Slashdot Mirror
Video Games Make People Fat and Mean
dblh3l1x writes "Reuters is reporting that a Swedish group finds 'Video games can make children fat and, in the case of violent games popular among teenage and younger boys, aggressive and even criminal.' These articles make me want to hurt someone. If I didn't get out of breath so easily, I'd go hurt someone right now, so instead I'm just going to go play the Unreal Tournament 2004 demo again."
Actually video games attract people who are fat and mean.
Fit mean people beat other up in the real world.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Funny, I thought that calories made people fat.
So, if I stop eating but play lots of video games I will gain weight?
I really hope that horribly bad statement was the reporter paraphasing (badly) the studies, rather than the conclusion the researchers came up with.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Videogames can be a catharsis for a lot of kids. Teenage boys just NATURALLY have a lot of anger, and frustration. Videogames can be an outlet for that.
The woman who leads a group of mothers against videogames doesn't understand that these kids need an outlet. Masturbation will only take these boys so far, and they need some way to get out their anger, frustration, and desire to set things on fire.
Give them a good game, and a magazine to spank to- and a few hours later he'll come out of his room calm, and ready to cooperate.
Actually...I'm serious...
No reason to lie.
I hate how they (the media, reporters, maybe even the swiss!) do this... They don't bother to point out that the rating on GTA:3 or GTA:VC is M. It's like saying "Letting kids watch "R" movies makes them less attentive to violence. No shit? The rating system is DESIGNED so that Children can't buy this game. Most major gaming retailers won't sell the titles to people under 18 (in the perfect world atleast). These games are meant for Adults, and evidentally the media no longer cares how it rates itself.
How to Speak Leet
and with all the amount of stuff, and all the people, you can find anecdotal evidence to support most any theory. It's a good thing these people are, you know, experts, or I'd be inclined to distrust their opinions.
The article itself states that the documentary "was followed by a panel debate, which concluded that scientific findings of the effects, if any, of violent video games were scant."
So it's just some "experts" seeding panic for personal fame and fortune.
While we're all here, I would like to use this opportunity to link to a little snippet from ebay on my own site, which proves beyond any doubt that games are, indeed, corrupting today's youth.
that's it's better for society as a whole if I beat people to death and shoot random people in a videogame instead of in reality.
Ok....
Plays computer games? Check.
Fat? According to the insurance industry... check.
Mean? Not according to what I've been told.
That's me.
Plays computer games? Check.
Fat? No check.
Mean? No check.
That's my best friend.
Plays computer games? No check.
Fat? No check.
Mean? Check.
That's [pick one: Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Ashcroft, Andrea Yates, Ted Bundy, all of the above].
It's rather obvious that the "researchers" and the author are taking correlation for causation at the least; more likely, they've dredged up the findings they want and have published them as scientifically accurate.
Meanwhile, the studies which have said that video games can actually be beneficial are buried.
~UP
Eat the Path.
Have you ever tried NOT jerking off?
First of all- it's really tough. Second of all, about 30 minutes after I decide not to jerk off anymore, I am wildly horny.
After a few days (if it ever gets that far) my dog starts to look really, really good.
I don't think I've ever gone beyond a few days. If for no other reason...why put myself through it?
So yes- I really do think masturbation is a catharsis.
Okay, here is the standard flimsy statement where I try to get you to believe I am not a total loser...but since nobody knows me, no point in really trying:
Yes, I have intercourse with a female on a very regular basis. I still masturbate, because I enjoy it.
And to stay on-topic...Umm...videogames don't make people violent- violent people make videogames.
No reason to lie.
I will say the obvious here:
Show me your data, I want to know the sample sizes, I want to know the methodology and I want to know what criteria you used to decide who was fat and mean. Using words like "Fat" and "mean" to describe the conclusions of what is supposed to be a scientifically valid study really undermines the creditability to begin with. There is a documentary that goes along with this research? Sounds like they already had their minds made up what the results should be before they even started the study.
But then again, who cares right? In this day and age the truth isn't all that important, and scaring the moms of the world are what get the evening news ratings right?
Last time I checked, it was still perfectly legal to be "fat and mean".
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
From the article:
Anyone else pick this up?
Why not get the real ultimate power?
These arguments have been around for a very long time. It is just one of those things that will not go away.
.45 in the closet. Don't try to force your views on every one else, after all, it is YOUR most important job to look out for your children.
Do video games desensitize people? I'd have to say yes. But then desensitization is not the same thing as making someone more prone to violent tendencies. Many people join the armed forces, to pay their way through college or whatnot. Part of the training is meant to prepare you to kill. Everyone I know who has been through it come back more serious about life and death, but not more violent.
Another thing they are missing here is that maybe it is just that a larger number of people who are lazy, or mean play these kinds of games. Think about it. If you are a lazy person, are you going to be more apt to play sports for entertainment, or play video games and watch TV? Myself, after sitting for awhile gaming, I sometimes feel restless and need to get up for awhile and do something else.
Same with mean people... Are they more likely to play a game of Chess, or to play something where they get to take out their "meanness" on characters in a game?
"Most people who are mean play violent games" and "most people who play violent games are mean" do NOT mean the same thing.
I also feel like I should mention, that I knew who the mean ones in my high school were. How can you not? Now did they tend to be the ones playing violent games? Yes. Football. Most of them never touched PCs, and mostly played sports games on consoles if at all.
Honestly, most of the people I know that play games like UT, ET, and Quake, like to get together and play socially, and tend to be some of the nicer, more cooperative and reliable people.
Lastly. Parents: Letting your children play a game that you feel is harmful to them is tantamount to allowing them to play with your
After all, it is not the "Village" that raises a child, it is the parents.
Why are they assuming that without video games teenage males would have a pleasant disposition? Give me a break. Speaking from personal experience, I was an agressive, stupid teen who liked doing stupid shit (like making my own ninja stars and blow dart guns etc) and this was in early 80's. It's called being a teenage male! Games have nothing to do with it......
Not as much as alcohol does...
Games dont make people fat, the people who play them for hours upon end are responsible (or irresponsible, depending on your point of view). I dont think a game ever held me at gun point to play, and make me order McDonald's, not play sports with friends, just so I could get that Sword of Brilliance in EQ. People need to be more resonsible in their habits, its not the games, because we all know they actually make us trained killers (sarcasm).