News Flash: Gamers Aren't Deviants

shadowlight1 writes "Maximumpcmag.com has a short bit on how an independent survey about gamers reveals that most are college educated, socially adjusted males..not the social outcasts the media portrays. " It saddens me to see that it takes "lab results" to confirm this.

Comments

Well Gee, we've been saying that all along.....

[Accipiter]

Unbelievable. We're seeing more and more scientific breakthroughs every day! It's incredible how nothing gets past them, even considering that we've been saying that the whole time.

See John. See John play Quake. See John frag everyone in the level. See John turn off his computer, hop in his car, and go to work JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER NORMAL HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET. (Unless of course he's playing Quake AT work, in which case he's just like me. :P)

So now, when a media outlet says something to the effect of "This guy walked into his office, took out an automatic weapon, and started splashing bullets everywhere killing 72 co-workers, and injuring 13. He then went outside, stripped naked, and ran down the street shooting pedestrians. We think it's because he played Doom a lot.", we'll have scientific backing to OUR side of the argument. pfft.

-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

Resources

[SirSlud]

Heres the part many people don't see:

1. A kid who plays Quake all the time is not hurting anyone. Sure, you can claim he's being influenced while he's playing, but only few people are influenced, and even less into doing deviant things because of it.

2. A kid who ping floods sites for fun is MUCH more likely to do something violent IMHO (of course, most never do, but I'm just saying this is more of an indicator than watching/interacting with pretend violence). Why? This type of action displays a much greater disregard for the respect of others, and their property. But people don't see this. They see the blood in Quake, they think blood. Ping flooding may not be violent, but it says to me that the guity party is more likely to disrespect the laws of society. Now don't get all up in arms. I'm just taking two activities, and pointing out where society seems to go wrong in analysing the people doing them.

3. You can't predict people. End of story. There has always, will always be murder. Sometimes you can spot it, other times you can't. But rather than targeting the ones we /think/ are in danger, there should simply be more focus in our society towards maintaining tolerance, patience, and an understanding that being picked on/isolated/teased is not justification for retribution, but rather motivation to keep on being superior life forms than the aggressors.

The important part here is distinguishing the underlying context of the activity/hobby. Something doesn't have to look violent to influence people into being more violent. But still, we take everything at face value ......

Just my 2 bits.

Mindcraft

[jabber]

[sarcasm]
Well, you have to consider the source of the lab tests, as well as their results. You have to consider who commissioned the study, and what they have to gain by skewing the results in their favor.

I bet it was all those Linux freaks, with bad haircuts and poor personal hygiene, that are responsible. I bet that they took all of their spare change (and God knows they have plenty, since they don't buy software, but rather use Free software) and paid for a statistically unsound study, to make it appear that they are not really the sociopathic axe-murdering, rapist pedophiles that we all know they are.

I'm sure that they selected only a fringe of the college educated, gainfully employed, and self-proclaimed 'normal' people, and didn't include a representative sample of their own minions in the study.

For as surely as the sun riseth in the east, and seteth in the west at the end of the day, so doth Heaven await those who tread the path of righteousness, and heed not the words of the devil. Verily, they that playeth his acursed 'lectronic games and heedeth his call on the internet, shall burn eternally!

Whilst they that believeth in the word of Big Daddy, J.C. and the Holy Spook, as delivered by the prophets of the ABC, the NBC, the CBS and the CNN shall inherit the life eternal, with none of the distractions of no such beepin' and Quakin', Doomin', shootin' rootin-tootin...

Can I get an AMEN, brother?

[/sarcasm]