Using Video Games to Cultivate Patience

This chapter argues that, despite appearances, video games provide fertile grounds for developing patience, at least in principle. Using the Buddhist concept of khanti , this chapter argues that there are deep parallels between Buddhist accounts of patience and recent philosophical work on striving play . Both practices require taking on a temporary desire that is ultimately jettisoned in order to make the practice possible in the first place. As a result of these parallels, playing video games provides low-stakes opportunities to practice the mindset that is foundational to cultivating patience. This account is amenable to neo-Aristotelian virtue approaches as well. This chapter defends the use of video games to develop patience from objections rooted in historical Buddhist suttas , as well as more contemporary worries for translating patience into everyday life.