BIG or Little Pleasures?
Hey Niel, Sometimes, after a particularly stressful day at work, I do enjoy the completely adrenaline-fuelled, backward-clicked reptilian work-out obtained by playing a pseudo-simulation shooting game called Area-51, Site 4. This is a fast paced game, where it is kill or be killed. Unfortunately, even with a sufficient supply of quarters, I just could not kill the "big boss" at the end of the game. The timer would expire, and the big alien would then rear back - and - GAME OVER. Then it dawned on me. I needed more fire power - so, since the game does have two guns, and will let two players shoot at targets simultaneously, I decided to see what would happen if I went at it with both guns-a-blazing. I toured through the tougher practice rounds - With Two players, the game play is slightly more difficult - just for the experience of using both hands simultaneously - as well as improving the peripheral vision. Then I went for the main game. Since there are two scores, one for each hand, it was interesting to note that my dominant hand killed more aliens, my non-dominant (left) hand was more accurate - sometimes by as much as 10% ! After a couple of dollars - getting hit costs money - I was at the big bad guy. This time I managed to do 100% more damage, but alas, I did not win. Relaxed and pleased with the reasonable success of two-handing it, I left the establishment. That's when it hit me.
I was walking, holding by body in near-perfect posture without any effort. I was noticing much more of the things around me without having to expend extra effort - and I felt wonderful. In fact, I felt as if I were on cloud nine, with my amygdala clicked forward: fully forward! So, I gave the amygdala's a gentle brush with my mental feather and there was no change! Somehow, I had clicked forward and stayed forward during the game - a reptilian monster of a game! The very next day, I repeated the exercise, this time clicking forward and
chuckling each time I failed on a practice round. After completing the 18 practice rounds, I went in. Clicked forward and pounding away at the enemy with both sides of my brain. When I reached the boss at the end, it was clear what had to be done, and this time, in the time allotted, the boss was destroyed. And I still had credits left in the machine. So - I went straight back in - and with 1/4 of the money I would normally spend, completed the game a second time. Killing that alien brought quite a bit of attention. So does playing the game with both hands. Nobody believes that it is actually easier with both hands and two guns to use. They *think* it is harder. When I left, I was on double cloud nine - having had a good period of forward clicking time, while focusing on the game and laughing each time a negative situation occurred - and finally beating the beast! So, three questions regarding this experience:
How would you rate such an activity?
Martin
How valid an indication of "brain balance" would the scores give, since there is a separate score for each hand?
Is this something that you have tried or are willing to try?
Thanks in advance for any possible feedback. Hope to catch you again on Coast2Coast some time.
Martin,
Congratulations on your video victory.
You solved a puzzle- how to win a game. Many games cannot be won with brute strength alone-- it takes the addition of cleverness to win. Although many combative and competitive games are very "reptilian" in nature, it is the addition of intelligent thinking that creates winners. You did it by consciously tapping into greater creativity by clicking your amygdala. FANTASTIC!!! You are a potential Brain Leader.
In this instance, you felt the temporary rush of winning a battle against a machine/your enemy- and so your brain rewarded you with pleasure. Yes, survival brings a relief, and pleasure when you have used creativity and skill to outsmart an opponent.
However, one must keep things in perspective. I suppose a six-year-old kid stomping on ants feels pleasure in his "accomplishment". But it's a very limited "me me me" reptilian brain survival/power pleasure- though it feels BIG inside one cranium. Inside a human brain with far greater potential, GENETIC INTELLIGENCE insists that unless outgrown, this kind of limited pleasure eventually, always, turns on itself and self-destructs.
I'm not referring to you, you are obviously a very likable intelligent and socially helpful person- but, those who are powerless and unable to engage and create cooperative pleasure circuits, out of desperation finally must resort to "If I can't do anything else, at least I can accomplish making you miserable, I can kill you! See, I have succeeded at something! That's better than nothing." The Columbine Teen Killers.
I just watched "The Trial of Adolph Eichmann, the Nazi who developed and carried out "The Final Solution". Adolph Eichmann did not derive pleasure from just killing jews. He derived pleasure from basking in his clever methods and skill of doing so. "I am so clever at killing and surviving!" A sadistic and sick mind, yet he enjoyed his job and smiled at his accomplishments. But, there is a qualitative and quantitative difference in the pleasure experienced by one person having killer ape success/pleasure and the pleasure experienced by loving/sharing/cooperation. Who generated more ultimate pleasure, Adolph, or Mother Theresa? Both were successful at what they did.
Of course, I am in no way suggesting that you in any way resemble such a person. Good grief no! But it does illustrate the point of how a reptilian activity in conjunction with a trickle of creativity can produce pleasure in the brain. War can be fun!
Unfortunately, our species continues to play war games. Even this week, our Congress has decided to give more money for playing army, and is further cutting education and social services- to again experience the reptile brain "orgasm" of being King of the Hill. The orgasm of war: WARGASM. Write your congressperson if you would prefer your money does not support this game- CONGRESS EMAIL LIST (You might just save this link in your bookmarks for all your government comments.)
Anyway, back to your personal situation......
The brain gets bored with games after they have solved the problem of winning. It's fun at first, but gets old fast. You must find something new. Frontal lobes pleasure requires NEW stimulus. Once you've figured out the puzzle, you click out of your frontal lobes and back into reptile brain reaction, old problem circuitry. Fun dissolves into tedium.
Also, although it may seem intense- for a few minutes, decreasing over a few hours, out of 24 hours- game playing pleasure, in the grand scheme of things, is probably not that great. A few minutes out of one day, one day out of 365, out of 3650, out of, 50,000 days.
Kids can sit in front of a TV or video game all day, but, how much fun is that really? Kiddie fun.
If you are an adult, on Monday, its back to the same stressful grind, the rat race, from which one seeks relief in a harmless video game.
You've conquered the demon on the video screen. You've won the video game--
GO THE NEXT STEP.
What 3 dimensional REAL VILLIAN can you beat?
Turn enemies into friends? (The most difficult challenge of all.)
This is a much harder game. And you will have to be much smarter.
Much much MUCH smarter.
But the reward is infinitely greater. The momentary reward you felt winning the puzzle of the video game will be magnified a TRILLION times when you win
Now what? How long can you continue to play this game and derive pleasure-- increasing pleasure from it, over an extended, unlimited time?
Evil job?
Evil relationship?
Evil finances?
Evil environment?
Evil government?
Evil populations?
List your own:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
When an individual survives, the brain feels good. When the whole planet survives, and you've had a great time, artistically, creatively, expressively playing that game............Now THAT is a thrill---- BIG BANG !POP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Yes, you FEEL this in your own brain)
Games can be fun, great fun. But mostly games are satisfying only to one or a few people at a time. One or two brains plugged into pleasure. BIG PLEASURE is when you figure out how to plug in a dozen, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million people into pleasure via your efforts. The pleasure created by the inventors of Riven, is ultimately greater than the pleasure experienced by one player.
If you can click your amygdala forward and tap into that kind of BIG BRAIN ENERGY- you'll be set for life.
Thanks for writing, and please keep in touch-
Neil
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