I
Life is merciless at you. From the very beginning, a lot of your success in life is dependent on things outside of your control. The family you're born into determines your social class, and the genetics they give you determine your success in social and romantic relationships. Life experiences during your youth shape your mental health. Even if you put in effort into succeeding in life, there is no guarantee that you will be rewarded as much as someone who was born with the right family and genetics.
You can dream and work towards being a D1 Athlete as much as you want, but if you're 5'6" you're going nowhere with that goal. You can want that amazing engineering internship at corp, but your friend whose dad is the VP in the company will be chosen over you, regardless of your effort at school and your intellects. You can desire to sleep with as much women as you want but if you start balding at 20 and were bullied in middle school you're very unlikely to get the confidence to talk to even one woman, compared to the guy born with a symmetrical face and shot up to 5'11" when he was 12 years old.
In video games there is no such thing as having your success outside of your control. Everybody starts off on a level-playing field. Your success in a video game is solely tied to the amount of dedication you have for it and your willingness to learn how to play the game right. Accomplishments are measurable and attainable regardless of your family background and genetics.
I think this is what makes video games appealing to the vast majority of men. The life of most men is without purpose, and if you're not in the top % of men is a pitiful, lonely life. Most men would have died due to disease or war by now, but our relatively peaceful modern world means that we have an extreme surplus of men.
A lot of men learn that they will never have what it takes to compete and make it in real life, so they substitute lack of success in real life with virtual success online.
You can dream and work towards being a D1 Athlete as much as you want, but if you're 5'6" you're going nowhere with that goal. You can want that amazing engineering internship at corp, but your friend whose dad is the VP in the company will be chosen over you, regardless of your effort at school and your intellects. You can desire to sleep with as much women as you want but if you start balding at 20 and were bullied in middle school you're very unlikely to get the confidence to talk to even one woman, compared to the guy born with a symmetrical face and shot up to 5'11" when he was 12 years old.
In video games there is no such thing as having your success outside of your control. Everybody starts off on a level-playing field. Your success in a video game is solely tied to the amount of dedication you have for it and your willingness to learn how to play the game right. Accomplishments are measurable and attainable regardless of your family background and genetics.
I think this is what makes video games appealing to the vast majority of men. The life of most men is without purpose, and if you're not in the top % of men is a pitiful, lonely life. Most men would have died due to disease or war by now, but our relatively peaceful modern world means that we have an extreme surplus of men.
A lot of men learn that they will never have what it takes to compete and make it in real life, so they substitute lack of success in real life with virtual success online.
