Dunno about anyone else, but I can run over pedestrians, gun down police, and blow up ambulances for hours on GTA... feeling up-beat and chilled out the whole time. But if I watch more than five minutes of Deal or No Deal (or most other game shows)... I want to go out somewhere and shotgun someone in the face (preferably Noel Edmunds - *click* "NO DEAL, EDMUNDS" *bang*).
Article: Video Games Normalize Killing, Doctors Say
This topic is locked from further discussion.
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not going to read the article at the moment as I'm too bored (wow, there's a subtle slip for ya, I'd actually 100% intended to type busy there, but I like the "typo" so I'm leaving it with this comment) studying for a medschool test, but I can probably guess what some of the arguments being put forth are since they are usually the same for such "sensical" arguments.
They say that you see activation of the same centers of the brain when playing games and actually engaging in violent activity. That makes complete sense, but that doesn't mean that they are connected. This just means that they are processing similar stimuli or causing similar effects (eg: raising "adrenaline" levels). For instance: when people claim to hear voices you will actually see the regions of the brain that are usually associated with listening to people speak light up. These people are, in every neurological sense, "hearing people talk" and yet it is clearly not real and a good portion of these people recognize that there is no physical person standing in front of them talking to them.
I think anybody would be hard pressed to say that the sensation of pulling a trigger while face to face with someone is anywhere close to pulling a controller trigger while facing some other player's avatar. Perhaps as the personal nature of it gets detracted (eg: long range sniping) you begin to see more of a similarity, but for anyone with any semblance of a proper social upbringing the difference is still blatantly clear.
Instead of blaming media, etc for making these acts seem so normal we should be looking at what differences there are between the majority of people who were socialized properly and understand the clear distinction between media and real life and those who cannot perceive these things. My gut feels says that we will find people who have somehow clearly bypassed systems of consequence while growing up and cannot sufficiently associate certain outcomes with events, there will be a clear detachment between these 2 wholly reliant systems.
**I apologize if this appears kind of scatterbrained. I've been staring at textbooks for 12hrs straight now so my brain is a bit fried... I hope there's some semblance of a logical thought there.
nosferatu
I completely agree with you Nosferatu.
These "reports" that doctors provide arein actuality just a semblance facts they have garnered whilst trying to find a"link".
They've been looking for this link for several years now, and every now and then a newspaper takes it upon themselves to claim that they ARE linked when in truth theyre just trying to sell papers.
The fact remains whether these reports are true or not it is STILL and always will be a case of teaching our children The Consequence of Action.
9/11 Occured because some people belived themselves to be right, The murder in China over a virtual sword occured because the murderer did not perceive revenge as a wrong deed.
It is not the media causing "game-related"incidents, nor the games themselves. The event occured because the actioner has an impairment. Perhaps he was brought up wrong (parents absconding of responsibility),military training (All Armed Services) or a severe impact on their life, which has caused the actioner to say for example lose their conceptof right and wrong,but on a final note I must say:
Right Or Wrong Is To Be Perceived In The Eyes Of The Beholder.
[QUOTE="JLF1"]More people have killed because of the bible, should we ban it?
skingus
Good point. Alot of people are going to hate this.
Cute, but it's not the same. The Bible and other similar holy texts don't normalize killing, they glorify it if it's done for a purpose. That's pure conditioning, not an adverse effect.
[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Unfortunately it is true. I've seen countless videos of American troops [ edited ]. Solori
That was a gross generalization. I do not appreciate the fact that you are trying to demonize American soldiers. Making that statement without exploring the context which might have led soldiers to react as you described is wrong. It makes me wonder if you aren't just trolling.
One thing I am sure, is that you didn't watch a video of a soldier playing a violent video game and then laughing at real violence. What a real soldier might do in a real situation has no bearing on what is being discussed in this thread. A real soldier is exposed to real violence. A person playing a video game is not.
Your statement was offensive and it didn't add anything to this discussion.
Thank you for that.
When/if I ever have kids, I won't regulate what they play because I grew up being able to play and watch what I wanted. I remember my father and I watching Terminator 2 when I was 8 years old: It was a bonding experience. I hope to be able to play my kids in a deathmatch one day.
scottyskater77
This is a good point. Too many people try to condemn tv and video games as simply being electronic babysitters. But not everyone sits little Johnny off in a dark corner to play tv or video games on his own.
Your post made me laugh because it reminded me of the time I bought Fur Fighters because I wanted a FPS to play with the kids. It was a great bonding experience. [So I don't offend the anti-violence people too much I will note that Fur Fighters has no blood and you basically play as cute little stuffed animals.][And for the gamers out there I will note that its gameplay is pretty terrible so don't run out and buy it]
Instead of blaming media, etc for making these acts seem so normal we should be looking at what differences there are between the majority of people who were socialized properly and understand the clear distinction between media and real life and those who cannot perceive these things. My gut feels says that we will find people who have somehow clearly bypassed systems of consequence while growing up and cannot sufficiently associate certain outcomes with events, there will be a clear detachment between these 2 wholly reliant systems..
nosferatu
That is one the dangers of the anti video game campaign. It causes research resources to be allocated based on political needs, not scientific. The political research focuses resources on the hot topic of the day and takes resources away from where they really need to go.
Thank you for that.
garey017
You're welcome.
Worst-case scenario- games really do normalize killing (and basically, they do).
...at the same time, movies glorify it. What's worse? And why aren't we ever focusing on the latter? Oh wait, I KNOW! It's because the mainstream media geniuses STILL think ALL VIDEO GAMES ARE FOR KIDS. There's no way on earth even the worst video game is as potentially damaging as an 8-year-old watching Hostel 2. So I really don't even care about these reports, anymore, as the arguments are cemented in archaic stereotypes that simply aren't true.
... There's no way on earth even the worst video game is as potentially damaging as an 8-year-old watching Hostel 2. So I really don't even care about these reports, anymore, as the arguments are cemented in archaic stereotypes that simply aren't true.
fathoms_basic
Do you want to know what I think is worst. Commercials for Hostel 2 etc being plastered all over the TV. You can stop a kid from going to see Hostel 2, but how do you stop all the freaking commercials for torture porn movies and horror movies which come on at all times of the day during perfectly innocent shows.
BTW I am fairly permissive in what I let the kids watch/play but there are certain lines which I personally do not believe should be crossed. Torture porn is one of them. And it has nothing to do with a fear that it will turn kids violent or even desensitize them to violence. It has more to do with the fact that the torture porn IMO has no entertainment value and it presents images that are confusing and upsetting to the kids and require me to explain things to them which I would rather shelter them from for awhile longer. That's my choice. Your choice may vary. The fact that I do not like torture porn does not mean that I fall in line with people who want to censor video games. I wish people would choose for themselves not to produce or watch it. But IMO it is more important to live in a free society than it is to try to force everyone to think the same way.
[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]... There's no way on earth even the worst video game is as potentially damaging as an 8-year-old watching Hostel 2. So I really don't even care about these reports, anymore, as the arguments are cemented in archaic stereotypes that simply aren't true.
Solori
Do you want to know what I think is worst. Commercials for Hostel 2 etc being plastered all over the TV. You can stop a kid from going to see Hostel 2, but how do you stop all the freaking commercials for torture porn movies and horror movies which come on at all times of the day during perfectly innocent shows.
BTW I am fairly permissive in what I let the kids watch/play but there are certain lines which I personally do not believe should be crossed. Torture porn is one of them. And it has nothing to do with a fear that it will turn kids violent or even desensitize them to violence. It has more to do with the fact that the torture porn IMO has no entertainment value and it presents images that are confusing and upsetting to the kids and require me to explain things to them which I would rather shelter them from for awhile longer. That's my choice. Your choice may vary. The fact that I do not like torture porn does not mean that I fall in line with people who want to censor video games. I wish people would choose for themselves not to produce or watch it. But IMO it is more important to live in a free society than it is to try to force everyone to think the same way.
Right. Those movie commercials are a hundred times more offensive and loaded with more upsetting images than any video game ad you'll ever see. And there really is no way to keep children from seeing them.
I agree that it's important to live in a free society, but it's also very important that parents act like PARENTS and recognize that children are like sponges; they soak up everything they see and process it. This can be difficult with violence and sexual themes, because they can easily become confused, and that confusion can translate to bad behavior as an adult. As far as I'm concerned, something like Hostel 2 or other torture porn films are both pointless and extremely hazardous to the mental health of young individuals. Far more so than something like GTA.
[QUOTE="scottyskater77"]
When/if I ever have kids, I won't regulate what they play because I grew up being able to play and watch what I wanted. I remember my father and I watching Terminator 2 when I was 8 years old: It was a bonding experience. I hope to be able to play my kids in a deathmatch one day.
Solori
This is a good point. Too many people try to condemn tv and video games as simply being electronic babysitters. But not everyone sits little Johnny off in a dark corner to play tv or video games on his own.
Your post made me laugh because it reminded me of the time I bought Fur Fighters because I wanted a FPS to play with the kids. It was a great bonding experience. [So I don't offend the anti-violence people too much I will note that Fur Fighters has no blood and you basically play as cute little stuffed animals.][And for the gamers out there I will note that its gameplay is pretty terrible so don't run out and buy it]
Your post made me laugh, too. lol. As soon as I read the words "Fur Fighters" I laughed out loud. I totally forgot about that game, and I completely agree with you on it's gameplay.:lol:
Mabye they should make Fur Fighters a movie and Hostel 2 into a game?
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