ForumsWEPRAre violent things making us more violent?

44 10396
turret
offline
turret
1,628 posts
Shepherd

like if we play grand theft auto does it change our prospective on violence

  • 44 Replies
Flipski
offline
Flipski
623 posts
Nomad

Hmm, When I kill in video games my score goes up and I win....maybe if I kill in real life...I'll win at life!! Yay!




I find it fascinating that video games reward you for killing and ending the lives of humans, animals, etc. And every body loves it. Kill, kill, kill, thats what we humans love to do.

hierensi
offline
hierensi
40 posts
Nomad

Hmm, When I kill in video games my score goes up and I win....maybe if I kill in real life...I'll win at life!! Yay!

frankly, flip that is condesending because most kids have an iq a little above 1 -.-
KarateKid
offline
KarateKid
6 posts
Nomad

I belivethat what you play, watch,say, and hear afffect the outcome of what our mind thinks

xgamer424
offline
xgamer424
240 posts
Nomad

if we blame everything on games, movies and ect.

its more like saying i play resident evil and that makes me want to hurt somebody but really i does not work that way.

Virtigo
offline
Virtigo
50 posts
Nomad

I think for normal people, it's just the opposite. I play games like call of duty and GTA for fun. Sure, we've all ran over our fair share of pedestrians and killed our fair share of hookers in good fun, but normal people would know(even little kids, enless their parents are screw-ups) that it's prolly not a good idea to do that stuff in real life. Now all the politicians get on video games because some mentally ill kid who just happened to play a video game shot up his school or something. But the majority of people know their limits. And for those who don't, there's the ESRB.

Danstanta
offline
Danstanta
1,702 posts
Blacksmith

Usally .. that happens but a lot of people don;t be like that . It just matters how your brain works and how it is.

kanethebrain
offline
kanethebrain
242 posts
Nomad

I have a graph on my hard drive that plots crime against the release dates of several major video games, using Department of Justice data (I assume the data is US-only... sorry everyone else!). There's some hiccups before the release of DOOM, but after that there's a sheer drop off, continuing for the releases of DOOM2, Postal, Mortal Kombat, GTA3, and Postal 2. I don't have any free image hosting accounts, but if anyone wants the graph, let me know and I can email it to you.

In any case, while we may become desensitized to violence, we're committing fewer crimes. Now, desensitization makes it EASIER to harm someone after you decide to do so (This is why the military started training people with more realistic dummies, so soldiers would have less hesitation when it came time to kill an enemy), but it's not causing people to become violent.

It's already been said upthread, but if we want kids to stop being violent, parents have to start acting like parents, instead of just being oblivious.

Athena
offline
Athena
10 posts
Nomad

Children ARE the mirrors of their homes. If he grows up in a loving family, where's no yelling, screaming, fighting, he won't fight when he's a family man some day. If a child grows up in a violent environmet, he'll be more violent than others. I've definitely seen that. And videogames are a big part of "environment".

Flipski
offline
Flipski
623 posts
Nomad

You are right it does not work that way. Just because I see and do violent things in games does not make me want to go out and do those things.

But what it does do to people is it desensitizes them to violent things, and little by little hey become less offended and less surprised by violent actions, and more prone o using violence when an argument arises, or fight at school.

Its not that you will want to go do violent things, its that you will be less likely to stop yourself or others from doing things that are violent when the opportunity arises, because you are subconsciously used to that sort of violence.

thunderpants
offline
thunderpants
78 posts
Nomad

i dont think so

pythonslayer422
offline
pythonslayer422
23 posts
Nomad

um........... maybe some people but not me

Strop
offline
Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

Flipski wrote:

Because you are subconsciously used to that sort of violence.


Perhaps so, but I think I'll add in something that strengthens the desensitisation =/=> initiation: awareness.

That children are the reflection of their homes, and that we learn behaviors is ultimately modulated by our executive processes. If we can be made to be aware of the implications of our actions and exercise this mental-discipline, then we can assess our situations and hold recourse to a separate system regardless of whether we are desensitised or not.

Furthermore, I'm not 100% if desensitisation works consistently. I must say I've played my fair share of violent videogames and exposed myself to some of the most disturbing s*** on the internet (none of which I will name here). But I still find that I can't wholly be desensitised because while I may be used to the exposure, the exposure itself still causes me to lose some kind of mental equilibrium, maybe because somewhere, it threatens my sense of being.

Maybe this is why some people are prone to thinking that every person has an innate moral compass (nuts to you, Hume.)
Flipski
offline
Flipski
623 posts
Nomad

Yes I suppose awareness affects a persons behavior significantly. I also play many violent video games and I do not feel more aggressive or violent, but that is because I know the difference between reality and 3D, and I know what is completely absurd in video games. But during development at a young age, If I had played violent video games It would have affected my development and I would have violent tendencies.

In much the same way that a child's household affects his or her development. If i live with violent, angry, drunks for roommates now it would not change my character, behavior, my method of thinking and myself as a whole, (I might be influenced to behave slightly differently around them, but my true self would not change) as it would if I were a child living in such a household.

kanethebrain
offline
kanethebrain
242 posts
Nomad

I heard a study on NPR about a month after the Virginia Tech shootings. The expert claimed that the chance of someone becoming a killer was really more multiplicative than additive.

For instance, someone with psychological problem but a loving family and good support will be less likely to kill somebody than the inverse. Also, the more factors you have against you, the more likely you are to go really nuts, and shoot up dozens of people instead of just one or two.

He specifically mentioned video games. The most effect they have is that people get a false impression of how easy it is, and become more excited while playing the game, but there's no correlation between playing these games and being violent in real life.

Showing 31-44 of 44