So here I am in this huge resort/casino thing, and to get anywhere you have to wander by hundreds of gaming tables. I’ve been watching the gamblers, and none of them seem to be having a good time. They’re all grimly working away at whatever it is they’re doing.
A hot craps table is the only place that really brings group outpourings of joy.
I have a more esoteric idea about gamblers believing that there is a finite quantity of luck in any casino, thus they are locked in a zero-sum struggle with all of the other players.
A casino is a pretty dismal environment (I’d love to see a scientific study done about the long-term affects of all that noise and light on cognitive function and mood), but in all fairness, I don’t look all that thrilled when I’m reading a good book either.
I mean I’m devilishly handsome and adorable and all, but I don’t look happy (unless I’m reading a WJW story of course, when my face lights up like a small child’s on Christmas morning).
I’ve made the same observation regarding photos from magazine photos from model railroad clubs. I know they’re having fun, but often they sure don’t look like it’s a fun hobby but rather a job. It’s a completely different thing when operating a layout at a public show, because then it’s about interacting with people rather than being partly concerned with not making a mistake in front of the other club members.
When I’m flight simming on my own I probably look quite relaxed, but when I can mess it up for others by being stupid, perhaps not. But I’m having as much fun in either case.
The experience of stress becomes intensely pleasurable when you feel a sense of control or hope or possibility. It’s in the balance of hormones like adrenaline and so on released by the body. Fight or flight preparation feels good, bracing for a beating feels bad.
You are quite literally seeing an addiction to endogenous psychotropics. It’s really no different than cocaine or fast food.
From what I’ve read, Skinner found that a random large reward was better at habituation than a steady stream of small ones. People are more likely to push the bar if there’s a 1-in-a-thousand chance of an orgasm than if you give them a Snickers bar every time.
You didn’t walk by a craps table?
A hot craps table is the only place that really brings group outpourings of joy.
I have a more esoteric idea about gamblers believing that there is a finite quantity of luck in any casino, thus they are locked in a zero-sum struggle with all of the other players.
A casino is a pretty dismal environment (I’d love to see a scientific study done about the long-term affects of all that noise and light on cognitive function and mood), but in all fairness, I don’t look all that thrilled when I’m reading a good book either.
I mean I’m devilishly handsome and adorable and all, but I don’t look happy (unless I’m reading a WJW story of course, when my face lights up like a small child’s on Christmas morning).
I’ve made the same observation regarding photos from magazine photos from model railroad clubs. I know they’re having fun, but often they sure don’t look like it’s a fun hobby but rather a job. It’s a completely different thing when operating a layout at a public show, because then it’s about interacting with people rather than being partly concerned with not making a mistake in front of the other club members.
When I’m flight simming on my own I probably look quite relaxed, but when I can mess it up for others by being stupid, perhaps not. But I’m having as much fun in either case.
The experience of stress becomes intensely pleasurable when you feel a sense of control or hope or possibility. It’s in the balance of hormones like adrenaline and so on released by the body. Fight or flight preparation feels good, bracing for a beating feels bad.
You are quite literally seeing an addiction to endogenous psychotropics. It’s really no different than cocaine or fast food.
They’re parasitized.
I’d expect MLN Hanover to say that, not someone like Daniel.
From what I’ve read, Skinner found that a random large reward was better at habituation than a steady stream of small ones. People are more likely to push the bar if there’s a 1-in-a-thousand chance of an orgasm than if you give them a Snickers bar every time.
Comments on this entry are closed.