Being the avid video gamer that I am, I read the following story the other day and really had some strong feelings about it. (Source: VideoGameReview.com)
The BBC reported yesterday that psychologists Dr Craig Anderson, from Iowa State University of Science and Technology, and Dr Karen Dill, from Lenoir-Rhyne College have concluded from research that violent games can increase aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviour in an article published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The first study asked 227 college students were asked to rate their level of aggression. Dr Anderson said: "We found that students who reported playing more violent video games in junior and high school engaged in more aggressive behaviour.
Video games don't kill people. People kill people. The people that are going out and committing violent crimes would do so anyway. People are always eager to place the blame on anyone but themselves. Video games, movies, television, these are all just excuses people use to justify things that they are doing. Who wants to admit that they are just completely fucking crazy? "No, playing Quake warped my mind and made me go out and shoot someone." Thank god for video games. It allowed that fool to vent some of his/her violent tendencies on a video game rather than a person. That video game just delayed the inevitable. And the article continued:
Two studies found the link between violent games and aggressive behaviour, although other specialists are already warning that this type of research is invariably flawed. Dr Guy Cumberbatch, a chartered psychologist and expert in media violence, said, "You cannot simulate in a laboratory the complex social problems that people are concerned about, and overall the actual evidence supporting a link between media violence and real violence is very weak."
So the study is flawed. Why would the media bring attention to it then? The media is creating these fucking theories to give us a scapegoat. They're allowing us to blame our violent tendencies on someone else. Intelligent people are out there though, to shed light on these fucking quack professors looking to draw some easy media attention to themselves. I have my own theory. The study was conducted in Iowa, right? If I was surrounded by corn with nothing to do, I'd probably be pretty fucked up and violent too.