Maybe? I think there's a risk of hyper-realism in gaming replacing the normal dopamine cycles that drive human behavior. Look at the skinner-box loot-crate games to see what the application of psychology to gaming can do to people already.
I think there is room for things to get worse, too.
In Larry Niven's Ringworld series, the main character has to recover from having a wire linked directly to his pleasure centers, which gave him the possibility of endless self-pleasure to the point of ego death. One could see that as the ultimate manifestation of hyperstimulation. Imagine a random payout schedule dopamine hit from your neuralink in your VR game rig, and you can see where this kind of power could be abused to manipulate behavior.
Pornography can do the same thing to human sexuality, but gaming is (for better and for worse) a more versatile medium. Our desire for escape our day-to-day reality can certainly be weaponized to create a hyper-real 'replacement' reality. This can be a trap, or a needed safety release valve. It's a technology, which is to say a tool-- and tools are only as moral as their wielders.
Maybe? I think there's a risk of hyper-realism in gaming replacing the normal dopamine cycles that drive human behavior. Look at the skinner-box loot-crate games to see what the application of psychology to gaming can do to people already.
I think there is room for things to get worse, too.
In Larry Niven's Ringworld series, the main character has to recover from having a wire linked directly to his pleasure centers, which gave him the possibility of endless self-pleasure to the point of ego death. One could see that as the ultimate manifestation of hyperstimulation. Imagine a random payout schedule dopamine hit from your neuralink in your VR game rig, and you can see where this kind of power could be abused to manipulate behavior.
Pornography can do the same thing to human sexuality, but gaming is (for better and for worse) a more versatile medium. Our desire for escape our day-to-day reality can certainly be weaponized to create a hyper-real 'replacement' reality. This can be a trap, or a needed safety release valve. It's a technology, which is to say a tool-- and tools are only as moral as their wielders.