Why people become manchildren? Why do they play video games, watch anime, cosplay?

I've met some definite womenchildren in my time. They have no sense of responsibility, no sense of hygiene and think they can sing but they can't, so they go up on stage at the end of year talent show and butcher gay songs from video games

More single moms

>Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived

What you don't realize is that the age of the Child is the age of play, you dolt. The decadent institutions of the """"Enlightenment"""" are simply holding away the ultimate growth of spirit, the transcendence of the separation between art and life. We have finally reached the stage of pure bare life and yet your rotten western polis still manifests itself in holding us to our chains. Keep expecting your Crowley daddy to spank your fanny, you joyless cunt.

Is it Cro-lee or Krau-lee?

>Krau-lee

Social isolation into a lifetime of modern spectacle curation via internet.

I read this really good article about it, maybe 3 years ago, it was centered around Japan though not about hikikomoris. The reason people become "manchildren" is basically because people stopped caring about the "big important stuff", like getting a big house, a car, a fancy career, all that. Young people(the "manchildren") are opting out of that rat race because why bother? They get a job where they have to do just enough to get by and then do whatever they want™ with their free time. Now granted, this article wasn't exactly about people who are obsessed with games, animes, all that stuff, but just how young people in general seem to be moving away from those ideals their parents lived by.

'Modern'?
It is simple - they lack virtue. They have poor to no temperance, like young children. This makes them deficient in the other Virtues as well.

If you think reading Tolkien and/or ancient retards like Platon is any better I can't but feel pity for your meaningless existence.

the way i see it is if you didn't get a phd in computer science from stanford or an mba from wharton, you'll always be struggling to stay once step ahead of poverty, instead of running from poverty for the next 50 years, just accept it and enjoy what you can, no point in working yourself to death when you're locked out of ever achieving a good life

Shit's really going down the drain, in general.

yeah, i don't really play video games much, although i wish i could just be shameless and play cod or wow all day n shit, but i always feel like i could be reading something great instread...but at least in america, the middle class is getting hollowed out, the new republican replacement to obamacare is going to continue to redistribute wealth upwards, the new tax cuts for the rich will continue to send money to the top, oh and now they're saying when trump "renegotiates nafta" he's actually going to replace it with a tpp type regional treaty, not that hillary would have been better, i'm just saying, the class war is on and the one percent is fucking smoking the middle class, why bother and be productive for this shitheads? i work like 10-20 hours a week for a non-profit and that's enough to live, fuck it

No rite of passages anymore.

>i work like 10-20 hours a week for a non-profit and that's enough to live
That's the best way to live today honestly.

This, OP.

I would also add that, following other user's thesis, the disappearance of communities where religion is a social activity and the replacement of group play with individual play is making social milestones -- eg the simulation of romance in childhood, being invested in social standing, the prom date, graduation, college, etc -- less important to younger generations. So when you ask
>Why do they play video games, watch anime, cosplay?
I say because it is there. Televison and vidya are options that do not disappoint. They will never make fun of you, or expect anything from you, or shame you for failing to uphold your part in the community's procession into manhood. It is easier than dealing with humans, and this is crippling generations.

There is plenty of incentive to become one. The more time goes by, less people actually have to work towards any goal.

Your food is not grown by you, not processed by you, and sometimes not even bought by you, yet you consume it. And so is the case for most other things, including cultural and more abstract values. Let it sink in for a moment, that in most cases you don't "create" or "participate" or "engage" or any other way you want to call it, in the cultural movements of your community, you merely "consume" it, in the sense that you are a passive agent with a vicarious experience of what is going on at the time. Like all things, it is a market and your desires have all become a commodity to be bought or borrowed.

The difference from 'now' and 'before' however, is probably not in some kind of "decay of values". I think we have more or less the same views we ever had about the world (philosophy is very consistent in its themes and fundamental aspects across most times and cultures, for example), and what changed is actually something around us. I think that 'something' is the specific drive for loneliness that technology brings.People always had vicarious experiences to be had since the ancient theaters and since the most ancient musical performances, but up until recently it was all a collective act. You would go to the theater with your friends or partner and even going alone there would be others there anyway, to laugh, cry and give a sense of community close to you. Even if you spent time reading a book by yourself, you would at least talk about it to others and directly ask what they thought of it, or recommend it in case people did not know of what you were talking. Nowadays one does not really need, require or even desire company in their most humane activities. You read a book and want others to know about it? Go record yourself talking about it or post a review (no direct interaction). You want to watch something? Hop up on netflix. Want to play with others? Well you can play with their avatars in some MMO.

The consumerism of today is deeply lonely in this sense, and even where interactions occur, they are molded and intermediated by the consumption itself. There are complementary rules and formats to commenting reviews, to talking in-game, etc. that are not simply talking and touching and are technical rather than social customs. It all ends up constituting a downward spiral to childish behavior (lack of interpesonal skills and accountability), reinforcing the very consumerism that caused it, as this behavior is now the only thing you can engage in.

I think most modern philosophers derive their line of thinking about this from Marx, but I'm not the most scholarly person and also English is not my first language.

Real life can't compete with the escapism

Yeah, and it still wins in the end.

Wins what?

Breakdown of social bonds/family, consumerism, consumption of lots of food lol

How the fuck do you people live? I'm a loner in my 40s, never married and no kids. Still, I have an MS and a career that pays well. It's enough to afford a small house, decent car, and good food. I'm not a manchild because no one else will take care of me.
Although when I think about student debt and dollar devaluation, and how despite making a lot of money I'm barely ahead, sometimes I want to give it all up. But again, who would pay for me to live?

Like a brick wall wins a drunkard.

Do you have autism?

Escape from reality; refusal or disinterest to participate in life for varying reasons that compound upon one another.

The problem begins in early childhood.

European welfare kids, and americans in their moms basement. Although, I knew a fellow who lived with 4 roomies in a 3 bedroom in a shit town, and worked 25 hours a week as a night manager in mcdonalds, and played WoW the rest of the time he wasnt sleeping.

At this point, accusing others of autism has reached the status of escapism.

>40s

Therre's yer prahblem, user! The topic -- hikikomori and western shut-ins -- are younger than you. The oldest are maybe mid-30s and have parents who look after them. If you're in your 40s, you were not raised from infancy with vidya in the home. Going to arcades to play vidya was a social activity and an expression of your independence.

I would suggest you go back to Veeky Forums or reddit, but I know you'll be adamant about shitting up this place regardless.

If I was a complete bum they would kick me out. But since I have a part time job and go to university they tolerate it. I've saved up some money and hopefully in a year or so I'll be out of the basement and into some shitty apartment.

They're too chickenshit for drugs and alcohol. They need the balm of disposable pop culture as a substitute.

because technology is fine tuned to appeal to our baby senses. and humans didnt fine tune technology, it is a collective call for what we lost as humans, yet misplaced in materiality. tech and its implementation drove down a path of replicating what we once had innately and now forgotten.

Yeah, they call themselves "child free"

solid post. your writing is fine and very lucid so I wouldn't worry about the English thing.

>women are literally perfect beings, do NOT question them you virgin

Playing with plastic figures is no more absurd than throwing a ball through a hoop. Those who do the latter and make millions doing so actually have college degrees too.

>Why do they play video games
free and fast satisfying feel of accomplishment
>watch anime, cosplay?
distracting entertainment

life is hard and devoid of inherent meaning