[MUD-Dev] Dopamine and addiction

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

Lars Duening <lars at bearnip.com> writes:
> On Nov 27, 2003, at 6:07 AM, Ola Fosheim Grøstad wrote:

>> What are the implications for ethical MUD design, and will
>> "addictive" become more of a negative term rather than a
>> marketing term?

> Hmm... - the problem I have with studies of this kind is that they
> tend to be used to scapegoat certain activities, implicitely
> painting the others harmless.

Yeah, perhaps, but then again... Games aren't something you need. So
it should be kept harmless if possible? Words such as "game" and
"play" imply something very innocent.

> For example I would be surprised if exercise addiction did not
> have a connection to a dopamine imbalance, but when was the last
> time you heard a demand for an 'ethical Gym' to prevent exercise
> addiction?

You currently have worse problems there: hormone-drugs. You hear a
lot about that, right? :)

> People can become addicted to any activity they consider exciting,
> and the only way to prevent that is to make the activity so boring
> that nobody participates in the first place.

I think it is a lot more complicated than that, though.

--
Ola - http://folk.uio.no/olag/
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