jeniwren

Love this question! My husband was laid off recently and it feels like his free time instead has been accosted by our young children and house renovation:/

Related note, I came across this newsletter which goes into more detail about our “work” identity and how your employer doesn’t (to your point!) “care about you”

(https://wokescientist.substack.com/p/work-life-balance-is-a-...)

I don’t think we should measure all of our individual environmental choices in a pure monetary cost/benefit anyway!

If you’re rich enough to afford to insulate your house and buy a heat pump you’re likely in the richest 5% of the global population and arguably have a duty to ‘green’ your life with these high-impact purchase decisions (given that the world’s poorest are already and will continue to be the most affected by climate change)

Most top grossing games get the vast majority of their revenue from a very small % of users, referred to as “whales”. A game is a motivational system typically fulfils intrinsic needs (relatedness, autonomy, mastery and purpose). techniques which tap into rheee needs successfully compel people to pay.

TV by comparison is more passive so perhaps it’s less likely someone consuming it would experience the type of ‘flow’ and rewards you get from a game.

You can also check out Jane McGonigal’s Reality Is Broken for a bit more about the psychology of gaming or Yu-Kai Choi’s Actionable Gamification book. Choi’s book details many of the black hat persuasive techniques) commonly found in games, which also compel people to spend more than they perhaps would really want to!