I think one thing that is being lost is the idea of discomfort, or contrast. Think about how good it feels to go for a cool swim on a hot day. Or perhaps a warm shower after time in the brisk cold air? The satisfaction comes as a result of the discomfort. One follows the other.
I've long been a proponent for the idea of taking your hobbies outside of the digital world to something physical. So many programmers have Gaming, Twitch or more programming as hobbies. I think there's a rut that comes with distancing yourself from the physical world and I've long since believed the lacking element is "failure". To lose at a game is often just a state. You retry until you win, nothing is lost, perhaps time? Much of programming is similar, there's no risk to the failure of a buggy program. You debug and try again. But something physical has consequences. Using tools to build a cabinet shows you every shortcoming and every failure along the way. The result is not always perfect, but if it was something you poured heart and soul into it is loved despite the flaws.
Without the discomfort of failure. Of risk. Of stepping outside the comfort zone the reward is lessened. I've seen what I talk about summed up as urging people to "Create something, even if it is an experience for others" and I think that rings true to me most.
EDIT: I know others may poke holes in some of this. You can create things with programs. You can share experiences digitally. There's risk and loss in both, and that's true to an extent, but I'm a programmer first, perhaps a writer (ranter?) second so it's just difficult to articulate what the differences are. There's something physical missing from our lives when we center ourselves digitally and I think it's healthy to recognize that we're physical creatures still and need that "real" attachment to the world.
I was a gamer before I was a developer, tbh. I started with a CS elective in high school, because "If I'm going to be on the computer all day, why not make them work for me?", suffering GridWorld by day, and binging CoD most evenings. I was a C student, except for CS and some other things.
Less games interest me as I've gotten older. If they don't actively fill some enjoyable niche, have an element of challenge that feels satisfying to overcome, and/or involve my friends, then they don't get bought or played.
My last Rimworld game was laid to rest when I'd built a massive wall around my base. I realized that I'd achieved the 80 of 80/20, since I was now secure enough to do almost anything I wanted with 1/3rd of the map, while weathering the consequences of my colony's wealth factor counting all of the marble tiles I'd been putting in.
I can't play Minecraft anymore, and have not responded to MS's emails about account stuff. I get in, build my base, establish food and resource security with the tried-and-true-enough methods that are burned into my brain. Then, I raid caves until I start forgetting to log in. Like above.
Valorant is probably the only multiplayer game I'm willing to play with pure randos from the matchmaking servers. I can screw around and be aggro, or tactical and precise, and I sometimes play on the ranked ladder. It's not a very meaningful reward to explain to people, but it gives me a representation of "mastery" I can think about. It's also a mechanically precise game with a short feedback loop, which gives me a clear 'thing' to get good at. Like, bringing my crosshairs up by a millimeter may make me more effective, but I have to train myself into it.
But at $CURRENT_AGE, if I don't have personal contact with physical humans, my social perspective gets wonky, and I get antsy. I'd choose a real party over a Valorant party most of the time.
I've long been a proponent for the idea of taking your hobbies outside of the digital world to something physical. So many programmers have Gaming, Twitch or more programming as hobbies. I think there's a rut that comes with distancing yourself from the physical world and I've long since believed the lacking element is "failure". To lose at a game is often just a state. You retry until you win, nothing is lost, perhaps time? Much of programming is similar, there's no risk to the failure of a buggy program. You debug and try again. But something physical has consequences. Using tools to build a cabinet shows you every shortcoming and every failure along the way. The result is not always perfect, but if it was something you poured heart and soul into it is loved despite the flaws.
Without the discomfort of failure. Of risk. Of stepping outside the comfort zone the reward is lessened. I've seen what I talk about summed up as urging people to "Create something, even if it is an experience for others" and I think that rings true to me most.
EDIT: I know others may poke holes in some of this. You can create things with programs. You can share experiences digitally. There's risk and loss in both, and that's true to an extent, but I'm a programmer first, perhaps a writer (ranter?) second so it's just difficult to articulate what the differences are. There's something physical missing from our lives when we center ourselves digitally and I think it's healthy to recognize that we're physical creatures still and need that "real" attachment to the world.