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Hello Everyone.
I'm Serjei James (SJames) and today I have another exciting blog eatery for the community to enjoy.
My previous blog entries have gotten 42, 22, and 13 comments respectively.
Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it.
Anyway Today I am going to be discussing my opinions, beliefs and philosophies relating to being a professional Starcraft player.
I believe that being a Starcraft progamer isn't a positive thing at all. In fact its actually a bad thing for society. The reason for this is simple: Starcraft as an industry doesn't contribute to society at all.
Playing a game of Starcraft doesnt change the world. It doesn't improve on the worlds infrastructure and it doesn't help those in need. In short, nothing the Starcraft industry does, will ever benefit the world at large.
This is because being a Starcraft progamer is basically like being an entertainer or actor, in the sense that rather than making money by physically contributing something to society, you make money by entertaining people and though advertising. Basically in short, the Starcraft industry only serves to advertise and entertain, and in reality contributes nothing to society.
However the more discerning of you would point out that this very concept is seen in a number of other professions (such as actors, strippers, professional poker, professional sport and even stock traders (because the traders themselves make money out of something they didn't directly create)). The thing is, is that I don't really agree with these professions either, but they have become so ingrained into society that its kinda pointless to argue against them, as they are so well established.
I just feel that too many young people are uninterested by real-world or traditional jobs, and instead of that, they opt to simply play a game for a living. They see it as an easy way out. They use progaming as an excuse not to leave their comfort zones.
This post isn't an attack on gamers or any progamers. I have a lot of respect for many players and I enjoy the Starcraft community, and i enjoy the game, but I do think people take this idea of progaming too far.
Its just that Starcraft progamers are worth so much to society. A great example is Idra. He turned down a physics scholarship to play a game. He turned down an importunity to improve society and contribute to development just so that he could play a game all day and become a personally in the industry. But instead he's stuck playing the same game all day, that obviously upsets him quiet a bit and that he complains about the whole time. There is something very, very wrong with this picture.
It's just that, this world was not build by men in suits, it wasn't built by the actors, the strippers, the poker players, the stock traders or the starcraft players. It was built by hardworking men and woman, who wanted for their children to have a better life.
I don't expect people to adopt my view, and in fact I really expect a lot of uncalled-for abuse (similar to the abuse,attack and insults I have received on previous posts). But I'm ok with that. Abraham Lincoln also suffered for his views.
SJames signing out!
  
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Wow...entertainment and discipline are things that do add to society I believe. Culture is made up of our creators and entertainers, and that adds to the complex tapastry that is life. Overall, I think that it is naive to state that just because someone is not a physisist or building schools for the underpriviledge, does not mean that they are not contributing.
Playing games is one of those social activities that has been around forever and progaming, people being paid to do so, has been around a long time as well. People invest in these things because of the value that they see in them, plus I am sure that at least some progamers have felt that the study and discipline have helped them in some ways.
Obviously you have gained some value from the game or the culture, or else I can't imagine why you would be here. If nothing else, it has also formed communities and friends, which again adds to the overall complexity of life.
To add more, I doubt that it is always an easy way out for youth to become a progamer. I doubt that they best progamers, the ones that are successful monetarily, will tell you that it is easy. Just beacuse something is not "traditional" does not make it bad.
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On January 12 2012 17:39 TheAmazombie wrote:
Obviously you have gained some value from the game or the culture, or else I can't imagine why you would be here. If nothing else, it has also formed communities and friends, which again adds to the overall complexity of life.
"a comunity of friends". I have received so much abuse from posting on this website that I actually cried once. A great community of friends...
edit: sorry for misquote lol, but you know what I mean.
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T.O.P.
Hong Kong4685 Posts
Not everyone gives a shits about improving the world. Those are just your values and they are not shared by anyone.
If entertainment doesn't contribute to society, then a lot of people are "unproductive" by your definition. In every company, R&D isn't the biggest expense. The majority of the expenses come from marketing, sales, human resource. These guys aren't creating a product, they're just there to help sell it. Yet they are so essential to a successful company.
What about luxury products? Are the people at Prada unproductive? Because people can buy a cheap mass produced handbag instead of one that costs more manpower to make?
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the world isn't just physical though. Everything that is done by all of those careers definitely help society. Would you argue that our culture and media shouldn't exist? O_O
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On January 12 2012 17:43 sjames wrote:Show nested quote +On January 12 2012 17:39 TheAmazombie wrote:
Obviously you have gained some value from the game or the culture, or else I can't imagine why you would be here. If nothing else, it has also formed communities and friends, which again adds to the overall complexity of life.
"a comunity of friends". I have received so much abuse from posting on this website that I actually cried once. A great community of friends... edit: sorry for misquote lol, but you know what I mean.
I am sorry that you have suffered or received abuse, but if you did not like it, then why are you still here? This is the internet and no matter how hard you try, you are going to attract every hater in the world when you state a position. I find that quite often people are not utilizing their resources properly if they are having issues such as this. I am not saying you are wrong or trying to attack you at all for the OP, I just think that while you have a certain point, I do not believe it to be valid.
This is the only forum website that I even look at because people here are way better than on most of the internet. Just ignore the haters and talk to the cool people that you like. I love that you believe in your postion even though I might find it naive, but it seems like people are looking for a debate when someone post something like this. If a debate or argument you are after, then the internet is the place to find it.
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First of all this blog got me angry, simply because although you say you dont mean to attack progamming its all this blog is actually about.
Second of all if you believe that everything we do should be motivated by some need to 'improve society' then you seem a bit naive. Even if that is your personal belief you have to be able to see that most (maybe all) people arnt motivated by this at all (see capatalism or any history book for reference). So actually you're only point here is that in a utopian ideal everyone would be hard working cogs in the machine, well great but I fail to see any point in telling us that. Personally I feel that if everyone had a trampoline at the end of their street then 'society would improve' - its my opinion right.
Third of all I disagree with you. Starcraft was an important focal point for me in a rough part of my life, more so than any 'man in suit'. On the other hand I've never needed to see a doctor for any illness, therefore starcraft players are more important to society than doctors?
Furthermore I have to disagree with your opinion that entertainment doesnt contribute to society. Happiness is the underlying factor that a society is ultimately judged on. Therefore it would be stupid to say that it would be better if all entertainment professions were eliminated.
Finally I think we should avoid trying to compare ourselves to great historical figures
tl;dr
your post is contradictory
I disagree with having the argument because its based on a utopian ideal
Your argument is based upon an opinion, therefore someone else's opinion renders it invalid
I believe you're missing the point
dont compare yourself to lincoln
sincerely,
WHAT
/opinion
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It's another troll blog...stop feeding him.
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@ what.
Sorry I upset you, wasn't my intention.
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On January 12 2012 17:31 sjames wrote:
It's just that, this world was not build by men in suits, it wasn't built by the actors, the strippers, the poker players, the stock traders or the starcraft players. It was built by hardworking men and woman, who wanted for their children to have a better life.
What are you talking about? This world was very much so built by "men in suits". Who do you think is responsible for international trade and politics? Have you ever seen someone important run around in a t-shirt?
I once agreed with your view that these people contribute nothing to society but you have to accept that entertainment is a contribution. Why else would people pay to enjoy it? (Okay, one could argue that people are all idiots or something but let's not go down that road.) One thing that pisses me off the most is that salaries are so inflated nowadays. Does George Clooney seriously deserve 20 million dollars for six months work? Of course I understand the machinery/industry behind him but I still think it's a little too much.
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On January 12 2012 17:43 sjames wrote:Show nested quote +On January 12 2012 17:39 TheAmazombie wrote:
Obviously you have gained some value from the game or the culture, or else I can't imagine why you would be here. If nothing else, it has also formed communities and friends, which again adds to the overall complexity of life.
"a comunity of friends". I have received so much abuse from posting on this website that I actually cried once. A great community of friends... edit: sorry for misquote lol, but you know what I mean.
Thats probably because you said something dumb. Every person ive gotten to know from TL has been cool and trustworthy, so much so that I havent minded giving my sc2 acc/pass to people that i know post here regularly.
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Humans are not ants. Entertainment goes a long way to prevent depression and other things of human nature. If you have a hobby, then your post is hypocritical.
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On January 12 2012 18:00 surfinbird1 wrote:
What are you talking about? This world was very much so built by "men in suits". Who do you think is responsible for international trade and politics? Have you ever seen someone important run around in a t-shirt?
I once agreed with your view that these people contribute nothing to society but you have to accept that entertainment is a contribution. Why else would people pay to enjoy it? (Okay, one could argue that people are all idiots or something but let's not go down that road.) One thing that pisses me off the most is that salaries are so inflated nowadays. Does George Clooney seriously deserve 20 million dollars for six months work? Of course I understand the machinery/industry behind him but I still think it's a little too much.
The world was build by the common man. No man in a suit has ever layed a brick. Every piece of development you see in the world was the product of the hard honest work of a day laborer. The men in suits are important too, but there would be no "men in suits" if it wasn't for blue collar workers there would be no infrastructural or development. You wouldn't have a computer or a house or a phone line or the internet. Someone had to make the suit that the "men in suits" wear.
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On January 12 2012 18:06 G_G wrote:
Humans are not ants. Entertainment goes a long way to prevent depression and other things of human nature. If you have a hobby, then your post is hypocritical.
I don't find anything wrong with hobbies and entertainment. I just think that its not constructive to make a living off a hobby that doesn't contribute to society.
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Without culture.. what exactly is it that gives us the right to consider ourselves all that different to animals?
There are people in this world that you call useful. Nurses, Doctors, Scientists, Lawyers (I jest), etc. Those people need their morning coffee and their clean toilet so presumably you then consider it fine to be a janitor and a toilet manufacturer. They need their lunch so chef and farmer are all useful. These things are what our body requires to function. That is your concept of a working society. The problem is that this ignores the things which are required to allow the mind to function.
When the scientist comes home after a long day of trying to cure cancer maybe he pops on a bit of classical music (worthless). Maybe he's more into comedy shows on tv (worthless) or he likes to go out to the theatre (worthless). There's a very small chance that his particular thing is coming home and loading up GOMTV to see what happened in Code S that day (worthless) and perhaps playing a little starcraft 2 afterwards (worthless).
Take away those things and you seem to assume that guy will maybe stay at the lab a few more hours and solve cancer a little faster. In truth after about a month he'll probably be on prozac and a few months after that he'll probably be standing on top of a tall building and trying to figure out what the point of anything is and that he might as well just fall.
If you take all of the "unproductive" things and all the fun out of the world, what's the point in the world remaining? I feel like you should rethink the value of culture and how in truth it is far more at the forefront of the development of humanity.
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Fail blog with bad grammar, spelling and reasoning.
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Let's see now.
- Comes onto a gaming website to talk about how progaming is detrimental to society
- believes that entertainment does not contribute to society
- martyrs himself and compares him to Abe Lincoln
- steals a quote from Fight Club and credits it to himself
-5/5
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On January 12 2012 18:09 sjames wrote:Show nested quote +On January 12 2012 18:00 surfinbird1 wrote:
What are you talking about? This world was very much so built by "men in suits". Who do you think is responsible for international trade and politics? Have you ever seen someone important run around in a t-shirt?
I once agreed with your view that these people contribute nothing to society but you have to accept that entertainment is a contribution. Why else would people pay to enjoy it? (Okay, one could argue that people are all idiots or something but let's not go down that road.) One thing that pisses me off the most is that salaries are so inflated nowadays. Does George Clooney seriously deserve 20 million dollars for six months work? Of course I understand the machinery/industry behind him but I still think it's a little too much. The world was build by the common man. No man in a suit has ever layed a brick. Every piece of development you see in the world was the product of the hard honest work of a day laborer. The men in suits are important too, but there would be no "men in suits" if it wasn't for blue collar workers there would be no infrastructural or development. You wouldn't have a computer or a house or a phone line or the internet. Someone had to make the suit that the "men in suits" wear.
Again, this is just plain wrong friend. Just because "honest" labor does the hard work does not mean that the men in suits did not help to create or catalize. So many great ideas for improvements came from those men. A lot of times the laborer does not have the ideas or capital to create the things that help the world, they just do the hard work. I work in the corperate world and often the high-ups, all the way to the owner and president of the company, will come and work with the everyman. In fact, it is mandated that all high up managers do so from time to time. Also, someone like Jimmy Carter has done more good in this world, from trying to make peace offerings to laying bricks in houses of for poor people. He definitly has layed bricks and labored. While I agree that it is annoying to be a wage slave, without those people creating the jobs in the first place, we would not have the world and culture that we have today.
Yes, there would be no white collar without blue collar, but without white collar, there would be much less blue collar or those hard workers would be stuck just working hard on their farm, trying to create the goods for their family, not worrying about bettering the world or contributing other than just raising their own. I hate some of the white collar people as much as the next guy, but I can tell you for certain that their job is also hard and does contribute, just in a different way.
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On January 12 2012 18:09 sjames wrote:Show nested quote +On January 12 2012 18:00 surfinbird1 wrote:
What are you talking about? This world was very much so built by "men in suits". Who do you think is responsible for international trade and politics? Have you ever seen someone important run around in a t-shirt?
I once agreed with your view that these people contribute nothing to society but you have to accept that entertainment is a contribution. Why else would people pay to enjoy it? (Okay, one could argue that people are all idiots or something but let's not go down that road.) One thing that pisses me off the most is that salaries are so inflated nowadays. Does George Clooney seriously deserve 20 million dollars for six months work? Of course I understand the machinery/industry behind him but I still think it's a little too much. The world was build by the common man. No man in a suit has ever layed a brick. Every piece of development you see in the world was the product of the hard honest work of a day laborer. The men in suits are important too, but there would be no "men in suits" if it wasn't for blue collar workers there would be no infrastructural or development. You wouldn't have a computer or a house or a phone line or the internet. Someone had to make the suit that the "men in suits" wear.
You write in statements, but you're not backing up anything you say. At least not with anything other than more logic. All the logical thinking in the world means nothing if you don't attempt to verify it. Keeping with the theme on this blog, logic is only useful to society as a hypothesis that can result in useful research. History, especially sciencific history, has shown countless times that even if a theory is extremely sound logically it can still be completely wrong. All I'm seeing in your OP and responses is that you have thought about stuff. Have you tried doing more?
Give the same topic to a large group of people and they will all come up with their own logic. They will all believe their own thoughts and dismiss those of others, because of course their own thoughts make sense to them. Logic left on it's own is absouletey worthless. It is only useful as a first step. You have taken that first step, so now you can take it further by trying to find not only evidence that your logic is correct, but also evidence that your logic is wrong. This will result in modified or new ideas, and you repeat the process endlessly hoping to find useful knowledge along the way.
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I demand that all 'fun' activities cease immediately and be replaced with 'work'.
No need to wait for me: please begin the book burnings at 7am sharp. I expect all authors, playwrights, musicians, sculptors, professional forum posters, comedians, dancers, movie directors, actors, lawyers, progamers, and athletes to be launched into orbit by noon.
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EPT
