation with fantasy and introspection.
9 - Lack of desire for sexual experiences with another person.

1 Yes, 2 No, 3 Yes, 4 Yes, 5 Sorta, 6 Sorta, 7 Hell Yes, 8 Mucho Yes, 9 Very No.
That's 5 yes, 2 no, and 2 on the fence. YAY, I'm a certifiable psychotic.

So how does everyone else stack up with this?

1. yes
2. no
3. yes
4. yes
5. no
6. yes
7. yes
8. yes
9. yes

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

1 - Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affection. - Yes.
2 - Limited capacity to express either positive or negative emotions towards others. - Somewhat.
3 - Consistent preference for solitary activities. - Yes.
4 - Very few (if any) close friends or relationships, and a lack of desire for such. - Somewhat.
5 - Indifference to either praise or criticism. - Yes.
6 - Taking pleasure in few, if any, activities. - Yes.
7 - Indifference to social norms and conventions. - Definitely.
8 - Preoccupation with fantasy and introspection. - Yes.
9 - Lack of desire for sexual experiences with another person. - Erm...

Yeah, I'm a social maladjust. Fortunately, thanks to 7 and 5, I couldn't really care.

 

[tobyornottoby]

Fantasizing about how you could be a great cartographer in nordic times, brawling through taverns and the such just seems so much cooler than this shitty grinding world.

aaah the greener grass over yonder

1 - Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affection. no
2 - Limited capacity to express either positive or negative emotions towards others. no
3 - Consistent preference for solitary activities. yes
4 - Very few (if any) close friends or relationships, and a lack of desire for such. yes
5 - Indifference to either praise or criticism. no
6 - Taking pleasure in few, if any, activities. no
7 - Indifference to social norms and conventions. yes
8 - Preoccupation with fantasy and introspection. yes
9 - Lack of desire for sexual experiences with another person. no

damn that's exactly 4 yes ^^; so I am not so much social but I do am emotional... good to know!

 

[Sacman]

I'm not a social reject i'm just rejected by girls.

 

[The Great Fa]

I would say that gaming goes a long way towards creating social rejects, but has some help along the way. Folks who are already inclined to be socially inept will turn to video games as a way pass the time or interact with others without really doing so. Suppose video games didn't exist (knock on wood) - would that force the reject population to communicate with real people, for real?

 

[Earthbound Engineer]

No, social and psychological disorders cannot simply be influenced. They are developed as a result of emotional, psychological, or physical abuse, trauma or distress, and can even be hereditary. People that already have existing disorders simply use the media as a scapegoat for their problems.

 

[exocel]

everything does think, everyones unique and everything from books, bands to even clothes or tastes in food can affect people enough to make them antisocial.
that doesn't sound exactly like what im trying to get across, but hopefully youll get my meanin'

 

[Kovash86]

I'm inclined to believe no, even if I didn't have gaming I would not be very adept with social situations as my upbringing did not help me become social at all, while I'm not at the point of social reject, I am however socially inept to a limited degree although I am getting better, hanging out with friends and playing pen and paper RPGs helps alot. When I was younger I was definitely a social reject by virtue of not being raised very well, so all I could do was say stupid crap and make an ass out of myself. However since I've grown up alot in a very short time, I'm considerably better at making small talk, although it is generally about gaming, politics, making fun of people, or talking about misadventures of daily life. I'm a bit of a misanthrope anyhow.

 

[GothmogII]

I would say that gaming goes a long way towards creating social rejects, but has some help along the way. Folks who are already inclined to be socially inept will turn to video games as a way pass the time or interact with others without really doing so. Suppose video games didn't exist (knock on wood) - would that force the reject population to communicate with real people, for real?

/sigh, again. -What- -makes- -people- -online- -less- -real-?
If we are to consider each other non-entities by virtue of the fact that in many cases we will never meet in person, why do we bother even talking for the most part civilly to each other?
Why bother having forums and chat rooms, if we don't consider the people we engage with as mattering in any sense.

I agree with you to an extent on your first point though, gaming can, and does exacerbate some people's pre-inclination to not socialise outside the online environment. However, I just take exception, again heh, to the notion that any interaction that takes place within' this enviroment is not to be considered interaction or somehow less because, as before it doesn't take place on a face to face basis.

If these methods of communication were not available, then who knows, some people would step up and embrace the 'outside' world, others would probably fall deep into the pits of despair and loneliness with little hope of rescue.

 

[BlackLiger]

It does create a certain atmosphere in which 'jaded friendless misanthropes' (like the one employed by this site to produce weekly videos ) can engage without having to tolerate people who's viewpoint of the world and of them is the opposite of what they would desire.

 

[Aernir]

According to the ICD-10 criteria, I'm a full-blown schizoid... YAYS!
The test, if four or more of the following are true...
1 - Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affection.
2 - Limited capacity to express either positive or negative emotions towards others.
3 - Consistent preference for solitary activities.
4 - Very few (if any) close friends or relationships, and a lack of desire for such.
5 - Indifference to either praise or criticism.
6 - Taking pleasure in few, if any, activities.
7 - Indifference to social norms and conventions.
8 - Preoccupation with fantasy and introspection.
9 - Lack of desire for sexual experiences with another person.

So how does everyone else stack up with this?

1 - Definetly.
2 - True aswell.
3 - Yup.
4 - Yeah.
5 - Partially, i generally take note, contemplate wether i can gain something from what was said, then let it go without it really affecting me.
6 - Sadly true.
7 - I guess so.
8 - Yes.
9 - No.

Well, now that that's out of the way, i guess i'll put in my thought on the issue at hand. No, i don't belive gaming creates social rejects. It's just that people like me, who have a near non-existent need for social interaction, see games as a good way to pass time. They also happend to be the one form of entertainment that best manages to allow me to forget about, as someone else elegantly put it before me, the sixty year grind that will end up dissipating into nothingness together with my conciousness the instant i inevitably die.

I don't know wether it's funny or sad, really. The things that brings some joy into life, videogames or not, are usually those that let us forget about it for a moment.

Edit: On the other hand, i wonder wether social reject is the proper term in situations such as some stated here (mine included), as it's more along the lines of us rejecting society, than the other way around.

 

[Ultrajoe]

yes in some cases no in others, in some its a symptom not the cause.

[/thread]

 

[Foodthing]

]

According to the ICD-10 criteria, I'm a full-blown schizoid... YAYS!
The test, if four or more of the following are true...
1 - Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affection.
2 - Limited capacity to express either positive or negative emotions towards others.
3 - Consistent preference for solitary activities.
4 - Very few (if any) close friends or relationships, and a lack of desire for such.
5 - Indifference to either praise or criticism.
6 - Taking pleasure in few, if any, activities.
7 - Indifference to social norms and conventions.
8 - Preoccupation with fantasy and introspection.
9 - Lack of desire for sexual experiences with another person.

So how does everyone else stack up with this?

1.Not really
2.Yes
3.Yes
4.Very much so
5.No
6.No
7.Yes
8.Yes
9.Yes

6 out of 9, not bad. ^^
I spend most of my day (aside from trying to find a job) playing games. CSS, the infamous Wow and beyond that games like Baldur's Gate and Fallout. The outside world in general seems very..uninteresting to me. I've never seen it as a must to socialise, mainly, since most people my age seems to be a bunch of idiots (although, that MIGHT be a view born from having the nerve to use the keyboard in any online game). Other than gaming, i read alot. Everything from Fantasy to life-orientation (Who moved my cheese?) When i was younger i was, i think, in the "norm". I had friends, did some sports, etc, etc, but as i got older it just became so predictable. I am playing games way beyond what is considered normal, but i make space for reading and training. See, i believe that life is about mental and physical achievement, and the rest enjoyement. No 9-5 job, no caring about what happened in last nights Big Brother, no worrying about taxes. Just doing whatever the hell you want to do, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Ofcourse, being 17, i might be completely wrong but that's something i'll deal with when that rock comes up in the road. Until then, assuming that i'm RIGHT, i'm going to die happy. The "norm" will die leaving a life of un-satisfied urges, what if's and if i onlyies.

(EDIT) I think i got lost somewhere in the post. As for if gaming creates social rejects.. No. As it's been said several times before in the post, i don't think so. It might worsen it,or possibly bring out a latent reject, but not cause it.