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ang_cireyesterday at 2:18 PM1 replyview on HN

Any activity you enjoy is enjoyed because it produces a dopamine release (for someone who enjoys it).

People who enjoy reading get the same dopamine reaction from that as people who enjoy video games. Or slot machines.

The difference with slot machines is that the purpose of them is solely to tie that dopamine release to giving away money predicated on deception (specifically, both by not disclosing actual odds, and by lying about them).

A slot game that requires no money to play isn't a problem, because it's not tricking old people into giving away their pensions.


Replies

ciscyesterday at 10:34 PM

> to tie that dopamine release to giving away money predicated on deception (specifically, both by not disclosing actual odds, and by lying about them)

So just like loot boxes in video games.

> A slot game that requires no money to play isn't a problem

So similarly you should only be playing opensource and freeware video games that aren't designed to extract money from you.