My Sudden Realization

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Ixus Illwrath

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Shivari post=18.70097.680524 said:
I've recently discovered something about myself. I'm a sophomore in high school and I've recently started seeking knowledge more than entertainment. I'll use video games to show what I mean. I recently purchased Tales of Vesperia, because I loved Symphonia. Now unlike Symphonia, or any game I purchased before this summer, I'm going through it incredibly slow. I can no longer justify spending more than half an hour playing video games a day. I'm now a "casual" gamer by any definition. I stop myself and think "I should be doing something more productive." Last night I chose to outline a chapter in my History textbook over doing something "entertaining", and I've been doing that more and more with no real motivation besides just deciding to. I only watch TV if I feel like I'm learning something, so I only watch news channels, Discovery, or History Channel anymore. The only exceptions being Survivor, American Idol, and Battlestar Galactica. I never saw too many movies before so that hasn't changed much. But something definitely changed recently.

The appeal seems to have disappeared. I'm more interested in learning and improving myself myself than seeking entertainment from these sources that I used to love but a couple years ago. I spend most of my time that I'm online researching things by choice. I've always considered myself mature (or at least more so than other people my age) but is this me becoming "truly" mature? Am I just being more responsible? Or is this just my interests changing and finding out who I am?

So did this happen to you at some point?
That's actually how I became who I am today. Get into a good college, though, or your own friends will disgust you.
 

Chiasm

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I read and then studied Friedrich Nietzsche his writings has turned my life around. I owe so much to that man and his philosophy on life I wouldn't be the same without it. Any person who wants knowledge simply must read Nietzsche beneath the words lies the path to it.

P.S The problem is most people want knowledge but few truly want it enough to sacrifice what they think they believe in to attain it.
 

internutt

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Gaming is a hobby. Hobbies shouldn't control our lives. We should take a break every so often or play less. We need to communicate face to face with others and experience the world around us. Like educating ourselves, going for walks, socialising etc.
 

The Iron Ninja

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MA7743W post=18.70097.709229 said:
I was disgusted to find myself watching the history channel last week.
What do you mean disgusted? The history channel is awesome. Although I do wish they could focus on something other than world war two for a while.

I'm still pretty damn immature, so no, the quest for knowledge has not yet overweighed the quest for fun.
 

meatloaf231

Old Man Glenn
Feb 13, 2008
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The Iron Ninja post=18.70097.709265 said:
MA7743W post=18.70097.709229 said:
I was disgusted to find myself watching the history channel last week.
What do you mean disgusted? The history channel is awesome. Although I do wish they could focus on something other than world war two for a while.

I'm still pretty damn immature, so no, the quest for knowledge has not yet overweighed the quest for fun.
History channel + Discovery channel = win
 

WhitemageofDOOM

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Shivari post=18.70097.680524 said:
I've always considered myself mature (or at least more so than other people my age) but is this me becoming "truly" mature? Am I just being more responsible? Or is this just my interests changing and finding out who I am?
No, this is you becoming less mature.
Everything you've mentioned is a big waste of time, about the only thing that could possibly be considered not a waste of time is anything directly related to survival or the continuation of your genes.(And even that is arguably a big waste of time in the grand scheme of things.)
How is for example history going to help you with direct survival? It might provide a sense of perspective on how irrelevant you are merely compared to human history. But it still will never affect practical day to day survival. In modern society almost nothing will affect that, everything is provided for you food, clothing, shelter all you have to do is pay for it. So in the end, everything you will do comes down to "how do i waste my time until i die." you can learn all you want, I'll be having fun. Were still just wasting time till it ends.

If you no longer enjoy games, that's fine. But your not becoming more mature and wasting less time.
 

The Iron Ninja

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meatloaf231 post=18.70097.709302 said:
History channel + Discovery channel = win
History channel + Discovery channel + Crabs = Even bigger win.

On topic:
My sudden realisation was that some people (especially those younger than me) have terrible taste when it comes to humour.
I mean really, Meet the Spartans? Epic Movie? All of those are terrible.
What's even worse is those that find Hostel and Saw funny. It's not funny, it's sadistic.

Edit: and to the above poster (I didn't bother to read your name), what the hell man? Calm down.
 

meatloaf231

Old Man Glenn
Feb 13, 2008
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WhitemageofDOOM post=18.70097.709333 said:
Shivari post=18.70097.680524 said:
I've always considered myself mature (or at least more so than other people my age) but is this me becoming "truly" mature? Am I just being more responsible? Or is this just my interests changing and finding out who I am?
No, this is you becoming less mature.
Everything you've mentioned is a big waste of time, about the only thing that could possibly be considered not a waste of time is anything directly related to survival or the continuation of your genes.(And even that is arguably a big waste of time in the grand scheme of things.)
How is for example history going to help you with direct survival? It might provide a sense of perspective on how irrelevant you are merely compared to human history. But it still will never affect practical day to day survival. In modern society almost nothing will affect that, everything is provided for you food, clothing, shelter all you have to do is pay for it. So in the end, everything you will do comes down to "how do i waste my time until i die." you can learn all you want, I'll be having fun. Were still just wasting time till it ends.
That was depressing and unnecessary, not to mention false.
 

Ixus Illwrath

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The Iron Ninja post=18.70097.709340 said:
meatloaf231 post=18.70097.709302 said:
History channel + Discovery channel = win
History channel + Discovery channel + Crabs = Even bigger win.

On topic:
My sudden realisation was that some people (especially those younger than me) have terrible taste when it comes to humour.
I mean really, Meet the Spartans? Epic Movie? All of those are terrible.
What's even worse is those that find Hostel and Saw funny. It's not funny, it's sadistic.
@ninja - If you don't start using the shampoo the crabs won't go away man.
 

The Iron Ninja

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Ixus I told you about that under confidence. This is what you call keeping a secret?
Justice will be swift (and decidedly violent) my friend. As I am a fair man, I would advise you to stay away from the windows and avoid any sushi that is lying around on the floor.

Yeah I'm probably become more immature as I get older (Since I grew in maturity to about ten at least, then it was like how old people shrink back down again, except with maturity)

WhitemageofDOOM post=18.70097.709333 said:
No, this is you becoming less mature.
Everything you've mentioned is a big waste of time, about the only thing that could possibly be considered not a waste of time is anything directly related to survival or the continuation of your genes.(And even that is arguably a big waste of time in the grand scheme of things.)
How is for example history going to help you with direct survival? It might provide a sense of perspective on how irrelevant you are merely compared to human history. But it still will never affect practical day to day survival. In modern society almost nothing will affect that, everything is provided for you food, clothing, shelter all you have to do is pay for it. So in the end, everything you will do comes down to "how do i waste my time until i die." you can learn all you want, I'll be having fun. Were still just wasting time till it ends.

If you no longer enjoy games, that's fine. But your not becoming more mature and wasting less time.
I think you're a bit confuddled, how does the whole "wasting your time" thing have anything to do with maturity? If it's all meaningless wouldn't turning to things like history still be considered more mature? It wouldn't matter if it was all for nothing. It's still more of a mature path to take than repeatedly teabagging a corpse in an online game. (Do girls teabag in Halo? Now I'm really curious)
 

Shivari

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WhitemageofDOOM post=18.70097.709333 said:
Shivari post=18.70097.680524 said:
I've always considered myself mature (or at least more so than other people my age) but is this me becoming "truly" mature? Am I just being more responsible? Or is this just my interests changing and finding out who I am?
No, this is you becoming less mature.
Everything you've mentioned is a big waste of time, about the only thing that could possibly be considered not a waste of time is anything directly related to survival or the continuation of your genes.(And even that is arguably a big waste of time in the grand scheme of things.)
How is for example history going to help you with direct survival? It might provide a sense of perspective on how irrelevant you are merely compared to human history. But it still will never affect practical day to day survival. In modern society almost nothing will affect that, everything is provided for you food, clothing, shelter all you have to do is pay for it. So in the end, everything you will do comes down to "how do i waste my time until i die." you can learn all you want, I'll be having fun. Were still just wasting time till it ends.

If you no longer enjoy games, that's fine. But your not becoming more mature and wasting less time.
You're quite the motivational speaker...
 

werepossum

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Shivari post=18.70097.709803 said:
WhitemageofDOOM post=18.70097.709333 said:
Shivari post=18.70097.680524 said:
I've always considered myself mature (or at least more so than other people my age) but is this me becoming "truly" mature? Am I just being more responsible? Or is this just my interests changing and finding out who I am?
No, this is you becoming less mature.
SNIP
So in the end, everything you will do comes down to "how do i waste my time until i die." you can learn all you want, I'll be having fun. Were still just wasting time till it ends.

If you no longer enjoy games, that's fine. But your not becoming more mature and wasting less time.
You're quite the motivational speaker...
Just wait 'til he learns his fun will be regularly interrupted by his job at Wal-Mart for the next fifty years. Then he'll be a real riot.

What you're describing happened to me as well, although to be honest most of what is considered fun today didn't exist when I was your age. If I were reading and found an unfamiliar word, I'd look it up - and then spend the next hour reading other things in the dictionary. There's just so much interesting stuff to learn!

Eventually my brain got full. Now I have to be careful because whenever I learn something new, I forget something old. (I think they call that the balance of nature.) Sometimes at work I have to tell the other disciplines "Don't explain that to me, I might forget where I live!" So now I can play video games all I want.

Much of what is taught is more practical than kids know. Want to be a plumber? You need lots of math to rise above handyman level. (The guy pumping your septic tank probably isn't a plumber, he's the guy who didn't learn math.) When you're plumbing a new building, you have only the exterior walls laid out; you have to calculate exactly where that interior wall is going to be, because the concrete slab gets poured before most interior walls get framed. Similarly, other skilled trades need good math skills to calculate how much wire to cut, how much sheet metal to buy, what size channel iron can replace that angle iron that won't fit. And for a good white-collar job, you need to be able to get through college.

As for history, if you're in a representative republic you need some basis for voting other than "change". If you're really familiar with history, you can recognize trends and repeated mistakes. If enough people recognize past mistakes, they don't get repeated.

Science - everyone needs a basic understanding of science, it's how we understand the world around us. And grammar and composition are absolutely required for success. If you have the best idea in the world but can't express it well, you'll have a difficult time selling anyone on it. Reports and proposals are a big part of almost any business. But even beyond application, knowledge is good just for itself. Learning keeps the brain nimble and well-oiled, and as you've learned, has its own satisfaction.

Congratulations on your maturation. Unlike video games, there's always something interesting waiting to be learned - there are no dry spells where you are forced to learn something stupid or do without.
 

WhitemageofDOOM

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werepossum post=18.70097.709915 said:
Just wait 'til he learns his fun will be regularly interrupted by his job at Wal-Mart for the next fifty years. Then he'll be a real riot.
Thought i already knew that?
Lemme check. Go to some boring job for rest of life to get money to pay upkeep. Yes knew that.

The Iron Ninja post=18.70097.709370 said:
I think you're a bit confuddled, how does the whole "wasting your time" thing have anything to do with maturity? If it's all meaningless wouldn't turning to things like history still be considered more mature? It wouldn't matter if it was all for nothing. It's still more of a mature path to take than repeatedly teabagging a corpse in an online game. (Do girls teabag in Halo? Now I'm really curious)
Thinking your more mature for wasting time learning rather than games, sports or whatever else you might be doing is the immature part. Your still just passing time until you die.

I like learning, that doesn't make me more mature for wasting my time on gaining new information makes me no more mature than someone teabagging a corpse in halo. One waste of time is just as much a waste as any other.
 

The Iron Ninja

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WhitemageofDOOM post=18.70097.709970 said:
Thinking your more mature for wasting time learning rather than games, sports or whatever else you might be doing is the immature part. Your still just passing time until you die.

I like learning, that doesn't make me more mature for wasting my time on gaining new information makes me no more mature than someone teabagging a corpse in halo. One waste of time is just as much a waste as any other.
What exactly is you definition of maturity?

And can you honestly say that this guy:
[http://imageshack.us]
Looks as mature as her:
[http://imageshack.us]
 

wewontdie11

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May 28, 2008
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Do I fall into some kind of man-child middle ground at the minute because I bloody love QI? I've learned more from that show than I have from school and college put together but Stephen Fry and all the panellists are comedy heroes and I think it's the funniest thing about.

I think I may be going the opposite way to you Shivari, because when I was younger I was a real straight A student in everything, and I mean everything (even bloody cookery!). But as I've gotten older I have started to play games more, actually get myself a bit of a social life and actively seek out fun things to do. Unfortunately it's meant I missed out on my first choice university, but hey c'est la vie.
 

Hellion25

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May 28, 2008
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Personally for me whenever I have periods of going off gaming I tend to find it conicides with the lack of a need for escapism. I find that when I am relatively happy with things I tend to game less and, strangely enough, enjoy myself more.

When things aren't going so well, I start gaming more majorly, as well as completly messing up my sleeping patterns doing so, until I get my shit sorted out again.

So perhaps you are just content with the way life is going at the moment and you no longer need to transport yourself away from it and into the realms of fantasy. Instead you would rather learn about stuff that you could use in your life to keep yourself content.

Of course if it turns out that life sucks for you at the moment then completly disregard pretty much everything I just said.
 

Automind

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Sep 7, 2008
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This has kind of happened to me. Its not that i no longer play. I'm becoming more of a connoisseur of games. I only buy something that i rEEEEEEEly think will be good and then I don't play every chance I get because that will make gaming dry out in my head. Especially now I have to focus on school and not succumb to the "automind" and play crappy games that get tons of hype and just play them because people say they are good. I want to have a meaningful experience every time I play.
 

Unholykrumpet

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Nov 1, 2007
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Did something happen that made you think your academics weren't up to par? When I got an F on my first test in AP Chemistry last year (senior year), I kind of acted like you. By the end of senior year though, I stopped caring completely about chem (mainly because my teacher was awful).

If that's what you're into now, then power to ya.
 

Portkins

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May 27, 2008
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You're all imagining it. Go to the store and buy a shiny new game, that should make you feel better D:<