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Games and Desensitizing
Dec. 14th, 2005 04:41 pmI have played hundreds of games for over 15 years and yet I don't greet anyone by acting like I'm shooting them. I also think that 9/11 was a big tragedy and was disturbing and it doesn't matter how many buildings I have seen destroyed in a game or in a movie.
It might be true that games have desensitized some people but not all. Sure I may have "linked" some things from entertainment to my life but there comes a point where I say no that's fantasy and should not be acted out in "real life".
In my opinion it comes down to the individual and the quality of their character. People need to develop their sense of what is real and what is not. I look at a building in a game that is destroyed and I don't even need to tell myself it's not a real building. I know it's not real. But the trade towers where real and so are the lives that where lost in them and it has far reaching effects which ARE real. There's a big difference there.
If you are toppling the world trade center in a game you are not toppling the world trade center. You are toppling computer generated models that resemble the world trade center same thing in a movie. I think it is really strange that there is even one person out there that thinks that if a computer generated representation of a building was destroyed over 50 times in a game or movie that it doesn't matter if it gets destroyed in real life as it "doesn't affect them" I think that's a sign of immaturity more than anything else
I think the fact there there are some people who don't care or are not affected by such things has a more deeper cause than the games they play or the movies they watch because if that where so you'd think someone like me would be a stone cold psycho killer by now.
QUOTE(WhiteSavage @ December 14th 2005, 03:31 PM) at macthemes forum
I agree with most said. However I know this not to be true:
"8. Video game play is desensitizing."
"Yet, a child who responds to a video game the same way he or she responds to a real-world tragedy could be showing symptoms of being severely emotionally disturbed."
He says that if you in any way link video games to real life you are "Severely Emotionally disturbed," yet, is there anyone that does NOT link the entertainment world to their life? I mean, ever hear of pop culture? People use lines they see in movies, have ideas they've read in books. I have a friend that plays heavily violent video games and he greets me by shooting me with an imaginary gun. He's a B average student, not disturbed... people care what celebrities say, wear and think. They copy it all the time. Thats how fads happen. Remember the spiked hair fad>? It was because some celebrity did it and it was SOoooooooo cool and pretty soon u werent cool if you at least didn't try it.
September 11th was a big hit on a lot of people. But an interesting point, and something that has been mentioned many times before is that youth in a rising percentage dont care. I play video games, and I know a lot of people who do so also. The ratio of people (17-20 yr old age group) who play video games and cared about September 11th vs. those who didnt play games was staggering.
And it makes sense oddly. I mean... if you've watched the towers toppled 50 times in different movies, and then if you've done it yourself a couple times. It really happens, sure, tis a big deal. But it doesn't effect you, so why care? Thats desensitizing.
I play Violent Video games and I didn't really care about September 11th.
But denying it is always fun.
It might be true that games have desensitized some people but not all. Sure I may have "linked" some things from entertainment to my life but there comes a point where I say no that's fantasy and should not be acted out in "real life".
In my opinion it comes down to the individual and the quality of their character. People need to develop their sense of what is real and what is not. I look at a building in a game that is destroyed and I don't even need to tell myself it's not a real building. I know it's not real. But the trade towers where real and so are the lives that where lost in them and it has far reaching effects which ARE real. There's a big difference there.
If you are toppling the world trade center in a game you are not toppling the world trade center. You are toppling computer generated models that resemble the world trade center same thing in a movie. I think it is really strange that there is even one person out there that thinks that if a computer generated representation of a building was destroyed over 50 times in a game or movie that it doesn't matter if it gets destroyed in real life as it "doesn't affect them" I think that's a sign of immaturity more than anything else
I think the fact there there are some people who don't care or are not affected by such things has a more deeper cause than the games they play or the movies they watch because if that where so you'd think someone like me would be a stone cold psycho killer by now.
QUOTE(WhiteSavage @ December 14th 2005, 03:31 PM) at macthemes forum
I agree with most said. However I know this not to be true:
"8. Video game play is desensitizing."
"Yet, a child who responds to a video game the same way he or she responds to a real-world tragedy could be showing symptoms of being severely emotionally disturbed."
He says that if you in any way link video games to real life you are "Severely Emotionally disturbed," yet, is there anyone that does NOT link the entertainment world to their life? I mean, ever hear of pop culture? People use lines they see in movies, have ideas they've read in books. I have a friend that plays heavily violent video games and he greets me by shooting me with an imaginary gun. He's a B average student, not disturbed... people care what celebrities say, wear and think. They copy it all the time. Thats how fads happen. Remember the spiked hair fad>? It was because some celebrity did it and it was SOoooooooo cool and pretty soon u werent cool if you at least didn't try it.
September 11th was a big hit on a lot of people. But an interesting point, and something that has been mentioned many times before is that youth in a rising percentage dont care. I play video games, and I know a lot of people who do so also. The ratio of people (17-20 yr old age group) who play video games and cared about September 11th vs. those who didnt play games was staggering.
And it makes sense oddly. I mean... if you've watched the towers toppled 50 times in different movies, and then if you've done it yourself a couple times. It really happens, sure, tis a big deal. But it doesn't effect you, so why care? Thats desensitizing.
I play Violent Video games and I didn't really care about September 11th.
But denying it is always fun.
