What do people find so appealing about machine gambling that they become addicted? In her book, Natasha Dow Schull explores this in “Addiction by Design.”
Machine gambling, unlike chemical addictions, does not give anyone a “high.” Furthermore, contrary to what I expected, apparently the attraction has little to do with the thrill of taking a chance or the excitement of winning. People are not trying to get something for nothing. In fact, in advanced stages, addicts can find winning inconvenient. This is because the gambler suddenly has more money that they feel they feel compelled to feed the machine. At 3 a.m. this can be danged inconvenient.
It turns out that the appeal of machine gambling is getting in "the zone" with your machine. “The zone” is a state of focused attention wherein the rest of the world (and its intractable problems) recedes. It is a form of escape and there is a type of pleasure in being there - at least being there with the machine.
Apparently when you are in the zone, the other people gambling with you just disappear from your consciousness. Video footage of people who suffer heart attacks in casinos show other gamblers playing on as the person next to them slumps, and then as EMTs arrive, work on the poor soul, and then cart them off. The gamblers are in the zone. Oblivious to it all.
While subtle pleasures of “the Zone” doesn’t sound may not sound like much to me, people are loathe to break the spell. In fact, some gamblers so detest leaving their machines that they wear dark clothes so they can urinate on themselves and continue playing.
Casinos do their part to keep the action going. They constantly pump in fresh air, remove all clocks and indicators of the time of day (windows). They keep the decor bland, so people only notice the machines. They design the casino floor as a maze, full of nooks where people can feel safe mind-melding with their machine. Casinos even employ facial recognition technology so that when someone starts to leave, a machine with their favorite game will beckon them to play. The whole experience from the computer program to the parking lot is designed to keep people playing.
That’s where the money is....
There are so many things to say about this, but I will only note this: attention has important spiritual and moral dimensions.
