Video Game Violence

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SOUJABOI TELL EM YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!

There is a reason that the US military has invested millions in game and simulation training for recruits.  Video games/simulated reality do have demonstrable effects on human physiology and psychology.  Putting someone in a simulated situation evokes many of the same biological and biochemical reactions that someone in the real situation would experience.  Studies have shown that exposure to violent and aggressive media directly correlates to violent and aggressive behavior in children and adults.

http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html
http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm

The question has been answered.  The question now is, is it important?

We are but 100 years removed from an age when people carried firearms the same way people now carry cell phones and people were lynched and hung for crimes.  We are but 5 centuries removed from a time when every vassal or serf could be conscripted at a moment's notice to fight their neighbors in ongoing war.  In many countries, even today, this question is laughable because you see far worse things than have ever been shown in interactive media just by looking out your front door.

We are a violent species, and always have been.  It could be argued that video game violence merely serves as a proxy for real life violence in honing our inborn instincts for survival and forming hierarchical societal relationships.  The question is much larger than video games... it is one which goes to the very core of our being and contradicts millions of years of evolution... are we ready as a species to rise above these inborn traits and truly coexist peacefully?

I don't believe we are.

 In real life I am probably the least aggresive person I know, I like the think that playing games helps sort of let it out, or just helps keep me calm in some other way

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Show me a study on either side of the argument that has conclusively proved or disproved aggression through video games with objective observation.

Same with me Divine. I also take karate so that probably helps as well. I also agree with Pathos on the "we are an aggressive species" part. With most animals, if they are introduced to something new they fear it, and either hide from it or run approach it cautiously. If humans are exposed to something new we are very quick to attack. Think if an alien space craft landed on earth. I guarantee you our first move would be bringing the military to them. Video games are a scapegoat for our naturally violent behavior.

We can't just whimsically throw the word "scapegoat" around whenever people want to actually investigate the root of an issue. It IS possible that video games do cause behavioural changes in humans, which could result in exceedingly violent behaviour. But if we just pass off everything as a scapegoat, then nobody will get anywhere.

I agree that they change people's behavior but they are not the main reason people commit crimes. People who commit media inspired crimes (the GTA cab driver and Matrix school shootout stories) didn't just go watch the Matrix and say, "Hey, I'm going to go shoot everyone!" They also had several other issues. 1 out of 1,000,000 people will commit a crime inspired by the media, and those people have many emotional or mental problems as well. The video games are used as a scapegoat because they are easy to blame.

No, I'm not saying that if someone plays GTA or some other violent game that they will instantly be inspired to go on a carjacking spree or something. All that I'm saying is that, while it is likely that they do have an effect on behaviour, that effect - and its magnitude - has yet to be determined, let alone how it varies from person to person.

I agree with that. It's probably even changed my behavior somehow. *Thinks about how it has changed his behavior... starts thinking about exams... starts crying*

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Apparently you missed the message.  You made an assertion that all research is conducted in an unscientific, non-precise way.  From this you posited that these studies give no credence towards an intelligent debate.  What you made was a blanket statement about all of these studies.  I pointed out your hypocrisy of telling others that they are ignorant or make blanket statements about things in order to attack their position while you use those same statements to bolster your own defense.  Notice, I said absolutely nothing on one side or the other of the debate, I merely pointed out that you're being a hypocritcal arguer, which has nothing to do about proving or disproving your argument.