"Young Men Are Playing Video Games Instead of Getting Jobs. That's OK. (For Now.)"

"Since 2000, men in their 20s without a bachelor's degree are working considerably less and spending far more time engaged in leisure activities, which overwhelmingly means playing video games. Over the same time frame, this group of men has also grown more likely to be single, to have no children, and to live with parents or other family members.

The surprising thing about the stereotypical aimless young man, detached from work and society, playing video games in his parents' basement: He's actually happier than ever... 

Andromeda is not the most entertaining game I have ever played, but with its endless array of tasks to complete and objectives to achieve, it is among the most job-like in its approach to game design. At times it hit rather close to home... 

Eventually I quit playing. I already have a job, and though I enjoy it quite a bit, I didn't feel as if I needed another one.

But what about those who aren't employed? It's easy to imagine a game like Andromeda taking the place of work... 

You might think that this would be demoralizing. A life spent unemployed, living at home, without romantic prospects, playing digital time wasters does not sound particularly appealing on its face.

Yet this group reports far higher levels of overall happiness than low-skilled young men from the turn of the 21st century. In contrast, self-reported happiness for older workers without college degrees fell during the same period. For low-skilled young women and men with college degrees, it stayed basically the same. A significant part of the difference comes down to what Hurst has called "innovations in leisure computer activities for young men."

The problems come later."

http://reason.com/archives/2017/06/13/young-men-are-playing-video-ga?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

Interesting. 

I've been ill and there's a thing when you're sick and you think "as long as I'm home, I have all these things gs I can get done! All those projects that I've been meaning to work on!"... But actually, you're sick, you're brain doesn't work and then you fall asleep. So, I've been desperately trying to find things that I CAN do during my hours of wakefulness because otherwise I'm suckingly bored. And I've been getting back into computer games, and I realize that they can help give structure to otherwise empty days. 

FB: "What video games appear to do is ease the psychic pain of joblessness—and to do it in a way that is, if not permanent, at least long-lasting."