Story of Snowly

[Vegeta897]

So if you're addicted, anything you do as a result of that addiction is not your fault?

lol, well, anything related to the addiction. And it also depends on how addicted you are. And WHAT it is you are addicted to.

If someone got addicted to Heroin, and killed someone, I wouldn't have sympathy because they did something bad right off the bat (taking drugs), BEFORE they were even addicted to anything.

But something like playing an innocent video game, no, that is not her fault.

 

[JNightshade]

Not necessarily. If a crack addict made the decision to break into a car and steal a stereo, then he's responsible. The deciding factor here is that she DIDN'T make a decision- she just kept playing. She didn't actually say "you know what? I think I'm gonna ignore my bodily needs until I die". She just... kept playing. Not her fault.

 

[Neutrino]

So if you're addicted, anything you do as a result of that addiction is not your fault?

You get into a rather large ethical grey area when you analyze fault and addiction or more germane to the discussion, fault and mental illness. Fault implies responsibility, responsibility implies choice, and choice implies rationality. So if one is not rational, then how can they be held responsible for an action and thus how is it their fault? So in a sense, no it would not be their fault. However, you get into grey areas because it's difficult to define things like rational and irrational in black and white terms. Ethically, it also usually depends on how severe the action was and how that severity relates to the level of irrationality displayed by the person. You'd practically have to have a trained psychologist look as each person case by case, to determine fault.

However, think about the legal system. There's a reason we have an insanity plea.

 

[SimonomiS]

Not necessarily. If a crack addict made the decision to break into a car and steal a stereo, then he's responsible. The deciding factor here is that she DIDN'T make a decision- she just kept playing. She didn't actually say "you know what? I think I'm gonna ignore my bodily needs until I die". She just... kept playing. Not her fault.

But isn't it her fault for letting herself get that absorbed in the first place?

Either way I couldn't care less, what's happened has happened and placing the blame on someone or not pitying someone doesn't change that. I'm just interested in this addiction/responsibility debate.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well, with something as gradual as getting addicted to something like WoW, I don't think she could really tell when to stop. You know, it's all about getting that next level.
Which is kind of different than other addictions. With smoking for example, you don't feel the urge to 'complete' something, you can just not buy cigarettes.

 

[JNightshade]

Ok, fine. So it IS her fault that she let herself get addicted. I'll agree with you there. However, that doesn't mean her death is her own fault. I mean, if you choose to get into a car and drive, and you get hit by a bus and die, it's not your fault... you chose to drive, not to die.

EDIT: damnit Vegeta, STOP POSTING BEFORE ME!

 

[Vegeta897]

Who cares, we're all saying basically the same thing

 

[Neutrino]

Well, with something as gradual as getting addicted to something like WoW, I don't think she could really tell when to stop. You know, it's all about getting that next level.
Which is kind of different than other addictions. With smoking for example, you don't feel the urge to 'complete' something, you can just not buy cigarettes.

I think you bring up an excellent point, Namely, that there is "choice" before the addiciton or mental change and "choice" after that change takes place. In the case of highly addictive substances such as heroin if a person is aware of its addictive quality and decides to do the drug anyway, then it would seem they are responsible for the consequences. But there is a whole other category of addictions that are not nearly so obvious and many things do not appear addictive at face value. Very rarely does someone go into a situation with an awareness that they may become addicted.

For example, alcohol is addicting, but not immediately so and not in small quantities. One person may start drinking and never have a problem. Yet another person may start drinking and become an alcoholic. The addiction happens over a long period of time and is not even visible until it's well underway, in which case the person likely never even becomes aware of the addiction until they are fully addicted. And once fully addicted the addiction prevents them from making the choice to stop or more likely prevents them from even realizing they are addicted. Thus why many alcoholics can't admit that they are one.

In the same sense I doubt this girl was aware she was addicted.

Here's another way to look at it. One could say that humans base actions on needs and wants. Needs are physical based impulses such as the need to, hunger, thirst, the need for warmth, the need to sleep, etc. Wants are mentally based impulses such as the desire to ride a bike for example. In a sane person needs always supersede wants. Hunger and exhaustion, when they reach a stong enough level, are always going to overrule an emotional or mental desire. That's how the normal human body works.

So when an emotional or mental desire supersedes a physical need then obviously something in the mind/body system has gone wrong. Thus, there is a malfunction, or as we call it, an illness.

Edit:

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

Addiction is a compulsion to repeat a behaviour regardless of its consequences. A person who is addicted is sometimes called an addict.

Addiction is now narrowly defined as "uncontrolled, compulsive use despite harm"

Psychological addictions are a dependency of the mind, and lead to psychological withdrawal symptoms. Addictions can theoretically form for any rewarding behavior, or as a habitual means to avoid undesired activity, but typically they only do so to a clinical level in individuals who have emotional, social, or psychological dysfunctions, taking the place of normal positive stimuli not otherwise attained

 

[Angry Lawyer]

As a light-hearted aside, I once had an all-day bender on Ultima Online, opened a tin of hotdogs at lunch, and ate 8 of them, buns included. I couldn't move after that.

As for addiction, speaking from personal experience, seeing people around me watch their lives waste away due to them, I have to say that it's pretty distressing. But we don't get sympathy from you lot. Except Neutrino, but he's awesome. And Simonomis still owes me a trip to the strip club, so I let him off too.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[SimonomiS]

I thought you owed me a trip to a strip club, considering you're older. D:

*gets his fake beard and ID out*

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Damnit, turn 18 ands we'll LOOK AT SOME BOOBIES! D: D: D:

-Angry Lawyer

 

[JNightshade]

What about me?

 

[Greatgat]

What about me?

Looking at your posts is almost like looking at boobies. I'm not quite sure why, but everytime I see one something moves in my pants.

...why!?

 

[Angry Lawyer]

There's a hamster trapped in your pocket.

And Nightshade, you're living on a different continent to me, so no boobathon for you.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[JNightshade]

Well, I was in the UK once before, and I plan on going back. Anyway, let's steer this thread back on-track. Snowly's story is a sad one indeed.

 

[Sainku]

R.I.P



Maybe that 3 hours rule in china isn't such a bad idea for some people.
Existence>WoW

 

[joule]

AND THIS IS WHY WOW IS EVIL

SOLITAIRE FTWcvb

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

Oh look....another related death. WoW is taking over!
(May or may not be a true story)
http://www.phwonline.com/index.php?p=12&s=1&c=414