Order, order! This thread is now in session.
But first, some back story.
So here I am, alone in my house until the morning, for the first time ever. Needless to say I'm not a child, the reason I've reached 17 without being home alone once until now is most likely because I'm not an only child. Anyway, not too long ago, perhaps half an hour, I was feeling quite lonely. At first this was in the more immediate sense, but then I started to realise I was actually quite lonely in more ways than one. In an effort to stem these unwanted thoughts I reached for ol' reliable and started up the Xbox. Time for some Mirrors Edge. After about 10 minutes I realise what I always do when I'm on my beloved games; I feel so much better now. And then it occured to me: Is this a good thing?
Your immediate response should be something along the lines of
'Yes, of course it's a good thing. You feel better, don't you?'
But what I really mean is, is it really healthy to just suppress negative emotion with escapism through gaming? Whilst it's debatable that this isn't really suppression as such, it's also just as easy to argue that methods of forgetting troubles such as this simple postpone these feelings to be piled up on.
So my debate question is as follows: Is escapism through gaming an effective way to vent unwanted emotion, or simply a diversion?
And what better way to share this debate than with my wonderful fellows at The Escapist. Take it away, you lovely buggers.
But first, some back story.
So here I am, alone in my house until the morning, for the first time ever. Needless to say I'm not a child, the reason I've reached 17 without being home alone once until now is most likely because I'm not an only child. Anyway, not too long ago, perhaps half an hour, I was feeling quite lonely. At first this was in the more immediate sense, but then I started to realise I was actually quite lonely in more ways than one. In an effort to stem these unwanted thoughts I reached for ol' reliable and started up the Xbox. Time for some Mirrors Edge. After about 10 minutes I realise what I always do when I'm on my beloved games; I feel so much better now. And then it occured to me: Is this a good thing?
Your immediate response should be something along the lines of
'Yes, of course it's a good thing. You feel better, don't you?'
But what I really mean is, is it really healthy to just suppress negative emotion with escapism through gaming? Whilst it's debatable that this isn't really suppression as such, it's also just as easy to argue that methods of forgetting troubles such as this simple postpone these feelings to be piled up on.
So my debate question is as follows: Is escapism through gaming an effective way to vent unwanted emotion, or simply a diversion?
And what better way to share this debate than with my wonderful fellows at The Escapist. Take it away, you lovely buggers.
