View Full Version : Are video games a cause of the violence?
Mauser KAR98K
03-18-13, 00:32
I ask this because of an Op-Ed I skimmed through that has "researchers" saying the violent video games do not lead to aggressions, or that there are no "scientific proof" that video games lead to violence.
http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2020569751_jarednieuwenhuisopedxml.html
Then explain to me Jonesboro, Arkansas? Explain to me Paducah, KY in 1997? Explain Adam Lanza and his trove of video games in his room?
Violent video games may not necessarily lead to aggression, but as David Grossman pointed out in On Combat, they do teach killing. He calls them "Mass Murder Simulators." Carneal, the shooter in Paduch, was 8 for 8. 8 shot, 8 hits. As Grossman described, Carneal had no real firearms training, but he was an avid first person shooter at the time. The only firearms training he had was the day before the shooting when he shot through two magazines through the gun he had just stolen.
The other thing to point out is that these games are creating a "high score" effect on these mass shooters, killing as many people as they can to get the highest possible score, the winner getting their face on Time Magazine.
Then there is Lanza. Lanza was reported to have changed magazines during his mass murder spree, only firing 15 rounds in some mags before changing out. As was reported, this is a "gamers" tactic: reloading right after a kill, or before going in to another room. Granted, through many tactical schools, during a lull in the gun fight, top off the weapon. But this was very different. And where did Lanza learn to do that? I'm leaning on games with maybe some youtube commando training (or the bit torrents of Magpul Dynamics...yes, they are out there). But there is only two ways he learned how to do that in a repetitive motion: either practicing with the actual firearm several times--and by some accounts, Mom kept the AR locked up--or through the games.
Granted, I love FPS like the next guy. I use them to have fun but also train on the cheap side. I will not get weapons manipulation down, recoil management, or proper shooting positions ingrained in me without having hands on and repetitive practice. I do, however, gain reaction, shoot/no-shoot, understanding sight picture, and minor tactics like when to top off mags. And those skills are the big fundamentals in shooting to start with, and the most cruical
If any of you all play Call of Duty and the like, they show how to manipulate the weapon from changing the magazine, to pressing the release button. Americas Army, a FREE FPS sponsored by the U.S. Army actually goes down to the charging handle, SPORTS, and marksman skills. With a little Youtubing from other Internet commandos, you can achieve the basic software to run the hardware at a basic level. With unarmed targets that do not shoot back, and a multitude of them, the impact is limitless, even with a 1911 and a bag of several 7 round magazines; or a revolver. Shooting the teacher in a room full of kindergardners, or 4th graders will zap all motivation to tackle the gun man when they are reloading. The heard mentality will take over and it is the most lethal component in these situations.
The gun lobby does not have the power that the Media and the left would like people to think. It is the Entertainment industry and Big Pharma that has the power and money. We have not heard zip about the meds the shooters were on before their sprees. And now video games are not the answer. From the article posted, they are looking in the wrong damn place. Anybody can be aggressive. Teaching them how to channel that is what is attributing to the mass killings. Not to mention Gun Free Zones; sheep pastures where sheepdogs are prohibited from bringing their teeth.
Last note to point out: Lanza shoot those kids multiple times, with some reports saying over ten times. How many shoots do most CoD games need to take down other players?
That is the same conclusion Norwegian researchers have reached.
Saying that video games cause violence is akin to saying that guns cause violence. If you look at it statistically, the ratio of non-killers who play video games to killers who play video games is greatly favoring the non-killers. It is not possible to say that a person playing a violent computer game has an X percent chance of going ballistic at one point in his life.
I would say that blaming video games is taking focus away from the real issue; mental health.
Those cases are where video games can compound whatever issues the individual has. If a person is undiagnosed with say "antisocial personality disorder", an environment where that individual stays isolated from society playing games, receiving social stimulus not experienced in his outside life and so forth, is not healthy for that individual. There might also be several other conditions as well, such as anxiety, depression and so forth.
As has been stated in these discussions before, many people close to the perpetrators of these incidents (parents, friends, teachers) have more than likely seen indicators that would have caused a psychologist or psychiatrist to react. That is also the problem, laymen aren't qualified to analyse behavioral signs in people, and very few parents, siblings etc would readily think or admit that someone close to them is probably a danger to society.
The guy you referenced in Paducah, Michael Carneal, suffered from paranioa, diagnosed after the fact. The shooters in Jonesboro seems to have had some issues as well.
domestique
03-18-13, 03:00
I feel the bigger issue is in the home, and kids being raised without morals, without a sense of ownership for their actions and without a strong male influence in their lives.
Video games are not the only thing to be balmed but every venue of mass media. The current graduating seniors are exposed to over 18,000 murders by the time they reach the age of 18 (TV, video games, movies, music etc.). That level of desensitization can only have a negative effect on an individual.
I remember being a child and when I shot my first rabbit (around the age of 5 or 6) and the importance my dad put into the power that a firearm has and the responsibility we have when it comes to living creatures. I’m afraid that many of the youth of this current generation do not share that same respect for life and just think you can get a “do over” by hitting the reset button or waiting until the next re-spawn.
The problem is people often confuse correlation with causation. Let's assume every mass murderer since the 90s plays many hours of violent video games on a daily basis. Can you assume that video games cause mass murder? No, because millions of people play those games and do not commit mass murder. But there is correlation, so what is the relationship? People predisposed to mass murder are drawn to violent video games. One doesn't cause the other, but a third variable (mental illness of the sort and severity to create a mass murderer) leads to both.
Also, the only video games I've ever seen to teach real world skills are certain racing games (not arcade racers like GTA or NFS) and certain flight simulators, and both only if you have the proper equipment like a wheel, pedals, sticks, throttle, etc. And even then, it's much more effective if you race or fly in the real world first and use games to keep sharp rather than learning the skill from the video game itself.
Everything you can learn about shooting from a video game you can learn better from YouTube or a Google search.
Funny story, in Counter Strike 1.6, to charge the M4, you pull on the forward assist, which is located on the left side of the weapon.
http://m.ign.com/videos/2013/01/11/game-scoop-why-the-game-violence-conversation-is-important
Ok I have played just about every FPS under the sun since I was old enough to hold a controller. Too blame video games entirely is just crazy but if you look at violent video game they are rated age appropriate. So to all of the parents that are letting tshirt young children play a game meant for 18 year olds and above I say that they are a bigger concern than the game itself. A lot of parents don't look at anything they just buy it and shove their kids off to their rooms to play a game for days without actually seeing what they are playing. Plain and simple it's a baby sitter for them.
polymorpheous
03-18-13, 04:37
Schools, television, Internet, and video games are raising our children.
Parents are not.
The answer doesn't need to be anymore complicated than that.
Failure2Stop
03-18-13, 05:44
Schools, television, Internet, and video games are raising our children.
Parents are not.
The answer doesn't need to be anymore complicated than that.
Agreed.
Typos brought to you via Tapatalk and autocorrect.
Bolt_Overide
03-18-13, 06:13
Personally, I believe it is a combination of lack of moral fiber being taught at home, school, and in society in general. Nothing is taboo, or wrong anymore.
Add to that this crap of we are all special little flowers, and the are no winners and losers, and you get people who get VERY disappointed with reality when they are finally forced to face it.
Schools, television, Internet, and video games are raising our children.
Parents are not.
The answer doesn't need to be anymore complicated than that.
That's the issue. Instill a moral code, responsibility, and respect for others...and viola...your young man doesn't grow up to be a doucherocket.
theblackknight
03-18-13, 10:39
I never read any info from grossman that shows a demonstratable correlation between vigga games and mass shooters.
PBS has a show on youtube that is pretty good on the subject, just watched it last night night. The highest demographic for mass shooters are young males with a history of aggression and and depression with a paranoid world view who have the feeling that no one takes notice of there problems. They'd rather go out as somebody then continue to live as a nobody.
sent from mah gun,using my sights
Instill a moral code, responsibility, and respect for others...and viola...your young man doesn't grow up to be a doucherocket.
I agree, and this is very difficult to do when your teenager spends hours alternating between web porn and World of Warcraft. Parenting requires a high level of attendance.
One of the things I have been learning about the human brain as part of information theory is we WANT an explanation. Explanations make things easier to understand and even store in our brain--especially for highly "improbable" events like mass shootings. The truth is complex and hard to understand--it is easy to "blame" video games. Just as you ask explain X, Y, and Z: Explain all the shooters who DIDN'T play "violent" video games. What about all of us that DO play games but don't shoot up schools. What makes the difference between "normal" people and lunatics who commit crimes.
For some insight into how our brain works with regards to information and facts, I recommend reading the following book (Now I didn't start reading this book because of mass shooting, but for dealing with "disasters" in process controls and how we deal with statistics and information (which is my line of work), but the overlap in incredible and the insight into how and WHY our brains work this way is very insightful.):
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
(Black Swan is a reference that ALL data (8000 years of recorded western history) prior to the discovery of Australia/New Zealand was that ALL swans were white--until they discovered black swans "Down Under"--and what that means for logic and how we reach conclusions).
MountainRaven
03-18-13, 11:38
I want to know what vidja garmes Charles Whitman and Andrew Kehoe played.
Belmont31R
03-18-13, 11:39
Like anything else moderation and making better decisions about how you raise your kids does a lot more than blaming something. These games all have age ratings on them, and if you buy a game for a kid with an age rating twice as old as they are, and let them play it all day long for a week straight then that is not the game's fault.
For some reason we have this infatuation with pinning the blame on something, and then trying to ban it. We never address the root cause or accept that sometimes bad shit just happens, and we can never completely do away with risk or stop mentally ill people from acting out.
I expose my kids to a lot of technology and they have video games they enjoy. But we don't replace parenting or doing other things for it. It doesn't rule their lives. They are six, and I found a good program for teaching kids how to write computer code. We live in a technological world now, and our kids need to learn how to use it as well as how it works. There are a ton of older people who can barely do more than hit the on/off button and peck at the keyboard.
So with this violence and video games thing... Is life imitating art or is art imitating life? This question isn't a new one, it's simply a different media.
The main difference, as has already been pointed out is that parents aren't really parents anymore. They're just the people who keep the feed trough full and the lights on. Many kids nowadays have next to zero "responsibilities" and next to zero accountability. I know that I was too busy to get into trouble when I was a kid, and that was by my parents design... as actual "parents".
Look at nearly every aspect of our lives these days. Everything is focused around faster, faster, faster. Instant meals means less invested time to prepare them, DVR means you don't have to wait to watch something when you want to watch it, DSL means anything you want to see can be seen in seconds.
I think if we got a little further away from the instant gratification complex, the world would be a better place. (as I type this on a computer, connected to the internet and post it immediately :D )
Saying that any phenomena has one cause is a logical mistake, wanting to take the easy intellectual route.
There are likely many causes. I think video games might desensitize a person who already has something wrong in their brain, but do they "cause violence," probably not.
Contributing factors could include...
violence in the media
violence in video games (different than the media because the person participates)
the hero/anti-hero way the media portays the perpetrators
psychotropic drugs
the alienation many people feel in a more crowded society
the lack of effective parenting
the lack of effective schooling
All of these are of different importance to different people, and most people are exposed to all of these things yet only 0.000001% of us ever commit these atrocious acts
after playing Grand Theft Auto I could not stop beating up hookers... Oh wait.. No I didn't
Come on guys, you don't really buy this crap do you?
Video games are not a cause of violence.
They may, however, be contributing factors. Someone who is already predisposed to this behavior (whether due to drugs, biology, or whatever other reasons) probably finds "encouragement" through violent video games. They may learn skills useful to such behavior, and seek the "glory" found in the game. It may desensitize the person some as well.
But the game is not the cause. The game did not make the person predisposed to violence in the first place.
---
Gutshot John
03-18-13, 14:33
Overwhelming majority of people that play video games, even violent ones, are decent, normal, people. Video games are not just for kids. Lots of murders are committed by people who play video games.
The overwhelming majority of people that own firearms, even scary "assault style" weapons, are decent, normal, people. Guns aren't just for scumbags. Lots of murders are committed by people who don't own guns.
The overwhelming majority of single parents, even in poor communities, are decent, normal people, who raise decent normal kids. Lots of murders are committed by kids from affluent, two parent households.
Putting the onus of criminal behavior on a video game, or a gun, or lack/lot of religion, parenting is equally nonsense.
Some people are just broken, they are responsible for their own decisions. Looking for some reason why they do what they do, is fruitless.
Thinking it will go away if we just didn't have video games, or single parent households etc...is no different than those that think it will go away if we just get rid of guns.
Or lets put it this way--I've played Pong all my life and still can't hit a ball!
Seeing patterns versus CONFIRMing patterns.
A majority of these shooters are young white males loners as well. But we don't ask the important question, what "makes" an individual do this kind of thing or even more importantly could we even tell to begin with? We all assume that their is a cause AND that the cause can be known. That is not necessarily a safe assumption.
platoonDaddy
03-18-13, 15:38
Well here is one "gamer' who didn't want to give up his points!
****************
The New York Daily News reports that an obsessive Adam Lanza produced a spreadsheet 7 feet long and 4 feet wide in tiny 9-point font that required a special printer on past mass killings and attempted murders.
“They don’t believe this was just a spreadsheet. They believe it was a score sheet,” the unidentified career cop told Lupica. “This was the work of a video gamer, and that it was his intent to put his own name at the very top of that list. They believe that he picked an elementary school because he felt it was a point of least resistance, where he could rack up the greatest number of kills. That’s what (the Connecticut police) believe.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/18/sandy-hook-gunman-reportedly-compiled-massive-spreadsheet-on-previous-killings/
Rmplstlskn
03-18-13, 16:14
I think violent video games help TRAIN unbalanced, at risk kids to be more deadly in planning and action when they do seperate from morality and conscience...
Military knows how effective of a training aid some are...
Rmpl
I ask this because of an Op-Ed I skimmed through that has "researchers" saying the violent video games do not lead to aggressions, or that there are no "scientific proof" that video games lead to violence.
http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2020569751_jarednieuwenhuisopedxml.html
Then explain to me Jonesboro, Arkansas? Explain to me Paducah, KY in 1997? Explain Adam Lanza and his trove of video games in his room?
Violent video games may not necessarily lead to aggression, but as David Grossman pointed out in On Combat, they do teach killing. He calls them "Mass Murder Simulators." Carneal, the shooter in Paduch, was 8 for 8. 8 shot, 8 hits. As Grossman described, Carneal had no real firearms training, but he was an avid first person shooter at the time. The only firearms training he had was the day before the shooting when he shot through two magazines through the gun he had just stolen.
The other thing to point out is that these games are creating a "high score" effect on these mass shooters, killing as many people as they can to get the highest possible score, the winner getting their face on Time Magazine.
Then there is Lanza. Lanza was reported to have changed magazines during his mass murder spree, only firing 15 rounds in some mags before changing out. As was reported, this is a "gamers" tactic: reloading right after a kill, or before going in to another room. Granted, through many tactical schools, during a lull in the gun fight, top off the weapon. But this was very different. And where did Lanza learn to do that? I'm leaning on games with maybe some youtube commando training (or the bit torrents of Magpul Dynamics...yes, they are out there). But there is only two ways he learned how to do that in a repetitive motion: either practicing with the actual firearm several times--and by some accounts, Mom kept the AR locked up--or through the games.
Granted, I love FPS like the next guy. I use them to have fun but also train on the cheap side. I will not get weapons manipulation down, recoil management, or proper shooting positions ingrained in me without having hands on and repetitive practice. I do, however, gain reaction, shoot/no-shoot, understanding sight picture, and minor tactics like when to top off mags. And those skills are the big fundamentals in shooting to start with, and the most cruical
If any of you all play Call of Duty and the like, they show how to manipulate the weapon from changing the magazine, to pressing the release button. Americas Army, a FREE FPS sponsored by the U.S. Army actually goes down to the charging handle, SPORTS, and marksman skills. With a little Youtubing from other Internet commandos, you can achieve the basic software to run the hardware at a basic level. With unarmed targets that do not shoot back, and a multitude of them, the impact is limitless, even with a 1911 and a bag of several 7 round magazines; or a revolver. Shooting the teacher in a room full of kindergardners, or 4th graders will zap all motivation to tackle the gun man when they are reloading. The heard mentality will take over and it is the most lethal component in these situations.
The gun lobby does not have the power that the Media and the left would like people to think. It is the Entertainment industry and Big Pharma that has the power and money. We have not heard zip about the meds the shooters were on before their sprees. And now video games are not the answer. From the article posted, they are looking in the wrong damn place. Anybody can be aggressive. Teaching them how to channel that is what is attributing to the mass killings. Not to mention Gun Free Zones; sheep pastures where sheepdogs are prohibited from bringing their teeth.
Last note to point out: Lanza shoot those kids multiple times, with some reports saying over ten times. How many shoots do most CoD games need to take down other players?
No, not the cause.
A contributor.
theblackknight
03-18-13, 19:54
I'm 26, dont play video games or own a secksbox or PS11, but video games already have a rating system that only the responsible people will consider in the 1st place. While vibia games might be something that pushes a crazy past crazy, that's really all some people are waiting for, is a push. It could come from anything. So keep your hands off bideo games,thanks bro.
Oh, and btw, mass shootings on school grounds were happening before the 1st personal computer was even around.
http://cache0.bdcdn.net/assets/images/book/medium/9781/5744/9781574410297.jpg
Are video games a cause of the violence?
Cause? No.
Influence? Yes.
The only thing this tells me is that people who are ****ed up in the head are prone to do ****ed up things.
Look at how popular these "violent games" are. They're all over the place. I am part of the same generation that Lanza belonged to, and many of my peers have been playing these games for like about half their lives. If violent video games really did cause more people to murder, there would have been a whole shitload of carnage by now.
But that kid did those acts because he wasn't right in the head. I think that even if one makes the argument that he "borrowed" strategies from games, that still doesn't make it the games fault. After all, he could just as likely borrowed a strategy elsewhere.
Correlation does not imply causation.
I think violent video games help TRAIN unbalanced, at risk kids to be more deadly in planning and action when they do seperate from morality and conscience...
Military knows how effective of a training aid some are...
Rmpl
I have to agree. Video games are like a combat simulator and without parental guidance can train a troubled kid to carry out an attack. The people I know who argue against this theory the most are friends of mine who own thousands of dollars worth of video gaming equipment.
Gutshot John
03-18-13, 21:47
Comparing the technology and programming differences between what occurs in a video game and what occurs in a combat simulator are vastly different things. Any similarities are purely cosmetic. You aren't going to learn to shoot, you aren't going to learn any tactics, and the physics of gameplay do not lend themselves in any meaningful way.
The AI that governs the targets is neither realistic nor useful in any meaningful way to tactically plan a school shooting. They don't know fear, they don't react to being shot at, they don't stop coming, they're just bits and pixels.
Weak minds that are unable to form meaningful connections escape into fantasy realms where they are kings of their domain. Video games, comic books, Dungeons and Dragons etc, barn dances...all trouble and that starts with "T' and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool. :blink:
If you can no longer distinguish between reality and that fantasy, guess what? you're a ****ing whackjob.
Don Robison
03-18-13, 22:31
I did a bunch of research for an article last year and what I saw was that school shootings aren't a new phenomena; they have happened since before we were a country. The number of school shootings has stayed relatively consistent from the 50's up through current times with each decade adding 1-2 more and a slight spike in reporting following the advent of 24 hour news programming in the early 80's.
My personal opinion is that some people are just wired wrong and would do this stuff no matter what they were shown or who raised them.
Just a bit of school shooting trivia, the first one reported was in 1764, four Lanape Indians shot and killed 9-10 students and a teacher near present day Greencastle PA.
MountainRaven
03-18-13, 22:32
I have to agree. Multigun competition is like a combat simulator and can train a troubled kid to carry out an attack. The people I know who argue against this theory the most are friends of mine who own thousands of dollars worth of firearms
Fixed for irony.
That's the issue. Instill a moral code, responsibility, and respect for others...and viola...your young man doesn't grow up to be a doucherocket.
Yep. I can't tell you how many model ships met their demise in the creek on the golf course courtesy of some M80s I scrounged. The number of Army men who died with honor and valor courtesy of a can of WD-40 and a lighter in my hands were legion. Yet did I ever want to go on a rampage? Why? because I was raised right by involved, though screwed up in other ways, parents and I had role models.
Contributory factor of violence? Yes, under some circumstances. Causal factor? No.
Also more is coming out about Lanza and all I'm going to say is this was incident was entirely preventable had the appropriate interventions occurred in the past and if the mental health system wasn't in complete shambles.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lupica-lanza-plotted-massacre-years-article-1.1291408
Belmont31R
03-19-13, 02:26
I saw that tidbit about his spread sheet.
I have no idea how his mother never noticed that. Never cleaned his room or looked into doing what he was doing?
Sad that ****ed up situation is the catalyst to lose our rights. Because mommy was taking mentally ill son to the range who was compiling a 7x4ft detailed document on mass murders, and no one took the care to see what little demon spawn was being brewed in their basement.
History:
Send millions off to war, hundreds of thousands died for us and our freedom.
Raise little demon spawn in basement...lose entire amendment in the BOR.
:blink:
I blame chicks that don't put out.
Parents today have put the majority of parenting off to television, video games, media etc. When something goes wrong they just go blame those things other than their lack of guidance. It has become the American way in sorts. No responsibility. There is no longer mentorship, morals, values, boundaries, discipline being instilled. Parents have passed those things off. If their kid is successful they take all credit but if their kid is a **** up, failure, criminal or any of the sort they put the blame anywhere but upon themselves. It is a damn shame.
I don't see media, games, movies, any of that as a contributing factor to violence but if someone has a mental health issue known or unknown those things will not help and could possibly make things worse. I think people with mental health issues need professional help and guidance as well as strong support from their surrounding family and friends. Access to those things should be monitered and avoided until they are shown to be healthier. I don't see them as an issue to someone who does not have health issues. Stronger steps and training need to be taken to better identify mental health issues.
I look at video games etc. sort of as todays version of previous times witches, evil people etc. They want to put the blame on something they don't understand or don't want to understand, and refuse to take responsibility.
I want my money back--Video games didn't help me for squat with my ability to do trigger control, reloads, failure manipulation, or group size.
C'mon people with the number of people here who both claim to play video games and be shooters--I know NOTHING transfers from video to real life for me any more than WII bowling helps my real-life bowling or WII golf helps my golf game. (Unless BCM has that new mouse and keyboard VFG).
Seriously either you guys aren't shooting or you aren't playing video games or you aren't thinking.
Failure to parent is the most significant factor in school shooting incidents. Intense exposure to violent video games without social interaction with peers and behavioral control medications (often not necessary) prescribed to problem children are contributory factors.
There is no easy solution. Parenting is a difficult task that cannot be ignored. I have never heard anyone say that being a parent was suppose to be easy. Anyone who has not been living under a rock can tell how much time has been invested in parenting a child by observing how the child behaves and interacts with other children.
Gutshot John
03-19-13, 11:09
Failure to parent is the most significant factor in school shooting incidents.
That I agree with.
I blame chicks that don't put out.
I laughed at your diagnosis of lackanookine, but I also think it may be a valid contributing factor. How many of these guys may be sexually frustrated on top of everything else and how does that contribute, if at all, to their behaviors?
Like suicide bombing, being Muslim doesn't mean you're a suicide bomber, but suicide bombers do tend to be mostly Muslims right now.
http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn/200908/sex-and-violence
http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2006/feb/25/terrorism.comment
Moose-Knuckle
03-19-13, 17:19
No it's not the shooter games. It's those evil baby killing assault rifles and those high capacity clips that make these poor bullied, misunderstood, and disenfranchised youth go on all the killing sprees. Just like those 32oz sodas and cheap cigarillos cause death and destruction all over NYC.
I laughed at your diagnosis of lackanookine, but I also think it may be a valid contributing factor. How many of these guys may be sexually frustrated on top of everything else and how does that contribute, if at all, to their behaviors?
So if we just legalized prostitution...
Humans have been violent since forever. For some its just wired in there, like schizophrenia or heart disease. Contributing factors through life also play an important role.
Moose-Knuckle
03-19-13, 18:24
Humans have been violent since forever. For some its just wired in there, . . .
Bingo!
If they weren't killing each other with evil black assault rifles they would be reverting back to large rocks and pointy sticks.
Failure2Stop
03-19-13, 18:30
Humans have been violent since forever. For some its just wired in there, like schizophrenia or heart disease. Contributing factors through life also play an important role.
Violence is coded into our DNA.
We are the children of victors.
Maybe violent video games are an outlet for the desire to win in a violent encounter, like contact sports or action movies that most people will not be able to satisfy in daily life.
Maybe we should stop judging entertainment and take a hard look into the mirror.
Typos brought to you via Tapatalk and autocorrect.
I personally think video games prevent more crime than they cause.
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
So if we just legalized prostitution...
Yep. Possibly another piece of the puzzle
I don't believe violent video games have anything to do with mass shootings.
However:
This was in poor taste, and I found myself feeling dirty while playing it. (Which was the point. To make the player emotionally invested in the game; drive the realism to 11)
http://youtu.be/EmWQn6LFhzg
It would probably be a good idea if game developers never do this kind of thing again. (Put players in a purposeful mass slaughter of civilians, as opposed to a game like GTA, where if the player mass slaughters civilians, it was entirely their choice and the game in no way set it up that way)
Violence is coded into our DNA.
We are the children of victors.
Maybe violent video games are an outlet for the desire to win in a violent encounter, like contact sports or action movies that most people will not be able to satisfy in daily life.
Maybe we should stop judging entertainment and take a hard look into the mirror.
Typos brought to you via Tapatalk and autocorrect.
Truth my friend, truth.
Like suicide bombing, being Muslim doesn't mean you're a suicide bomber, but suicide bombers do tend to be mostly Muslims right now.
http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn/200908/sex-and-violence
http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2006/feb/25/terrorism.comment
That is really a fascinating population to research since their are so many potential explanations as to why someone would may be motivated to engage in that type of behavior or to engage in terrorism in general. Be it drive theory, social learning, etc or another combination of biopsychosocial factors. Problem is their is real dearth of data on these types of persons and for obvious reasons but for the longest time it was touted that would be suicide bombers suffered from some sort of severe psychopathology but in reality that just isn't the case.
Quick aside two great texts on the subject include the following (both of which were core texts in one of my grad classes):
http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Terrorism-Bruce-Bongar/dp/0195172493
The second is The Psychology of Terrorism by Randy Borum (in PDF format)
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/208552.PDF
MountainRaven
03-20-13, 01:01
Violence is coded into our DNA.
We are the children of victors.
Maybe violent video games are an outlet for the desire to win in a violent encounter, like contact sports or action movies that most people will not be able to satisfy in daily life.
Maybe we should stop judging entertainment and take a hard look into the mirror.
Typos brought to you via Tapatalk and autocorrect.
I once read a theory, I forget where, that why our society seems to be more violent (or more accurately, that incidents of mass violence appear to have increased, even as overall violence has fallen) is simply a by-product of the fact that those with sociopathic tendencies toward violence had many more socially acceptable outlets for those tendencies then they do now. And that it is possible or even likely that something like 1-in-3 people, maybe more, have a certain amount of those sociopathic tendencies.
I once read a theory, I forget where, that why our society seems to be more violent (or more accurately, that incidents of mass violence appear to have increased, even as overall violence has fallen) is simply a by-product of the fact that those with sociopathic tendencies toward violence had many more socially acceptable outlets for those tendencies then they do now. And that it is possible or even likely that something like 1-in-3 people, maybe more, have a certain amount of those sociopathic tendencies.
Fwiw Psychopathy and its associated characteristics would probably be more appropriate descriptors as these are the ones most pervasive in individuals with antisocial personality disorder. Sociopaths take things to the far extreme and do so all the time and are on the far end of the spectrum in terms of antisocial behavior. Psychopathy is really interesting stuff though and underpins a lot of current criminological research and theory.
For reference:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12108763
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/ali.al-roubaie/hpdocs/dnload/schletz/daly1997.pdf
The second article may more relevant to what your referencing since it frames the discussion by suggesting psychological processes are subject to evolutionary changes over time. As to the first article I have a copy of the first article I linked to if anyone wants it, its a good read.
1) Some people are more violent than others.
2) It is a parent's responsibility to raise and monitor their children.
Here's a newsflash for the so-called experts. Humans are violent by nature and have been for thousands of years. The real issue is that some people have mental issues and they are unable to deal with whatever life issues they have (had) and they act on those tendencies. JMHO.
I agree completely with the view that humans are violent. That is a fact of life. The problem with violent videogames is that the violence is designed to be either life-like or super-reality, but there are no consequences to it. No pain, no real blood, no smell of death, no legal issues, no crying families, no dead or injured guy next to you, etc. It creates an unrealistic view of the world if you are a typical disconnected 11th place trophy winning kid today raised by the ("it takes a..") village and the TV set.
The source of this problem is the idiot "progressives" that try to neuter everything. I have a toddler and my wife had me start looking at pre-schools the other day. My wife got a brochure from one that gave a bunch of "zero tolerance" things that would lead to expulsion. Top of the list is fighting. Now as a male, I understand that a fight between other males is a normal part of growing up. Many lifelong friends were first playground opponents where you would fight a little, then get tired or fighting, then go play as friends. This is (was...) a normal part of growing up. Through the process, you learn that if you hit someone and they hit you, it hurts. So you learn that violent actions have consequences, and this is better to learn early rather than later in life.
I asked the administrator about this "zero tolerance" and she said that if there was a fight, they call the police first, then the parents. Police for 3-4 year olds? WTF is wrong with these people, and how can a patrol officer actually take a call for 3 year olds fighting seriously?
I doubt it. It is the Paxil , Welbutrin and Prozac type of antidepressants the doctors are prescribing to the kids . The doctors and drug companies should be held at fault but the lobby money is too good for the politicians to give it up...
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