In an earlier post, I noted my belief that violent video games breed violent tendencies only in people who have other, greater causes for their violence. A recent study (read about it at http://www.qj.net/Study-Violent-games-don-t-alter-normal-kids/pg/49/aid/88522) confirms this idea. To quote the QJ article: "According to Professor Grant Devilly, only children who were diagnosed to have excessive worrying, neurotic behaviour and predisposed to aggression were the ones who reacted to the violent stimuli and very few showed aggressive behavior as a result."
Look at the recently-publicized case from last September, in which a murderer claimed Grand Theft Auto San Andreas told him to kill people. This guy was a paranoid schizophrenic who was heavily stoned at the time. Now, this is an extreme case, but it's a good example of video game violence breeding violence in people who already have bigger issues. Going after video games in cases like these would be like blaming Mapquest for a murderer's ability to find his victim: it's a factor, sure, but not a deciding one.
On a related note, Florida anti-gaming lawyer Jack Thompson is currently the subject of a complaint being examined by the Florida Supreme Court. If he loses this case, he will "face professional sanctions", to quote QJ's article on the event. The complaint was issued by the judge who heard Thompson's case against Take Two Interactive, parent company of Rockstar Games, attempting to block the release of the Rockstar game "Bully". Not only did Thompson lose the case, he threatened and insulted the judge, who noted in his decision that he wasn't sure Thompson should be allowed to practice law. Gamers all over are pulling for Thompson to lose his certification; an online petition for him to be disciplined or disbarred currently has 1457 signatures. I signed it; I know these never make a difference, but I had to show my support for getting rid of Jack Thompson. If you would like to sign, here's the link:http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?podjt
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2 comments:
I totally agree with you on your points about Thompson and violent games; it's good to see an intelligent person making some noise against him, most stuff I see (even on that petition you mentioned) is considerably less articulate, such as statements like "Thompson R suk, GTA4EVAR!!111!"
It's good to see a gamer that hasn't let the Xboxlive (or any online game) mentality ruin their capability for coherent thought.
You are most certainly not a n00b.
Thanks, Barakku. The kind of sentiments you stated are exactly the things I had in mind when I started this blog.
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