Video games are actually a great example of things that train you to consider them fun.
I mean, they start out fun—not too easy, not too hard, often social or competitive in nature, and the action-based games probably stimulate a lot of the reward circuits intended to reward physical play without the constraints of physical bodies and the nagging instinct to stop moving around and wasting energy which constantly screams at all animals...
...and then they pile on the conditioning with randomized rewards, a flow of novelty, illusions of accomplishment, accelerating returns on investment… a well designed video game (by somewhat Unfriendly definitions of “well designed”) is such that the gamer’s passion for the game only deepens the longer they have been playing it.
You can’t beat videogames in terms of sheer dopamine hijacking and ability to induce flow—you have to beat it on a different plane. My advice is to consider the distinction between wanting and liking, and try to choose liking, try to focus on the real-ness of accomplishments of math (or whatever it is you really want to do), start and start noticing the rewards, accomplishments, and returns on investment in real life events, even if there is no in-game notification telling you to notice them. Mindfulness, gratitude, yada yada.
My final, most important advice is to start. Start doing math/target habit, and once you’re into it you get more into it. The thing about video games is that there is no initial exertion of willpower involved in starting—other activities are often equally fun but harder to start. I mean this in both the immediate sense, like jumping into a pool of cold water before having fun swimming, and the long term sense—as you do more and more math your skill-set expands, you hit the flow state faster, and your reward system gets sensitized to math because it has been trained to anticipate frequent rewards from that area.
(There are quite a few people who think things like video games/internet/porn and other addicting things do some sort of actual harm by altering dopamine circuitry in some way, although I don’t know if this is true. There’s always the whole “reward yourself with M&Ms / nicotine” route, although I don’t know if that’s effective either because I suspect the inner lizard brain is too smart for that. My other advice has been written by others—find things to make it fun, like adding competition or something—no sense writing more on that.)
I really like this advice, and this view of video games. It may help to think of gaming (along w/ other things) in the same way one thinks of recreational drug use (where, often times, you’ll get no “better” high from direct chemical stimulation).
I broadly agree with this. The basic recipe is to try and hit a “flow” state as quickly as possible. You can do this by (1) getting rid of unwanted distractions, and (2) fully immersing yourself in the mindset of whatever it is you’re doing, before actually tackling the hard work. One straightforward way of getting started on the latter if you’re prone to getting distracted is to reread introductory material on your field, even if you’re already familiar with it. Introductions are often light on cognitive load and written to be mildly engaging, so they’re the closest thing there is to a “fun start”.
Video games are actually a great example of things that train you to consider them fun.
I mean, they start out fun—not too easy, not too hard, often social or competitive in nature, and the action-based games probably stimulate a lot of the reward circuits intended to reward physical play without the constraints of physical bodies and the nagging instinct to stop moving around and wasting energy which constantly screams at all animals...
...and then they pile on the conditioning with randomized rewards, a flow of novelty, illusions of accomplishment, accelerating returns on investment… a well designed video game (by somewhat Unfriendly definitions of “well designed”) is such that the gamer’s passion for the game only deepens the longer they have been playing it.
You can’t beat videogames in terms of sheer dopamine hijacking and ability to induce flow—you have to beat it on a different plane. My advice is to consider the distinction between wanting and liking, and try to choose liking, try to focus on the real-ness of accomplishments of math (or whatever it is you really want to do), start and start noticing the rewards, accomplishments, and returns on investment in real life events, even if there is no in-game notification telling you to notice them. Mindfulness, gratitude, yada yada.
My final, most important advice is to start. Start doing math/target habit, and once you’re into it you get more into it. The thing about video games is that there is no initial exertion of willpower involved in starting—other activities are often equally fun but harder to start. I mean this in both the immediate sense, like jumping into a pool of cold water before having fun swimming, and the long term sense—as you do more and more math your skill-set expands, you hit the flow state faster, and your reward system gets sensitized to math because it has been trained to anticipate frequent rewards from that area.
(There are quite a few people who think things like video games/internet/porn and other addicting things do some sort of actual harm by altering dopamine circuitry in some way, although I don’t know if this is true. There’s always the whole “reward yourself with M&Ms / nicotine” route, although I don’t know if that’s effective either because I suspect the inner lizard brain is too smart for that. My other advice has been written by others—find things to make it fun, like adding competition or something—no sense writing more on that.)
I really like this advice, and this view of video games. It may help to think of gaming (along w/ other things) in the same way one thinks of recreational drug use (where, often times, you’ll get no “better” high from direct chemical stimulation).
I broadly agree with this. The basic recipe is to try and hit a “flow” state as quickly as possible. You can do this by (1) getting rid of unwanted distractions, and (2) fully immersing yourself in the mindset of whatever it is you’re doing, before actually tackling the hard work. One straightforward way of getting started on the latter if you’re prone to getting distracted is to reread introductory material on your field, even if you’re already familiar with it. Introductions are often light on cognitive load and written to be mildly engaging, so they’re the closest thing there is to a “fun start”.