China Cures Internet Addiction

[Booze Zombie]

Of course China would say what it did is working, because it's what it did.
You wouldn't tell the world you just pissed off half of your economy.

Call me skepticical...

 

[Doug]

Well dur. China is a dictatorship state...

Actually, China is not a dictatorship like Cuba or North Korea. It is a one party system, but it has democratic elements. People can vote representatives, but they all belong to the communist party.

If that is dictatorship to you, keep in mind that the U.S. is a de-facto two party system where both parties follow a very similiar ideology. The way I see it, from a political standpoint, China isn't that different from the U.S., except that China has more laws restricting personal and economic freedoms.

In Germany, as in most other european countries, for example, we have a liberal, pro-economic party, a conservative party, a workers party, a socialist party, a green party and a few smaller ones. And all of these have a good chance of getting into parliament as long as they receive more than 5% of the vote.

I'm not a US citizen - UK - we have 2 main parties, at the moment, and a third who are becoming more popular. Add to that, we have dozens of smaller parties who often end up with a few seats in parliament.

And yeah, China isn't a one man dictatorship, but it is one regardless. One party, one way, no dissent tolerated or allowed to speak.

 

[Cousin_IT]

All hail the glorious peoples republic, whose benevolent & intelligent leaders have proved once again to succeed at dealing with the social evils of capitolism while embracing the market. I pray they seek the spread of their enlightenment to us poor wretched souls in the West. We are shackled to our office chairs infront of PCs by the evil ISP corporations, & must be liberated.

 

[kawligia]

I must say that I grudgingly agree with this measure. Playing games too much can indeed lead to the neglection of responsibilities, like school work. I know of at least one guy here at Penn State who ended up dropping out because he spent too much time playing Pokemon when he should have been studying.

I certainly enjoy gaming, but if I spend my whole day doing nothing else, I'll feel as though I just wasted an entire day. And I admit that when a game is getting really good, I find it extremely difficult to pull myself away from it, even when I know I should. Having a little timer saying that I need to stop would certainly be appreciated in those situations.

So...I guess that you could say that I'm in support of this measure by the Chinese government. A three hour time limit seems reasonable to me, it would allow one to enjoy the game for a decent amount of time, while still allowing time for other activities.

People who procrastinate, do it because of their own personalities. The things they do WHILE procrastinating don't cause the procrastination.

Example: I was not studying like I should have been earlier this semester b/c I was playing Fallout 3. Did I stop procrastinating when my hard drive crashed? No. I just started watching TV instead.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

bravo Chine, good job. you heed instruction well. now roll over and play dead.

 

[antipunt]

He has a good point though.

How? Those percentages he has given are ridiculous. Internet dependance causing crime? Quite hard to spray graffiti or steal when glued to a computer system. Unless he's suggesting that these kids are taking to the streets to fund their habit. And 90% of dropouts just being unable to cope with the demands of study and WoW? I had to check the date when I saw this article to make sure it wasn't April 1st.

Limits should be determined by responsible guardians (yes, those mythical beasts) who actually know their children.

you got it exactly right. Why is it parents have no accountability anymore? When did that change? My parents forced me to go play outside when it was a nice day out, does that still happen?

Regardless, I know China's dictatorship allows the gov't to meddle in the populations lives a lot more than a democracy, but I still don't see this as their responsibility to fix this addiction. Its not a horrible rule, but it is one that shouldn't even have to be there if parents would just start hitting their children again(figure of speech, don't hit your children).

I agree with you guys. Also:

In 2007, Chinese sociologist Tao Hongkai of the Huazhong Normal University claimed that 70 percent of juvenile delinquent behavior in China, and 90 percent of flunk-outs from Chinese colleges, WERE THE RESULT of internet addiction. He said online game companies are "bringing CALAMITY to the country and the people"...

For those of you who are Asian American, 'lmfao' yes? How much do these 'sociologists' sound like our Asian parents?.... (honestly)

 

[Sigenrecht]

Time to look elsewhere for gold. *packs up prospecting equipment, looks at Korean site*

 

[Andy Chalk]

I understand China has also made real progress on the problem of overcrowded public squares in parts of Beijing. Let's hear it for the triumph of civilized behaviour.

 

[captainwolfos]

I think more juvenile delinquency is caused by having nothing else to do rather than internet addiction.
And the internet 'addiction' shouldn't count for that many college drop outs, either, I don't think. I know a load of people who're dropping out of college next year purely because of the appauling standard of learning and overall poor quality of the college itself.

Call me biased, argumentative and/or completely in love with online gaming. I seriously don't think it has anything to do with the internet. And with that in mind, please take a look at other ridiculous studies including the one where Animal Crossing is a playground for paedophiles.

 

[Frizzle]

Time to look elsewhere for gold. *packs up prospecting equipment, looks at Korean site*

Haha I can't believe I had to wait till the 27th post to see this. That was one of the first things I though: "what about all those gold farmers? Is there an age restriction on that job now?".

I'm not exactly sure I agree with this. Though I'm more against the part where you have to log in with your official ID etc. Big Brother ftw....

 

[goodman528]

This is not such a bad idea.

 

[Legion]

Well it's hardly a "cure" for it. It doesn't mean it stops people wanting to play games more.

Banning somebody from getting alcohol doesn't stop them being an alcoholic (well eventually it might, but you see what I mean).

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

That's probably what it would take to get me offline. Of course I would probably just waste more time offline if my connection got yanked on a daily basis.

 

[Ago Iterum]

As much as I woudn't want this to happen, I know it would help me a lot. I'd finally get some coursework done, and get through the stack of books I've been buying and not having the time to read.

Bring it on.

 

[SmugFrog]

But, then again, if I've got a day off and my wife isn't bugging me then I'll spend more then 5 hours on XBL so...yeah.

Yeah your uh... gamerscore shows this. Just wait til the kids come, pal! Then maybe I'll have a chance to catch you.

 

[Liverandbacon]

While I don't think this will help "cure" addiction, it might lower the amount of gold farming. Since most gold farmers are based in China, a 5-hour limit would cripple their business.

 

[Zephyria]

While I don't think this will help "cure" addiction, it might lower the amount of gold farming. Since most gold farmers are based in China, a 5-hour limit would cripple their business.

Good point, i hadn't considered this. Which is a good thing. It wont 'cure' the addiction, just make a lot of Chinese pissed off when they hit their limits.

 

[Jeronus]

If you ask me, this will only lead to an increase in LARPing.

 

[mike1921]

Well dur. China is a dictatorship state...

Actually, China is not a dictatorship like Cuba or North Korea. It is a one party system, but it has democratic elements. People can vote representatives, but they all belong to the communist party.

If that is dictatorship to you, keep in mind that the U.S. is a de-facto two party system where both parties follow a very similiar ideology. The way I see it, from a political standpoint, China isn't that different from the U.S., except that China has more laws restricting personal and economic freedoms.
.

The most important thing if you ask me. I don't care how many parties China has as long as the citizens have rights.