[quote]
"An inferiority complex is a lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty, and feelings of not measuring up to society's standards. It is often subconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme asocial behavior. The term was coined to indicate a lack of covert self-esteem. For many, it is developed through a combination of genetic personality characteristics and personal experiences.
Classical Adlerian psychology makes a distinction between primary and secondary inferiority feelings.
A primary inferiority feeling is said to be rooted in the young child's original experience of weakness, helplessness and dependency. It can then be intensified by comparisons to siblings, romantic partners, and adults.
A secondary inferiority feeling relates to an adult's experience of being unable to reach a subconscious, fictional final goal of subjective security and success to compensate for the inferiority feelings. The perceived distance from that goal would lead to a negative/depressed feeling that could then prompt the recall of the original inferiority feeling; this composite of inferiority feelings could be experienced as overwhelming. The goal invented to relieve the original, primary feeling of inferiority which actually causes the secondary feeling of inferiority is the "catch-22" of this dilemma.[clarification needed] This vicious cycle is common in neurotic lifestyles.
Feeling inferior is often viewed as being inferior to another person, but this is not always the case in the Adlerian view. One often feels incompetent to perform a task, such as a test in school."[/quote]It never makes me feel good when I see my faults in the mirror.
Now, this is a time of reflection, but all of a sudden I am thinking of how this applies to gamers.
So, I revisited in my mind, a few of my original posts on this site, where I was trying to get to the root of "Games." Things like why people play games, or why people like or hate the games they like and hate. Perhaps it answers the question as to why people play games hours on end without ever going outside to see the sun?
I remember a snippet of a quote:
[quote]
"Games are a social pastime."[/quote]I went from this definition to the long entry on Personality Disorders. And I found more of myself, but I think I found a bit for just about everyone.
I believe games have always been about society. Chess being a prime example.
Humanity has gone through many social changes, and throughout there have been times of war, and times of peace.
But a lot of modern games don't reflect all of society. What or who do they reflect?
I think they reflect the personality disorders of the people behind them, who might represent some version of society filtered by their own personal experiences.
Or maybe a game like UNO has no meaning. Its just a social pastime that people do to pass the time.
A way for people to spend quality time together where a conversation nor a party is suitable.
I like that kind of game too, but sometimes I want to talk about the secret things in my heart.
A video game is just another medium. Where some people use paper and the pen to write, others use the pencil to draw, or the paintbrush to paint. Acting to portray, speaking to announce, computing to solve, peace to resolve, and violence to demand; we can use a game to express such things as are in ourselves.
